THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY. AUGUST 18, 2011
CROSS COUNTRY
PAGE 15B.
Teams aim to top last year's mediocre finish
Coach Stanley Redwine expects Wasinger and Stowe to lead teams
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
As the cross country season approach, coach Stanley Redwine hopes both men's and women's teams will do better than last year.
Redwine made clear that it would take time to gauge his athletes abilities before determining
"A seventh place finish is not something to be boasting about," Redwine said. "At the same time, I think that it was a great start for the young people on the team."
how to build the training sessions for his practices.
"We have to hope the athletes get here having done what they were supposed to do over the summer," Redwine said. Without
having the opportunity to see his team in action, Redwine doesn't know what to expect from his returning runners.
were supposed to do over the summer."
"With cross country you have to come in pretty much in shape, Redwine said. "They were given specific miles to run per week, unfortunately the NCAA doesn't allow us to monitor those summer workouts, so we have to hope the athletes do their part."
from 45 to 80 miles per week.
While the overall status of the team is still undetermined, Redwine is looking to two standouts to be the spark that leads the Jayhawks in the right direction.
Redwine went on to note that over the summer he asked his runners to maintain a workout of an assigned distance that ranged
"Donny Wasinger was an NCAA qualifier last year, and Rebeka Stowe was an All-American in track. You would expect his performances and her experience to lead the team this year," Redwine said.
STANLEY REDWINE Coach
Last season for the Jayhawks, Wasinger was a top finisher in the five meets he raced in. The postseason yielded him an invitation to the NCAA Championships where he finished the 10K in 233rd with a time of 33:02.7. Stowe, on the other hand, garnered All-Big 12 honors en route to her 12 place finish at the
Big 12 Championships while also being named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's All-Academic team.
The cross country season opens up at home with the Bob Timmons Classic on Sept. 3, before they head to Columbia, Mo., for the Missouri Cross Country Challenge the following week.
Edited by Lisa Curran
Junior Zach Zarda charges up the Jim Ryun Skyline ahead of Park University's Daniel Tubel at Rim Rock Farm last season. The cross country team placed seventh in the Big 12 championships last year. "At the same time, I think that it was a great start for the young team on the team," said coach Stanley Redine.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
VOLLEYBALL
Team hops across the pond for preseason bonding
Senior outside hitter Karina Garlington spikes the ball at Horei's Family Athletics Center last season. The volleyball team competed in Europe this summer.
MIKE GUNNOF/KANSAN
MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
Athens. Ga., that is.
A 12-day tour of Europe may have prepared the Kansas volleyball team for its first tournament in Athens.
In June, the team traveled to Europe to challenge European squads in seven matches, or roughly 25 percent of a team's games for a regular season. The team finished with an impressive 5-2 record.
Outside hitter Allison Mayfield is one of three seniors on this year's squad. Mayfield said going nearly two weeks without cell phones and contact with any outsiders brought the team closer together.
"I think it could be part of why our team has such good chemistry," Mayfield said. "We were very fortunate the athletic department let us go. I think we grew stronger as a team."
The volleyball team will open its season Aug. 26 as part of the Georgia Bulldog Invitational in Athens, Ga. The Jayhawks will play host school Georgia as well as Florida A&M and Liberty.
Coach Ray Bechard said the tournament will be a good test for his sophomore-heavy team, which held its first practice Aug. 9.
in both offensively and defensively," Bechard said "But this time of year, if you can't side out, if you're not offensively in order, then you're going to really struggle. So we've got to get
our offensive patterns down first. The serving and defensive part of it will continue to materialize as we go throughout the year."
and ready to contribute.
Bechard's squad returns 10 sophomores from his 26th-ranked PrepVoleyball.com recruiting class from 2010. Between last season's playing time and the summer travel experience, Bechard said his sophomores should be seasoned
"You've got to get your systems
"I really don't know that there is a sophomore class in the country that got to play more matches and got more contact," Bechard said. "So we're looking at them like they've got to be contributors."
Junior outside hitter Allison Mayfield bumps the ball at HoreeIs Family Athletics Center last season. The Jayhawks competed in Europe this summer.
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN
NICOLE TATE Senior setter
"I expect people to pick up
last season, barely missing the cut for the NCAA tournament. Though the Jayhawks jumped to an early 7-0 record, they collapsed in conference play and failed
their game, because last year was really disappointing," Tate said. "This year is my last chance, and I want to go out big. The only way I want to end it is by going to the tournament."
Mayfield said she has expected to make the tournament every year since she was a freshman, but she feels this year may be her best shot vet.
Making the tournament for the first time in six seasons would be a signature moment for the small senior class. Setter Nicole Tate, a senior, said making the tournament would erase bitter feelings that still linger from last season.
"With this squad, we have a lot of returning players and a few newbies who can really help us out," Mayfield said. "So our goal again is to make the NCAA
The team posted a 17-14 record
to make their first tournament since 2005.
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY SEPT. 24 (4p.m.)
SATURDAY SEPT. 28 (6:30 p.m.)
SOURCE: KUATHLETICS.COM
tournament, and I think we really have a shot this year."
Edited by C.J. Matson