4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CROSS COUNTRY
FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2008
Veterans and rookies combine forces for Rim Rock meet
BY JASON BAKER
jbaker@kansan.com
Kansas football won't be the only sport going on in Lawrence this Saturday — KU cross country will sponsor the Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm. It's the team's first meet, and its only home contest.
Many team members trained over the summer; some even trained
with each other. Freshman Rebeka Stowe, a newcomer on the team, trained with sophomore Amanda Miller over the summer.
"She forced me to get up every
morning and run," Stowe said. "But it's good to have that kind of leadership"
Stowe said she looked up to Miller and sophomore Lauren Bonds a lot.
"I can talk to her about anything from T-shirt sizes to what to do at practices. It's good to have someone there that you're comfortable talking to," she said of Miller. "Lauren's definitely a hard worker. It's good to have that at practice."
The team is ready for the season to get underway.
"We're all excited to see how our training translates into our racing and get an idea of where we're starting the season," Laura Nightengale, freshman, said.
This year's team has several
underclassmen and a couple of transfers as well. Junior Isaiah Shirlen transferred from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte to take a bigger step in competing.
"The Big 12 is probably one of the two or three toughest conferences in the nation; it should be interesting," Shirlen said.
With all the new faces on the team, some of the returning runners have been given the opportunity to step up and be leaders.
"As you get older, you feel more responsibility to lead." Levi Huseman, senior, said. "As far as running goes, that's Bret (Imgrund) and Nick (Caprario), but vocally I trv and step up" he continued.
The concern for the freshman was the transition from running
high school distance to a much longer collegiate distance, but a lot of the freshmen said they were excited to compete in their first collegiate meet and didn't feel much pressure.
"There's not too many teams at this one," Don Wasinger, freshman, said. "We can get our feet wet and make the transition."
The team members said they've been pushing each other.
"Everyone's trying to make the travel team and varsity; we don't have any slackers," Sam Bird, freshman, said. "Everyone's pushing each other and working hard. It helps yourself feel faster and be a better runner."
Bird said that he'd always been a long-distance guy and that this should be in his favor for the season. He said that he looked up to former runner Colby Wissel, who practices with the team.
"He makes it sound more down to earth and relaxed, and (there's) not as much pressure as you think," Bird said, talking about Wissel's attitude about racing at the collegiate level.
For some of the returning runners, living up to what Colby Wissel and Paul Heferon accomplished is a concern.
"We have to live up to the Kansas name since they put us on back the map," said sophomore Dan Van Orsdel. "Hopefully we can fill their shoes."
Sophomore Nick Caprario said he was also feeling the pressure to live up to his own expectations.
"I think there's always been a
chip on my shoulder," Caprario said. "Especially freshman year, having to get out there and prove myself. But I feel confident in my ability."
This year's race will be different. The course will not include the Billy Mills hill. This cuts the women's race from a 6K- to a 5K-long route, but the men's race will stay at the 8K distance. Bonds said it was definitely a good thing, but a lot of the returning men didn't agree.
"It's the main thing in the course; we look forward to it and it makes the course tough," Van Orsdel said.
The men's team will compete at 9 a.m. and the women's team will compete at 10 a.m.
Edited by Kelsey Hayes
Victory against Brewers puts Cards back in wild-card race
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Louis Cardinals jumped back into the wild-card scrum.
Carlos Villanueva's arm-raising, in-your-face gesture after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the seventh woke up the Cardinals against a team that's handled them all year, leading to a four-run rally in the eighth inning of a 5-3 victory against the Brewers on Wednesday night.
Ryan Ludwick lacked a triple for the cycle and drove in two runs, including Albert Pujols to start the big comeback. Pujols had taken a few menacing steps toward the celebrating Villanueva before being steered away by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, and then he answered with a double off David Riske (1-2) to open the eighth.
"When you start pointing to the dugout and saying all the things that he was saying, a guy that respects the game like I myself, I didn't appreciate it and I had to let him know," Pujols said. "I guess he did us a favor. He woke up a sleeping giant."
Rebounding from a 12-0 rout Tuesday, the Cardinals pulled within 3½ games of the Brewers for the NL wild-card lead. That's where they were starting a two-game series that was their final shot against Milwaukee.
The Brewers took the season series 10-5 and had won seven in a row against the Cardinals before Wednesday.
"There's days we're not good enough, but we really try," manager Tony La Russa said. "We have more talent than people think."
St. Louis Cardinals' Aaron Miles hits an RBI-single to put the Cardinals up 4-3 over the Milwaukee Brewers during the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, in St. Louis. The Cardinals won 5-3.
The Cardinals were held to four hits in the first five innings and had a scoreless streak of 19 innings against Milwaukee pitching dating to July before Ludwick's 32nd homer off Manny Parra in the sixth. They left the bases loaded in the seventh when Joe Mather fouled out against Villanueva, who celebrated demonstratively while facing the St. Louis dugout.
Villanueva said he was not try-
the moment, got excited a little bit and they took offense to it"
ing to show anybody up.
ing to show anybody up.
"I was caught up in the heat of
VOLLEYBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
but until you really put them out there against an opponent you can't tell for sure."
Allison Mayfield, one of those talented freshmen looking to get substantial playing time this weekend, hopes to get rid of some of those jitters and experience an actual college game and not just a scrimmage.
"I'm trying to work on the nerves and get them all out this weekend," Mayfield said. "It's a lot bigger than high school, so there's nerves."
Besides getting the usual butterflies out for the first game of a season, Bechard said he knew you couldn't predict everything you would encounter the first time out.
"You see some things that you
Senior middle blocker Savannah Noyes said she believed the team was well prepared and it was hungry to open the season strong. The Jayhawks have been consistent in August under Bechard, registering a 12-4 record during his tenure.
Noyes said that passing, setting the tempo, and being fearless would be keys for winning the tournament.
"After the alumni match, we figured out where we were struggling." Noyes said. "We've been working on them this week and I think we're well prepared."
Edited by Brieun Scott
SOCCER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"I was in the training room about three times a day doing rehab," Murtaugh said. "I had a couple mental breakdowns in the middle because it just seemed like it never ended."
seasons in Lawrence and garnering All-Big 12 Second Team honors as a sophomore, she found herself practically living in the training room instead of joining her teammates and friends on the pitch.
Coach Mark Francis certainly has faith in her ability to bounce back from adversity. It could have seemed a little like déjà vu for both Murtaugh and Francis when she was forced to leave the field with a towel over her face against the Bulldogs on Aug. 16.
But that notion didn't last long. She was back in practice and back in the lineup a week later, putting in her typical 90 minutes in a 3-0 victory against Purdue.
"She is just tough," Francis said. "She keeps battling on, and (leaving against Drake) really didn't faze her. Maybe with somebody else I
would have been a little bit more concerned."
Twelve months after the injury she said she felt fine, although direct contact with the knee still bothered her sometimes. The purple bruise that resides under Murtaugh's left eye thanks to a cleat still lingers, but it's beginning to fade, too. As for the mask, it comes off in a month.
But for now, Murtaugh and the Jayhawks are focused on the task at hand: beating an Auburn team that lost only one starter after participating in the NCAA tournament last season. Ironically enough, the Tigers were the last team Murtaugh played a full game against before the injury.
But "Tots" is back on the field now. Murtay said she hasn't decided whether or not to stick around for her final year of eligibility. She is technically a senior after all.
"Looking back, I can't believe it has been a year since (the injury)." she said.
Edited by Kelsey Hayes