4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008
CROSS COUNTRY
Freshmen make easy transition
jbaker@kansan.com
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
Freshmen runners Laura Nightengale, Zach Zarda, Rebeka Wastein have found the transition to collegiate challenging but satisfying.
Freshmen on the Kansas cross country team have to figure out how to balance their schoolwork along with competing at a Division I level. These freshmen have made that balancing act look easy.
"It's been cool because everything's fresh and new," freshman Zach Zarda said.
Zarda had an impressive showing at the beginning of the season at the Missouri XC Challenge, placing sixth place overall and first for his team.
Zarda even earned Big 12 Runner of the Week in mid-September.
"It was a surprise. I wasn't expecting it, especially my freshman year," Zarda said "It's a real big honor, so I'll take it."
However, Zarda had to miss out on the Midwest Regional Championships last weekend because of a stress fracture that developed during the season.
He said the injury was unfortunate but wasn't going to take him out of the indoor and outdoor season.
Like Zarda, freshman Laura Nightengale had to end her season before Regionals because of injuries.
"I was really sad that I wasn't able to compete and train with the team," Nightengale said. "But at the same time I wasn't in the shape to help my team, and I needed to get myself healthy to help out with track."
Nightengale had a best showing at the Oklahoma State Jamboree, where she placed 39th overall and third for the Jayhawks.
Nightengale said that she saw practice as a stress reliever.
One thing the freshmen had to get adjusted to was the longer distance that running on the collegiate level demands. For the men, it was going from 5K to 8K distance and going from 4K to 6K for the women.
"It's a considerable jump," Zarda said. "But if you're good enough to run at a Division 1 level, then jumping from a 5K to an 8K is not a big deal."
Freshman Rebeka Stowe said she preferred running at the collegiate level.
"Personally, I enjoy the longer distance," Stowe said. "We had a couple 5Ks at the beginning which help with the transition."
Stowe had a best showing in a 6K at the Oklahoma State Jamboree, placing 47th place overall and fifth for her team. Stowe said that it had been a big change going from high school to collegiate running.
"It's a big difference running- wise and also lifestyle, getting used to being on your own," Stowe said. "But we get along really well as a team, kind of like a family."
Throughout the season, freshman Donny Wasinger had been one of the top runners for the jayhawks, finishing first for the team at the Bob Timmons Classic, the first meet of the year. He also finished first for his team and 29th overall at Regionalers on Nov. 15.
"At Bob Timmons, I was pretty happy about finishing first," he said. "After a while I didn't think about it. I just wanted to do what I could to help the team do as well as we could."
Wasinger said he felt happy with how the year raised people's expectations of the team.
"I'm looking forward to the next couple of years," Wasinger said. "We've got such a young team and the next couple years look very promising."
—Edited by Adam Mowder
Phoenix Suns. Barkley said he "couldn't tell" specific stories about what he remembered from those two years, but loved playing with Manning.
Barkley and Manning led the Suns to the playoffs during both seasons they were together.
"It was cool for me to play with Danny because he was a big time name," Barkley said. "If you know anything about college basketball, you know who he is."
MANNING (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Manning discussed at length the championship game and what it meant to him. Manning, however, struggled to put into words what the Hall of Fame induction meant to him.
He thought Barkley summed it up best.
"After we won the championship, seeing the locker room and my teammates just enjoy each other's company," Manning said. "that's something that sticks out at me until this day"
Manning spent most of his time at the Hall of Fame press conference discussing his memories of the championship game. It was easy for him, especially because the game happened two miles away at Kemper Arena 20 years ago.
And Manning still represented the consummate team player. He deflected praise off himself by saying he didn't view the honor as an "individual award." Without his teammates, Manning says it wouldn't be possible.
Something that sticks out in Barkley's mind is when he was teammates with Manning from 1994 to 1996 in the NBA on the
making sure we didn't feel that way"
"Like Charles said, this is pretty cool." Manning said.
Packer, who covered college basketball for 34 years, said Manning's 31-point, 18-rebound, 5-steal, 2-block performance in the 83-79 national championship victory against Oklahoma was one of the best of all time. He also considered the game one of the most memorable upsets in Final Four history.
But Manning said his team never looked at it that way. He remembers coach Larry Brown coconcting a game plan to beat Oklahoma, which he credits as the main reason for winning.
"I never thought they would win the national championship," Packer said.
Not many people did. After all, the Jayhawks were a six-seed playing against a top-seeded Sooner squad they had already lost to twice earlier in the season.
"We didn't think we were the underdogs," Manning said. "Coach Brown did a great job of
Edited by Rachel Burchfield
TAYLOR (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Taylor said Self talked to him recently about anticipating steals the way Chalmers — who ranks second all-time at Kansas with 283 steals — did. Taylor thinks he's up for the challenge and might gamble more for steals in the upcoming games.
coming together. Collins won't be surprised if Taylor shows it against Washington tonight or Florida/ Syracuse tomorrow at the Sprint Center as part of the CBE Classic.
Either way, Taylor, who wears the No. 15 jersey Chalmers left behind last year, is flattered.
"Tyshawn is the type that can have a breakout game," Collins said. "I've seen it before and I'm expecting him to have a breakout game coming here in the next two games."
BY DOUG TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS
similarities between Taylor and former Jayhawk Mario Chalmers. Self said Taylor had some of the same abilities and hoped he could grow into a lock-down defender like Chalmers.
And if he does, Collins will make sure he doesn't flaunt it too much.
Self's high-regard for Taylor, however, has translated into the coach being tougher on him. During games, Self yells at Taylor a lot from the bench. Collins says it's the same way in practice.
Taylor's turnovers aggravate Self. In the first two games, Taylor has committed five. Self says Taylor "needs to value the ball" if he wants to be a standout player in his first year in Kansas.
—Edited by Ramsey Cox
His teammates think it's all
"To be compared to him is awesome," Taylor said. "I want to say that I hope I can fill his shoes."
Snyder returns to K-State
A person with knowledge of the hiring told The Associated Press that the 69-year-old Snyder would be introduced at a news conference Monday morning. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder has told school officials that he will return to coach the Wildcats.
Snyder retired three years ago after turning around the football program at Kansas State in
what's been called "the Miracle in Manhattan." He left with a 136-
Snyder
68-1 record and was replaced by Ron Prince. The school said only that the news conference was to discuss the coaching situation. When Snyder took over after the 1988 season, the Wildcats had gone 0-21-1 their two previous years and many people in the Big Eight Conference were wondering if the school ought to give up major college football status.
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Saturday, Nov. 29
Watch the extinction of the Tigers.
Where beating our rivals is tradition.
The Wildcats had a record of 299-510, the only major college with 500 losses. They'd won one conference title - in 1934 - and enjoyed two winning seasons in 34 years.
But by 1997, Snyder had the Wildcats contending for national as well as Big 12 honors.
As one long-suffering fan put it at the time, "It's like we're a big extended family that that's been living in poverty for generations, but now we've got a smart uncle who's making us all rich."
When Snyder retired as the most revered figure in the school's athletic history, the stadium was renamed "Bill Snyder Family Stadium," and the highway leading from Interstate 70 into Manhattan was renamed "Bill Snyder Highway."
Prince, who replaced Snyder after the 2005 season, was fired with three games left but finished out this season.
He was 17-20 and beaten down by the same disadvantages that have plagued Kansas State for decades: no major population within a short distance to recruit from and less money than the more richly endowed institutions.