SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, September 9, 1992
11
Teammates cope with athlete's injury
By David Dorsey
Kansan sportswriter
Jeremy McClain, a Kansas cross country runner who was struck by a car at 23rd and Louisiana streets on Sept., remained in critical condition last night, a representative from the University of Kansas Medical Center said.
McClain's left leg was broken in several places after the collision. He currently is in the intensive care unit at the Med Center.
McClain, a 19-year-old Overland Park sophomore, developed resinra
tory problems on Saturday while at the Med Center, said Ladd McClain, Jeremy's older brother and teammate.
Ladd McClain, a senior on the cross country team, explained his younger brother's condition.
"The respirator they put in his throat was causing too much discomfort," McClain said. "He was struggling, trying to rip it out. What it's doing is forcing air down his throat, making him breath."
I haven't seen since him Saturday. At first he was fine, but while we were there he started to have headaches
and breathing problems," he said.
"The bone marrow in his leg got into his bloodstream," Ladd McClain said. "Fatty deposits developed on the lung."
The deposits made it difficult for Jeremy McClain to breathe, Ladd McClaim said.
Dave Johnston, a junior on the team who is in the same fraternity as Jeremy McClain, said the team's thoughts were with him.
"Jeremy has a lot of skills academically," Johnston said. "He's got a lot he could fall back on."
Alec Bolten, a senior runner who lived with the McClain brothers this summer, agreed.
"Generally, he's a real good student,
so if he can't run, he is still going to
have a lot of other stuff going for him,"
he said.
Kansas cross country coach Gary Schwartz said that the team was trying to overcome Jeremy McClain's accident.
Schwartz said Shane McClain, Jeremy's twin brother, had not run with the team since the accident. Ladd McClain had run with the team, and would possibly run during Saturday's meet against Arkansas, depending on the condition of his Achilles tendon, an injury that had bothered him.
“It’s kind of a strange, strange thing,” Schwartz said. “They’re real concerned, but they’re detached from it. They seem to be taking it pretty well.
"The first time you deal with the fac that someone close to you has been in a serious accident or been in intensive care, it kind of gives you a wake-up call," he said.
"I think he is able to run, but I'm going to leave the decision to him,"
"It's definitely affected Ladd," he said. "It seems like a lot of things kind of fell on him this past weekend."
Johnston what happened to
teremy McClain shocked him.
Schwartz said. "He may not physically be able to run because of the Achilles problem."
Bolten said Jeremy McClain's accredit'd had an impact on Ladd McClain.
"Everybody that runs has to think about it as something that could happen to them," Johnston sa id.
Tony Overman / ALBANY (ORE.) DEMOCRAT-HERALD
Leg lifts
Michael Hale, Oregon State strong safety, and Maurice Douglas, Kansas tailback, tumble to the ground after Douglas catches a pass from Kansas quarterback Chip Hilleary, Kansas, who beat the Beavers #9-20, plays their first home game Saturday against Ball State.
Lendl defeats Becker in record match; Fernandez to face Seles
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — From day to night to the next day, vitriolic Lorend Ivand doggedly marched past Boris Becker into the U.S. Open quarterfinals in the longest match since the advent of the tiebreaker in 1970.
After 5 hours and 1 minute, Lend finally survived this war of attrition, angry words and often brilliant tennis, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3,
In a renewal of one of the greatest rivalries in men's tennis, Lendl ended his 20th match against Becker at 11:47 p.m. CDT yesterday with a backhand passing shot — the same weapon Lendl used so effectively all night.
Stefan Edberg, the defending men's champion and No. 2 seed, got all he could handle from No. 15 Richard Krajicek before winning 6-4, 7-8 (8), 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to reach the quarterfinals.
} That closed out a long, long day of matches.
"To be down a break in the fifth set, it was not good news," Ederg said. "But somehow I managed to get back in the match. I fought the way through."
Michael Chang, No. 4, also went the distance to beat No. 14 Mali Vai Washington, 6-2, 2-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the evening to set up a quarterfinal match
against Wayne Ferreira, a 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 winner over Emilio Sanchez.
Monica Seles gave up her grunts and now she has lost her voice, yet she silently slipped into the seminals at the U.S. Open yesterday even with a fever and virus.
It was the first time Chamreached the Open quarters, and it was Washington's sixth straight five-set loss, all in Grand Slam events, going back to the Australian Open in 1991.
She got a little dizzy on court and not move as well as she would have liked, but she still had no problem with Hy, who beat Jennifer Capriati in the third round.
Seles did not look sick on court in a 6,1, 6,2 romp over Patricia Hy, but she said she had had a virus, sore throat and stomach ailment for several days. She will need all her strength in the巾会 to fend off Mary Joe Fernandez, a 6,2,1, 6,4-6 upset winner over No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini.
Seles figured people would make jokes about her losing her voice — besides her grunts, she is the fastest talker on the women's tour — but she said there were many players having the same problem.
"Yesterday my voice was gone totally, and today also," she said in a hoarse whisper. "I am supposed to take some antibiotics."
"I think there is a virus going around the locker room," she said. "The thing is, you come off from practice, you sit in the locker room and you freeze. It is about 60 degrees. It is freezing in there, sitting in there for 2/12 hours before your match. You are bound to catch something."
Fernandez, taught a painful lesson she never forgot in an Open loss to Sabatini two years ago, reversed roles yesterday.
This time it was Fernandez rushing the net, risking winners, forcing the action, and Satabini staying back. This time when Fernandez took the lead at the critical moment, she kept it, instead of letting it drift away as she did then, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 after leading *b*→ first set 4, 10-15.
Fernandez, seeded No. 7, used the same netrushing, aggressive style that Satabini suddenly and spectacularly adopted when she won the 1990 Open.
It took Fernandez months to get over that loss, and it prompted her to change her coach and style. Harold Solomon began tutoring her in 1991, convincing her to get off the baseline and play aggressively at the net, and Fernandez showed just how far she has come against Sabatini.
She broke Sabati at love in the final game on the third set, on the attack all the way to the last
The 21 year-old Fernandez, runner-up to Seles in the Australian Open this year, reached the open semis for only the second time in eight years. Sabatini had not gone out of any other Grand Slam event before the semifinals this year.
point — a backhand approach that Sabatini drove long.
"I'm taking advantage of it now. I'm playing aggressively," she said. "This was a tough match. Even the first set, it looked like I was winning it easy, but it wasn't that easy. Gaby is one of the toughest players out there. She never gives up and she always finds ways to win, even if she is not play well. She's definitely been a great example for me."
"I don't think my personality has changed. I know now that on the court I have to be the aggressor," Fernandez said. "I can't be the one just to get the ball back and wait for things to happen to me.
Sabatini expected Fernandez to be on her heels against Seles.
"I guess Seles will probably be aggressive," Sabatiini said. "She is going to try to go for the shots. I think she was very close to beating Monica a few times, and if she takes risk, she could play a good match, she could win."
Softball prepares for fall schedule
By Kristi Fogler
Kansan sportwriter
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's softball team is hard at work, gearing up for the fall season.
The team will play in four consecutive weekend tournaments this fall, starting Sept. 18. The team, which has been practicing since the first day of classes, will host Wichita St., Northern Iowa, Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha. Sept. 18-19.
Gayle Luedke, assistant coach, said she was looking forward to the first tournament.
"We're expecting to win it, but we've got a lot of holes to fill from last year," she said.
Only seven players are returning this year, and only three are returning starters.
"We'd like to win every game that we play," Luedke said. "What we'd like to see more than anything is consistency in defense because we've got so many new people."
Luedek said she was worried most about hitting. The team lost its best RBI hitter and its best base stealer, she said.
Because the team is so young, Luedek said she and Coach Kalum Haack had been putting players in different positions to find the best fielding combination.
"What we use the fall for, is to get ready for the spring, to look at a lot of people in different positions and establish people for the spring." Luecke said. "If we play well, it will give us a lot of confidence in the spring. If we don't then we'll have a lot of work to do."
Haack said his goal for the team this year was to win the Big Eight title.
"I expect us to do real well," he said. 'But I don't expect us to go undefeated.'
Haack said the full season played a very important role in preparing the team.
The team will compete Oct. 3-4 in the Big Eight Tournament. The tournament was switched this year from the spring season to the fall season. Traditionally, the tournament is double elimination, but this year, it will be a round-robin. Each team will play every other team.
"In the spring when the games count, they're not so nervous because they've got some games under their belt," he said.
Jil Bailey, Kansas City, Mo., senior and pitcher, said she expected the team to undefeated this year. Bailey was a member of last year's team that played in the College World Series this summer.
"Once you go to the World Series,
you can't expect less than go back."
**The
Bailey said the fall was a learning experience that taught players how to work together and what was expected of them from the coaches.
Short stop Shanna Cole, Overland
Park senior, said she was expecting
Eric's arrival.
"I expect to go undefeated," Cole said. "Having so many young people, you've got to come together as a team to win." The majority of the fall is a good time to do that.
With Vincent's departure, owners to decide next step
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Now that baseball owners have gotten rid of Fay Vincent, they have to figure out what they want next.
Baseball's 10-man executive council met by telephone for 15 minutes yesterday and did not make any substantive decisions. The group will convene again today, this time in St. Louis, at the regular quarterly meeting.
"It was a very brief call," sad Bud Seigl of the Milwaukee Brewers, a non-voting member of the group. This is obviously done better in person."
"I'm not on the executive council, and I don't know if it will be an interim commissioner, but someone will be named tomorrow," predicted Chicagoa leader Sox owner Jerry Reinford, a leader of the anti-Vincent movement.
Although 18 owners united in their opposition to Vincent, forcing him to resign Monday, they are divided on their goals and intentions.
Later in the day, Reinsfort said he thought it would only be an interim meeting.
They said they may appoint a caretaker during their two days of meetings, or they may leave the executive council in charge for the time being. The Major League Agreement states the executive council is in charge of base-
"I really don't know what's going to happen," Selig said. "I don't think anyone
Other owners were less definitive.
American League president Bobby Brown agree "Haven't the slightest hesitation."
Among the questions to be resolved are:
posed move to St. Petersburg, Fla.
The appeal by the commissioner's office of a preliminary injunction blocking National League realignment.
The San Francisco Giants' pro-
—The fate of the leadership of the commissioner's staff.
—The owners who will head baseball's attempt to restructure.
Various names have been floated as possible replacements for Vincent, including former AL president Lee MacPhail. Player Relations Committee and Montreal Expos executive John McHale and Democratic National
Twenty-one clubs are needed to elect a commissioner and to change the authority of the office.
Committee chairman Ron Brown.
"Ifanything, you may see it strengthened," Reindsöd said of the commissioner's job. "The strongest commissioner in sports is David Stern, and I suspect when baseball gets restructured, he would go to NBA, where everyone reports to the commissioner, and the commissioner reports to the board of directors."
In the meantime, owners said they were unlikely to make decisions on their own.
placed on the agenda for today's own ership committee meeting.
"We're trying to get this done," Giants owner Bob Lurie said. "I don't know whether they will vote or not. We have to see how far we can get."
Lurie announced Aug. 7 that he had agreed to sell the team to a Florida group for $111 million, pending approval from the other clubs.
Reinsord and AL president Bobby Brown said the AL was not prepared to vote on the Giants.
"We can't consider anything because we haven't received any documents," Brown said.