THE UNIVERSITY DARRY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008
SPORTS
7B
CROSS COUNTRY
Several Jayhawks shine as both teams place eighth
Junior Lauren Bonds earns All-Big 12 honors, places 15th
BY JASON BAKER
jbaker@kansan.com
Junior Lauren Bonds finished in 15th overall in the Women's
Coming into the Big 12 Championships, the Jayhawks wanted to show that they weren't the team they were at last year's meet and had hopes of placing in the top half. They may not have placed as high as they wanted with both teams placing in eighth place, but they got more than expected.
6K with a time of 21:31.
Not only did Bonds place first for the Jayhawks, she also earned All-Big 12 Honors, making her the
Bonds
second woman in the history of Kansas cross country to earn the honors.
"I'm really proud of her." Freshman Laura Nightengale said. "She deserves it, she works hard and is really dedicated."
Nightengale placed 91st overall coming back from having to sit out of Pre-Nationals with a stress reaction in her leg. "I had been doing a lot of cross training, which is hard to translate into running. But the rest of the team stepped up and I'm proud of them."
Right behind Bonds was sophomore Amanda Miller in 38th place with a time of 22:17. It's the fifth consecutive meet that both Bonds and Miller have finished as the top two performers on the women's side for the lahawks.
"It's good to have consistency." Miller said. "Everyone has an off race and it helps to have people you know will do well."
The women's team eighth place performance was its second-best showing at the conference championships.
"It was a big step going from 11th to eighth place," freshman Rebeka Stowe said. "We can only
results
Women's 6K
Kansas: Eight place
Average time: 22:23
Kansas: Eighth place
Average time: 22:23
Top Women's Performers:
12. Lauren Bonds 21:31
38. Amanda Miller
22:17.35
41. Kara Windisch
22:25.20
55. Alison Knoll
22:49.95
57. Megan James
22:52.70
Men's 8K
Men's 8K
Kansas: Eighth place
Average time: 25:40
Average time: 25:40
Top Men's Performers:
28. Don Wasinger
25:17.63
38. Bret Imgrund 25:30.98
40. Nick Caprario
25:32.58
50. Dan Van Orsdel
25:58.38
52. Isaiah Shirlen
26:04.68
young team."
In the Men's 8K, freshman Donny Wasinger was the top finisher for the team for the second consecutive meet, placing in 28th place with a time of 25:17.
"I went out faster than I had all year and I was little worried mid-race," he said. "I ended up
doing all right, I wanted to finish strong and to shoot for Top 30." Junior Bret Imgrund finished 38th overall and second for
the team with a time of 25:30 followed by sophomore Nick Caprario in 40th with a time of 25:32.
Wasinger
Caprario felt that the team did a lot better than the previous meet.
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Texas Tech took first place for the women's 6K and Oklahoma State took first in the men's 8K. Marking the first year that Colorado not taking first in either the men's or women's race.
—The top 15 finishers at the Big 12 Conference Championships in both men and women's races get all conference honors.
Texas Tech Senior Sally Kipyego became the first runner in Big 12 history, men's or women's, to win three consecutive Big 12 individual championships.
—Jason Baker
— Oklahoma State Freshman German Fernan dez took first in the Men's 8K. While their top five runners all placed in the Top 15.
"At Pre-Nats a lot of us didn't hit on the same day," he said. "At Big 12s a lot of us were on the same page. There was talk of us getting 11th in conference and everyone did a good job rising to the call."
"The Big 12 is one of the premier conferences, and to be lined up with teams like Colorado, Oklahoma State and Texas is always fun."
Next on the team's schedule are the Midwest Regional Championships in Stillwater, Okla. on November 15th. It previously raced at the OSU Jamboree back in early October and the team is looking forward to returning.
"There will be a good mix of teams from the Big 12 and the Big Ten," said Miller. "We want to go in and make them think we should've been higher ranked."
— Edited by Arthur Hur
Despite the loss, there were solid performances turned in by Jayhawk swimmers. Senior Danielle Herrmann came away with first-place finishes in her individual events. Senior Maria Mayrovich also had an individual first place with her win in the 50-yard freestyle.
and 200-yard backstroke events on the day.
The Kansas women's swimming and diving squad, which cracked the Top 25 at No. 23 this past week, was outmatched by No.21 Missouri in the Border Showdown dual meet on Saturday afternoon. Missouri swam to a 173.5-123.5 victory against Kansas.
SWIMMING & DIVING Newly ranked Jayhawks lose meet to rival Tigers
Herrmann teamed up with sophomore Joy Bunting in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM to collect some key points for the Jayhawks. Bunting finished in third in the 100-yard
Along with Kuzhi's performance in the relay, she also placed second in both the 100-
Sophomore Lulisa Kuzhil, Hermann, senior Ashley Leidigh, and junior Emily Lanteigne guided the 200-yard medley relay (1:43.94) to victory to start out the meet.
breaststroke and second in the 200-yard IM behind Herrmann.
Sophomore Erin Mertz placed the highest out of KU divers with third-place places in both 1- and 3-meter diving.
the Jayhawks was the 500-yard freestyle, where Lanteigne and freshman Shannon Garlie finished second and third.
One other race that produced points for
Mertz
Herrmann
Next up on the women's swimming and diving schedule is a home dual meet against Drury on Friday, Nov. 7. Following the Drury meet, KU will swim against Evansville on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Robinson Natatorium.
Adam Samson
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Little not expected to play against Washburn
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Mario Little's injury was never supposed to be this serious.
Little arrived on campus in June with a stress fracture in his lower left leg. No one thought it was anything more than a minor nausea.
The junior guard still played in Kansas' three exhibition games in Canada over Labor Day weekend and scrimmaged with the team during Late Night in the Phog-Kansas coach Bill Self said he thought the stress fracture would heal in time for the season.
"He's definitely out for an extended period of time," Self said. "Now, we don't know if that's two weeks from today or five weeks from today. We're hopeful he's a fast healer."
It didn't. Little hasn't practiced for the last week and is now on crutches. He won't play in Tuesday's exhibition game against Washburn and Self isn't sure when Little will return.
It's a tough loss for the Jayhawks. They were counting on Little, the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, to make an immediate impact
Kansas has also dealt with an injury to its other junior college transfer — junior guard Tyrone Appleton. Appleton returned
this season.
to practice Thursday after missing three weeks with a hip-flexor injury.
said Appleton was impressive coming off of his injury.
Appleton sustained the injury during one of the last boot camp practices when he slipped while running. Appleton said although he
"We've had injuries every year here, but Mario's injury has been bigger than what most injuries would be because we desperately need him to be healthy."
"He looked really good," Taylor said. "Even coach Self said it."
Appleton will
play in the game against Washburn, but his minutes will be limited because he missed somany practices. As for Little, the best case scenario seems to be a return for the regular season opener on Nov. 16 against UMKC.
BILL SELF Men's basketball coach
knew he was missing valuable practice time, Self kept him positive.
Self abides by the unwritten coaches' law of not complaining about injuries. That doesn't mean he's downplaying their significance.
"It was really frustrating." Appleton said. "He just told me, 'Keep a positive attitude and don't try to rush it back — just take your time and get healthy.'"
Appletons said he was pleased with his performance since returning to practice. His teammates concurred. Junior guard Sherron Collins and freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor
"Everybody has injuries," Self said. "We've had injuries every year here, but Mario's injury has been bigger than what most injuries would be because we desperately need him to be healthy."
— Edited by Arthur Hur
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POLLSPEAK
The national media and the country's college basketball coaches think Kansas is one of the top 25 teams in the country
Bill Self does not. Self thought both major pre-season polls that were released at the end of last week were a bit too rewarding. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll ranked Kansas 23rd while the Associated Press Poll placed it at 24.
"I think that's in large part due to the great respect they probably have for us winning it all last year," Self said. "We do not look like the 23rd or 24th ranked team."
Self, however, didn't pull out the usual coach cliché of saying preseason polls don't matter anyway. Self even said he was honored the Jayhawks were ranked.
"I'm excited we're ranked," Self said. "I'd rather be ranked than not ranked."
TWO POINT GUARDS,
ONE BASKETBALL
Sherron Collins and Tyshawn
Taylor are expected to be on the court a lot together this season.
Both are known as being point guards so the question must be asked: Who will bring the ball up the court when they are both in?
"I think it depends," Taylor said. "If I'm bringing it up, Sherron will probably be scoring most of the time. If the ball is out of his hands bringing it up that means I can create a shot for him — same for him bringing the ball up."
READY FOR THE EXHIBITION?
Marcus Morris speaks for both himself and the rest of the freshmen when he says he's excited for Tuesday's game against Washburn.
"I'm a little nervous," Morris said. "But I think the jitters will come out quick."
Morris said he was anxious to play against someone other than his teammates inside of Allen Fieldhouse. He wasn't worried about how the young team would respond to the pressure.
Bill Self feels a little differently.
"I don't think we're ready to play a game," Self said. "But I say that every year and it usually plays out to be true."
FORMER KANSAS
TARGET TO TRANSFEF
Jeff Withey, a 7-foot freshman center, is transferring from the University of Arizona, according to the Tucson Citizen.
Withey has not indicated where he plans to transfer, but considered Kansas, Georgetown, Boston College and Texas last season before choosing Arizona. Rivals.com ranked Withey as the No. 35 recruit in the nation last year.
STUDENT TICKETS AVAILABLE
The first student pickup for basketball tickets began last week.
Students can pick up tickets for the first eight games of the season either by visiting the Allen Fieldhouse box office or online at www.kuathletics.com.
Case Keefer
Choose a Career Teaching Languages
Teachers of world languages are in demand today and will be increasingly sought after in the years ahead.
For information on how to become a licensed Foreign Language Teacher, contact the School of Education at http://soe.ku.edu/prospective-students/teacher_education.php
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