PAGE 8A
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
"It will make a lot of people mad" Johnson said. "It's big time motivation."
FOOTBALL 10
While a vocal leader like Johnson had a colorful reaction to hearing the prediction, not every player and coach believes it will make a difference to the team.
Sophomore running back James Sims knew nothing about what Sports Illustrated has said, but he didn't seem too fazed when hearing that the he wouldn't like what they had to say.
"We don't really pay attention to all of that," Sims said. "We know we didn't have a great season last year, and were building on from that; were working hard and pushing each other to get better."
Gill quickly shot down the notion of allowing such a thing as a motivation tool.
"We don't need to use anything." Gill said. "It is what it is with last season and we just have to get better as a football team.
Some coaches would jump all over the opportunity to use the prediction as a motivator and bulletin board material — not Turner Gill.
While sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb remained in the dark about the article, he did acknowledge the lack of respect Kansas has been receiving. Webb has heard other predictions and says it's all it takes when the team isn't giving their all.
"We talk about it almost every day," Webb said. "Especially when the team is getting down, all it's really need for motivation."
As for Johnson, his jaw dropped when he first heard about the article. He turned and looked for confirmation from someone in the athletics department.
He looked insulted.
Once everything set in, the first words out of his mouth told the general sentiment of how he felt.
"I just want to prove all these people wrong." Johnson said.
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
— Edited by Jonathan Shorman
Freshman running back Brandon Bourbon goes through drills during practice Tuesday afternoon. Kansas will take on McNeese State as their first opponent of the 2011 season on Sept. 9 at Memorial Stadium.
VOLLEYBALL | 10
the rhythm of things and helps you understand that everybody has an important role on the team, whether you're starting or not," farmoc said. "Coach Bechard would always be very positive when I was encouraging people in practice, and it makes you feel valued; even though you're not starting you're helping them out in some way."
Jarmoc emerged as a star player her freshman year, being named the Jayhawk Classic Most Valuable Player and recording 93 block assists, ninth most in school history. With three seasons to go, she said she knows what she needs to work on if she wants to go down as one of the all-time greats in the program's history.
Volleyball runs in the family for Jarmoc, whose brother Thomas and sister Patricia have both played the sport at the collegiate level. Sibling rivalry often emerged in the form of playful on court confrontations.
"I definitely want to be stronger in blocks and I want to be a very dominant attacker in the front," jarmoc said. "We're working a ton with getting middles up in transition, and I feel like all of our middles will do a very good job with that this year."
"There would be cocky showdowns, but it was all in good fun," Jarmoc said. "It's good because all of us play different positions, so we can't really compare to each other. My cousin who is 27 also played volleyball, and she played professional beach for a while. So it's very much in the family."
In fact, Jarmoc's own parents were athletes long before Caroline began acing on the court. Her parents immigrated from Poland, where her father Jacek played basketball and her mother Zofia was a high jumper. Having athletic parents definitely helped her develop a competitive edge, Jarmoc said.
"I feel like all the kids are confident, and I think confidence helps in being competitive, that you're sure of yourself and you're always driven," Jarmoc said. "It was helpful that they were athletes because they know how you have to time manage and handling fatigue, and that rest is a really important thing. With little injuries they knew what to do right away because they've all been through it."
Jarmoc said she gets her relentlessness from her parents, who had to fight for everything they had when they started a new life from scratch in Canada. As children, they made sure Caroline and her siblings knew they had to work for everything in life.
"In every aspect of my life, it's pretty much go 100 percent or nothing." Jarmoc said. "I've told my teammates sometimes when I'm reluctant doing something it's because I know that if I start it, I'm going to it 100 percent
Jarmoc
and do it to the best of my ability. That definitely spills over into academics and studying and assignments and doing the best I can in classes."
Having athletic parents may have helped Jarmoc handle high pressure situations, Bechard said.
"They may be competitive and know what commitment means," Bechard said. "Anytime there is that type of culture in the household. I think it may help a bit."
While Jarmoc still has three years to achieve her goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament, she is looking atthis year as a golden opportunity she refuses to let slip away.
"We're not settling for anything this year," Jarmoc said. "We want to push ourselves to make each other better."
Jarmco's vocal presence sets the tone during practice, but her roommate can't help but find humor in some of her antics.
"She just says funny things when she gets frustrated, and we laugh at her funny Canadian expressions," Tolefree said.
Edited by Rachel Schultz
ROWING
Crew trains for fall before making waves
The rowing team does not begin competing until September, but the crew is training up until then.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
KAITLYN BUTKO
kbutko@kansan.com
Although the rowing team doesn't enter the water until Sept. 6, training has begun for the fall portion of the season.
During preparations, senior Angela Mings focuses particularly on the Big 12 Championship.
"We definitely had a good Big 12 race; we were very close to a lot of schools for a large portion but close to the end there was more distance. That race got me excited, it showed us we can beat boats off the start and beat boats at 1000 meters."
Mings said. "That's one race we really prepare for and that's the big race that's always in the back of your mind."
Coach Rob Catloth understands just how important the Big 12 Championship and the Conference USA Championship are in deciding how the team is ranked nationally.
"We want to be top Big 12 and do well in Conference USA, which gives us a really good chance of being a top 20 team," Catloth said.
Agreeing with Catloth, senior Kathryn Schoonover said that though the team performed well last season, there was still motivation to
"Big 12 is a big race and it has good competition but ultimately what we want is Conference USA. It wem well, the times were nice and we definitely improved on the season," Schoonover said. "But whenever we're not coming out on top, we want to keep working."
continue improving.
Several new rowers entering the programs may be just what the team needs to come out on top.
"I think our goal is to have good freshmen coming in. They're going to help this year and the next couple of years," Catloh said. "There are a lot of young rowers in the program,
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"I think the most difficult challenge will be overcoming other teams' perceptions," Schoonover said. "We're not going to let those assumptions affect us. We know what we've been doing 20 hours a week. We know what we can do. It's just being confident in our abilities."
Mings said showing that confidence, while bringing a positive mentality, sets the standard for the rest of the team.
As a senior, Schoonover knows the importance, and challenge, of overlooking expectations from opponents.
and we're hoping to turn that into bigger success this coming spring."
"For me, I think that stepping out of the underclassmen, junior role and stepping into a leading role now that I'm a senior," Mings said about what would be difficult. "The seniors play a large role in how the team acts, behaves and looks at practice and competitions. There's no one to look up to, I'm now the one people look up to."
With strong senior leadership and talented newcomers on her team, Schoonover has high hopes for the season.
"I'm pretty confident. We've got a lot of people coming back and good leaders. We even have some new girls coming in who's rowed before, which is rare because rowing is so unpopular in high school." Schoonover said. "The only way to go is up so it's going to be a good season."
Edited by Jason Bennett
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