SPORTS
MUNDIALS 3
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
LAST YEAR'S INJURIES HEALED
Team expects to exceed Big 12 coach predictions at No.10 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL |4B
YOUNG RUNNERS MUST FILL BIG SHOES
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Coach feels cross country team can still compete despite losing All-Americans to graduation. CROSS COUNTRY |4B
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2008
COMMENTARY
PAGE 1B
Mangino embraces challenge of schedule
Standing at the podium in Mrkonic Auditorium of Kansas' brand new state-of-the-art Anderson Family Football Complex, coach Mark Mangino fielded questions about the team on its media day on Aug. 5. There were the typical questions that media and fans alike wonder about in the preseason.
What's the situation at running back?
How are the large receivers looking this season?
What are your thoughts on your linebackers? Who will be the kicker this season?
What's your favorite color? Just kidding on that last one. Sort of.
Media days are basically a time when reporters can get a feel for what to expect of the team in the upcoming season. The questions are usually straightforward, no nonsense and to the point, and so are the answers. It's almost as if both reporters and coaches rehearsed their questions and answers beforehand.
One question that Mangino has been asked repeatedly about is last season's success being a result of a "cupcake" schedule. Mangino's response was just about the same as his response to the question at Big 12 media day.
"Just stop and think for a minute that Kansas' football coach has been asked about his 2008 schedule not being tough in a year where they defeated Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado and Virginia Tech," said Mangino. "All that tells me is that we're making progress, if you're asking me those questions."
Mangino makes a good point. Virginia Tech, Kansas' opponent in last year's Orange Bowl, played for the national championship in 2000. Kansas' coach after the 2000 season was Terry Allen, who had a 20-33 record in five seasons with the Jayhawks before Mangino replaced him. Had Doc Brown from "Back to the Future" rolled up in a DeLorean powered by plutonium and told him they would beat those teams, Allen would have asked, "Does that mean I get to keep my job?"
But Mangino has a point; even if it is rehearsed. Allen's 2000 team went 4-7 (2-6 Big 12), which means there has been a changing of the guards in the Big 12 and Kansas has made progress. ESPN's Big 12 writer Tim Griffin, who has covered the Big 12 teams for 24 years, also thinks so.
("The) Jayhawks could be better than last season — even if their record won't reflect it," he said on Aug. 5.
And progress is what Mangino and the Jayhawks have done and hope to continue to do. In 119 years of Kansas football, there has been no greater opportunity for the team to do something it has never done: go to back-to-back bowls. Sure, Kansas may have had an easier schedule than they will have this year because they have to play AP ranked No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 6 Missouri, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Texas Tech and No. 19 South Florida.
"Yes, does the schedule get a little tougher? It sure does," said Mangino at Kansas' media day. "All I'm looking for here is continuously getting better."
With Mark Mangino's "one game at a time" approach the Jayhawks took to reach a 12-1 record last season, progress can be made.
Edited by Arthur Hur
FOOTBALL
Redshirt freshmen pair with vets on offensive line
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
At 6-foot-6, 314 pounds, Jeff Spikes wouldn't be your typical kicker.
Freshman offensive lineman Jeff Spikes, left, squares off against senior offensive lineman Adrian Mayes during a back-and-forth hitting drill at Friday morning's practice.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
But because the number of kickers on the roster continues to dwindle, coach Mark Mangino figures to go looking for a backup kicker anywhere he can find him. And though Spikes has already nailed down a starting spot at左助 tackle, he'd gladly step back and launch a few kicks if called upon.
"I actually kicked in high school," said Spikes, a redshirt freshman from Painseville, Ohio. "It's funny because most of my teammates don't believe me, but I kicked off and had a lot of touchbacks. I kicked one extra point when our field goal kicker got hurt during the game. It went off the goalpost and went in. I'm always willing to do whatever I have to do to help my team."
Spikes joked about the possibility two weeks ago when the Jayhawks had four viable kickers on the roster, but the matter may not be as funny now that the Jayhawks appear to be down to just
one kicker.
SOCCER
to kick, but just nailing down a starting spot on the offensive line and being able to
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 3B
Ready for redemption
BY ANDREW WIEBE
awiebe@kansan.com
seniors Missy Geha, Jessica Bush and junior Estelle Johnson look to start off the season better than last year's 1-7-1 disaster. They will get their first chance to start the 2008 season on the right foot today when they play Purdue.
Jessica Bush saw the frustration and heartbreak on the faces of last year's seniors after a miserable start derailed their final campaign in crimson and blue.
She saw just how quickly NCAA Soccer Tournament dreams slip through your fingers when seven of the first nine games end in defeat.
Now the senior midfielder finds herself in the same position. One year left, only 19 games remaining and no second chances to fall back on.
Weston White/KANSAN
"It's really emotional knowing going into your senior year that this is it," Bush said. "In four months everything you worked for pretty much your whole life is going to be done, and you don't want to see what happened last year happen to you."
Today Bush and fellow seniors Missy Geha, Kristin Graves, Sara Rogers and Stephanie Baugh get their first chance at redemption against the nationally ranked Purdue Boilermakers at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.
Kansas returns eight of 11 starters from the team that finished third in the ultra-competitive Big 12 Conference last season despite a disastrous 1-7-1 nonconference record. Nevertheless, this is different squad than the one coach Mark Francis had at his disposal in 2007.
For starters, the Jayhawks have reloaded offensively after being shut down eight times last season and averaging barely better than a goal per contest. Freshman forwards Emily Cressy and Kortney Clifton should step in and start immediately to support junior forward Kim Boyer if Saturday's 3-0 exhibition win against Drake is any indication.
Cressy's debut simply couldn't have gone any better. After redshirting last season, the Ventura, Calif., native scored twice against the Bulldogs in her first game as a Jayhawk. Complementing her predatory instincts in front of goal is Clifton, who finished his high school career as the state of Kansas' most prolific scorer and figures to see significant time as a true freshman.
"Goal scoring is just a knack," Francis said. "You either can do it or you can't."
Emily is a goal scorer. That's why we recruited her. Kortney Clifton is a goal scorer. That's why we recruited her.
Kansas' revamped offense should be bolstered even more by the formation change Francis and associate head coach Kelly Miller began tinkering with this spring. The team previously employed Geha as a lone holding midfielder while two attacking midfielders pushed forward into the final third.
Upon Miller's suggestion, Francis said they began toying with pairing the defensive-minded Geha with Bush to bring more balance and flexibility to the middle of the field.
Against Drake the duo showed off the kind of familiarity and combination play that comes with more than three years together in Lawrence. While providing cover for the defense, Bush's incursive runs through midfield will give Kansas
a dynamic force from midfield that it lacked in 2007.
Geba said sharing defensive responsibilities with Bush allowed them to defend together and pass their way out of trouble along with opening opportunities for both to get forward.
Along with junior midfielder Monica Dolinsky, Francis said this is the deepest midfield he has had in nine years at the helm. UCLA transfer Sarah Salazar could also see time along with returning sophomores Erin Elfleson and Rachel Morris.
"They are really the engines," he said of what has become a crowded stable of quality players. "I think if those guys are playing well then we'll play well."
Meanwhile, Francis shouldn't have to worry about depth or talent defensively either only a year after being forced to throw freshman Katie Williams into the fire.
Williams responded so well that Soccer Buzz named her to the Central Region All-Freshman Team after starting 18 matches and scoring three goals. Junior Estelle Johnson was a third team all-region selection as well. Junior Jenny Murtaugh, a 2006 Big-Ing 12 Second Team selection who took a redshirt last year due to injury, also returns to give the Jayhawks depth where they sorely lacked it last season.
Johnson have assumed the role of defensive leader, and said she looked forward to seeing the results of having continuity in the back for a full season with Williams.
"It's relieving because last year we had to throw Katie in the middle, but I think she's adjusted well," she said. "She's
SEE SOCCER ON PAGE 3B
BASKETBALL
With the season beginning, question of leadership emerges
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
An unconditioned Collins may not play in exhibition game; Aldrich could head team
Sherron Collins, wearing a white practice jersey, slowly walked into the Kansas
locker room after the hayhaws first practice of the season Thursday night.
It might have looked like the junior guard just practiced with his teammates, but he hadn't. And the problem wasn't his
knee. Collins spent the last four months recovering from surgery, but doctors declared his knee healthy enough to play three weeks ago.
But Collins didn't condition well enough during the recovery and was in poor shape. Kansas coach Bill Self said it was bad enough that he couldn't practice.
"He's a month behind where I thought hed be at this stage." Self said.
Add another chapter to the well-publicized battle Collins has faced keeping his weight down. Self said he didn't know how much Collins weighed at the moment, but it wasn't his ideal playing size of 195 pounds.
But Self has his doubts. He said Collins didn't make a good first impression on his
Fans expect Collins, who is the only returning player who averaged more than 10 minutes per game last season, to be the leader of the defending national champions.
coaches or teammates by having to sit out of practice. Self doesn't know if Collins can be the leader.
"I'd like for him to become that, but based on him not reporting back in shape doesn't go very far in him becoming that with me," Self said. "That's how I see it"
Collins spent the two hours and twenty minutes of practice with trainers to help
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
---