THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER, 11, 2011
PAGE 17.
CROSS COUNTRY
Teams prepare for regionals, look to qualify for nationals
MAX GOODWIN
nggoodwin@kansan.com
Members of the women's cross country team think they haven't run a race all season that reveals their collective ability.
The Jayhawks will have their last chance to do so at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet on Saturday.
"We haven't put it all together yet," senior Rebeka Stowe said. "We have a good team and we have a lot of ability. We have one more shot at getting it. At this point it's do or die."
Stowe, the senior leader of the team, talks about the regional meet with a sense of urgency. If the women's team finishes in the top two of the team standings at the meet, the Jayhawks will automatically qualify for the national meet on Nov. 21.
The Jayhawks ran well in Wisconsin at the Adidas Invitational, but they've had disappointing races as well, such the Big 12 championship meet. The team goes into Saturday focusing on two teams in the regional: Iowa State and Tulsa.
Iowa State finished ahead of Kansas at the Big 12 Championships, but Kansas finished higher at the Adidas Invitational.
Tulsa is a team that Kansas has not yet faced but based on statistics, the Jayhawks think Tulsa is a team they need to beat in their quest to reach nationals.
"We can't let anything shock us
"What we need to do is get in there and take care of business and be one of the top two teams so that we're definitely there," Stowe said.
The Jayhawks insist pressure won't be a factor for the team, despite the possibility that Saturday might be the team's last race of the season.
"We don't want this to be our last race," sophomore Josh Munsch said.
"We know we can make it to nationals," junior Tessa Turcotte said.
"The pressure is not there, it's just about getting the job done."
Coach Stanley Redwine has urged runners to run in a pack all season.
PHOTO
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into not running together" senior Austin Bussing said.
Redwine also told the Jayhawks to run with the confidence that they will be successful.
The men's team faces the same do or die situation in the regional meet.
Watching film of the Big 12 championship meet showed Busing and the rest of the team that, with a bit more effort, they could have closed the gaps between the team's runners.
"It's time for us to run our best race out there and run like there's no tomorrow" assistant coach Michael Whittlesey said. "There's no question we need our great leadership from our captains this weekend."
Those captains are Stowe and senior Kara Windisch. The three runners after them — Turcotte, Cori Christensen and Kyra Kilwein — will serve as the biggest influences in determining where the Jayhawks finish.
QUIDDITCH
That's what the Jayhawks will try to do this time around.
"We're going to be counting on these young guys for the next two or three years," Whittlesey said. "They need to gain a lot of experience from the meet this year, and hopefully crack into our top five and make an impact."
Edited by Jayson Jenks
Team travels to New York for World Cup
HANNAH WISE
hwise@kansan.com
Today, the quidditch team travels to New York City. Tomorrow, the team's first International Quidditch Association World Cup begins. Twenty Kansas quidditch members are going to take on the other 86 World Cup caliber teams Saturday and Sunday.
Last night, the quidditch team met for the last time before heading to the airport. They discussed the weekend's schedule and final strategies. The team was bubbling with excitement as they sat in captain Nicole Denney's apartment.
Freshman beater (defender), Kate Cooley looks at the schedule for the International Quidditch Association World Cup Nov. 13-14.
HANNAH WISE/KANSAN
"This is on a completely different scale," said beater Kristine Hoang. "People know who we are. They will see our jerseys. They will say, 'That's Kansas. We need to watch out for them.'"
The team formed in the fall of 2010 with 13 members. Since then, the original members have recruited and they are now 50 members strong. These are not simply Harry Potter lovers running around on a field. They are athletes.
The team has spent the last several weeks practicing and conditioning.
"Running," said chaser Ronell Sharp. "I've been doing my own personal small work outs working on explosion and changing direction."
chance for Kansas to face many East Coast schools, including reigning World Cup champion Middlebury College from Vermont.
Middlebury was the birth place of real life quidditch. In the documentary about the 2010 World Cup "Brooms Up," an entire section is devoted to discussing Middlebury and how they have been unbeatable. One commentator explains how everyone at Middlebury plays quidditch and the team that represents Middlebury at the World Cup each year is the best team on campus.
The extra practice is necessary. The teams at the World Cup have more playing experience than the Kansas team. The tournament is also the first
"We aren't as worried about them as we are about Louisiana State." Kansas captain Doug Whiston said. "We think they are the hands-down favorite to win this tournament."
Whiston explained that LSU is bringing a level of size and aggression that Kansas has not seen before.
"They are physically capable," said Hoang. "They are kind of intimidating in that factor."
Before Kansas will have a chance at Middlebury or LSU, the teams will have to play through individual pools on Saturday.
Kansas was placed in Pool G along with the No. 26 University of Utah, No. 41 Hofstra University from Long Island, N.Y., No. 49 University of Vermont and No. 65 Ringling College from Sarasota, Fla.
much."
"We think we were very lucky to get the pool that we did." Whiston said. "Our toughest matchup is Utah. They are a little less known, but from what we've seen, they don't score very well."
There have been calls for the Kansas quaddiitch team to prove themselves at the World Cup because they have been a relatively unknown team until winning the Midwest Cup, Oct. 9 in Fisher's, Ind.
After the tournament the team was ranked No.1 in the world, above Middlebury. The team has since dropped to No.2, below Middlebury
and above LSU.
and above Kansas' strength is its speed. Throughout the Midwest Cup the chasers, the offensive players, were able to run past the beaters, the defenders, and catch the keeper, the goalie, off-guard
On the other hand, quidditch rules require that two girls be on the field at all times. Kansas is taking six girls. The team is relying on rapid-rotations
Saturday will be entirely pool play. Sunday the top teams will be seeded into brackets. Sunday's matches will be single elimination, Kansas' first match is against Vermont at 9:30 a.m. CST on Saturday.
to keep the girls from becoming too tired early in the day.
Edited by Josh Kantor