wednesday, october 22, 2003
the university daily kansar
sports
5B
Crew team competes despite lack of school funding
By Mike Bauer
mbauer@kansan.com
Kansas Sportswriter
Believe it or not, the University of Kansas is one of the few universities in the Big 12 Conference that still has a club crew team and a varsity rowing team.
a varsity rowing team Tommy Ryan, coach of the Kansas crew team, said in recent years many universities eliminated their women's varsity rowing teams. The University kept women's rowing and kept that team funded by scholarships.
The crew team, however, is a
club sport, and is responsible for its own funding.
Ryan said the team sponsored different fundraisers during the season. One of the major fundraisers is Rent-A-Rower, where KU faculty and staff can rent out rowers for $10 an hour to do manual labor such as mowing lawns.
Ryan said crew members were required to work eight hours a semester for Rent-A-Rower.
Ryan said the club also went door-to-door asking for donations and worked at Allen Fieldhouse to clean up after men's and women's basketball games.
"Crew is expensive, and sometimes fundraising takes priority over practice," Ryan said.
Despite the sacrifice, the crew team is still very competitive. The team recently competed in the Head of the Charles in the Boston area, one of the biggest regattas held in college. The team placed in the top 10 and guaranteed an entry for next year.
Bryan Allen, Manhattan junior and coxswain for the crew team, said he didn't mind the extra effort to raise money for the club.
"When you go to places like Boston, it makes fundraising
The crew team also competed at the Head of the Rock regatta in Rockford, Ill., with the women's rowing team. Ryan said the crew team beat the rowing team in the women's four races for the first time in the club's history by one second, despite a 10-second penalty against the crew team for being late to the starting line.
worth it," Allen said.
being late to work.
"We don't have a lot of money to spend on boats, so we have to reuse boats from previous races. This means we're late to the start line sometimes. The smaller regattas let us get away with it, but
The club team also took seventh place in women's open-four division at the Head of the Des Moines in Des Moines, Iowa.
not at Rockford," Ryan said.
Allen said the team also placed third at the Head of the Quad Cities in Moline, Ill.
"It's at a point where we could go against any scholarship team," Allen said.
The crew team is coed. Ryan said the women members of crew were usually people who joined late or did not make the rowing team, but still wanted to compete. Ryan said some women joined
because they did not have enough time in the day to practice for rowing and balance other aspects of their lives.
Allen joined the team three years ago to have an extracurricular activity. Allen was also interested in rowing, and was a rower for the team for one year, then became coxswain two years ago.
Ryan said KU crew still offered women's rowing so everyone could participate, and hoped women would be inspired to try out for crew and not just scholarship teams.
Edited by Dave Noble
FOOTBALL: John Randle's value goes further than paper statistics indicate
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Charles Gordon, freshman wide receiver was tackled by Derrick Cash, senior defensive back, and Stephen Sepulveda, senior linebacker, during the Baylor game last Saturday. Kansas is gearing up to take on Kansas State this Saturday.
much respect, and they were truthful about everything."
Opportunity knocked when Randle had his breakout game against Missouri on Sept. 27, with 61 yards on 12 carries and his first collegiate score. Then, Randle was used sparingly when the Jayhawks next took the field against Colorado, with just two carries for 12 yards.
After the loss to Colorado, Mangino said he should have had Randle out there more than for two carries. The freshman staked his claim to more consistent playing time against Baylor. His 55 yards on seven carries and another touchdown showed that Randle is ready to be a real contributor.
On the season, Randle is the team's third-leading rusher behind sophomore tailback Clark Green and senior quarterback Bill Whitemonth with 305 yards on just 49 carries.
His value to the team goes much further than statistics indicate, however. Along with his 6.2 yards per carry, he offers a good change of pace with his quick, shifty style compared to Green's hard-nosed, between-the-tack-
tes running.
It's obvious every time that he touches the football that he has a potential for greatness.
Each time Whittemore puts the ball in Randle's hands, the chances that he could break
the game wide open are high. Even though he is splitting time now with Green, Randle is humble and just appreciative for the opportunity that Kansas and coach Mangino have given him.
"This is what I've wanted, I've worked hard for it," Randle said. "I feel I've worked hard so I can get that fair chance. Hopefully I'll score a little bit more."
-Edited by Michael Owells
WHITTEMORE: Kansas quarterback handling national attention well
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
with 358 yards and seven touchdowns behind sophomore running back Clark Green. Through the air. Whitmere is averaging 269 yards per game and has thrown for 15 touchdowns to become the second leading passer in the nation through Kansas' first seven games.
a smile."
Whittemore's combined total offense is good enough for sixth in the nation while leading the Jayhawks to 37.1 points per game. What Logan is most impressed with is Whittemore's attitude concerning the spotlight.
ceiling the space, really likeable." "Bill is really, really likeable." Logan said. "He does everything we ask him to do and does it with
Whittimore has also done everything Kansas coach Mark Mangino has asked him to do while leading an offense that is ranked 13th in the nation in scoring.
Kansas' high powered offense has carried the Jayhawks to a 5-2 record while thrilling crowds at Memorial Stadium.
The Kansas sports information office has decided to continue to wait on publicizing Whittemore to
Mangino said he realized that fans liked offense even if coaches would like to see stronger defenses.
"They probably like seeing a lot of scoring and all of that." Mangino said. "As coaches we like the idea that our offenses are going pretty well."
"If you're successful people take notice."
Mason Logan Football sports information director
the national media. However, Whittemore's play has done most of the talking.
Collegefootballneas.com currently ranks Whittemore as the fifth best player in the Big 12 Conference and the third best quarterback in the league trailing B.J. Symons of Texas Tech and Jason White of Oklahoma. The site also lists Whittemore as the Kansas team MVP at the midpoint of the season.
attention that is reserved for Kansas men's basketball players, Kansas football can be marketed, Logan said.
While Kansas football players do not usually receive the type of
Logan said.
"I think there's no question."
Logan said. "If you're successful people take notice."
That is exactly what Kansas fans are starting to do as all eyes are focused on No. 4 when the Jayhawk offense takes the field.
"Sometimes it seems like if you blink you might miss him doing something spectacular," said Ryan Craig, Leawood senior. "It's pretty cool to see that the football team has a star that everybody can talk about and expect great things from."
Edited by Michael Owells
BASEBALL: Team returns with last year's starting infield, adds 21 players
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Price said.
Junior pitcher Mike Zagurski,
another transfer, has also fared
well in fall scrimmages. He
worked just under four innings
last Thursday, giving up only two
hits and striking out five.
Zagurski said that coming out of high school, he wasn't ready to play Division 1 baseball, so he went to Hutchinson Community College, where he posted an 8-0 record and a 2.53 ERA last year. Assistant coach Ryan Graves went to scout a different player, and Zagurski happened to be pitching on the opposing team. He impressed the coaches enough to earn a spot on the Jayhawk pitching staff.
"It worked out for me, I think," Zagurski said.
Another pitcher looking to add depth to the staff is junior Scott Sharpe. The Kansas high school graduate is a left-hander who could fill the void left by Kenny Faleoner, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners.
He has thrown seven innings so far in the fall, including a four inning, one hit, three strikeout performance on the 13th.
performance of the Sharpe looked at the Jayhawks performance last season, and the new coaching staff as big reasons for choosing Kansas.
"They came in here and they were really turning the program around for the better," he said. "So I wanted to come in and be a part of that."
Price said the team's pitching has been impressive, but newcomer Travis Dunlap has done well at the plate so far.
The junior infielder from Porterville Community College in Porterville, Calif., went 2-4 from the plate in last Thursday's scrimmage.
"I haven't come in with too many personal goals, because I'm not sure what my role is yet on the team," Dunlap said.
But Dunlap said the team's goal was to not only make the
"They came in here and they were really turning the program around for the better. So I wanted to come in and be a part of that."
Scott Sharpe Junior pitcher
Big 12 Conference tournament, but to keep playing well into June.
"We're hoping to do real well in the Big 12 tournament, go to the NCAA Tournament and eventually the World Series," he said.
They may seem like lofty goals for some, but the players and coaching staff expect to improve on their 35-win season a year ago, one that almost earned them a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Price said he was excited about the experience his infield would bring, but was looking forward to working with his new pitching staff. A staff that brings more speed to the mound.
"A year ago we were pitching 82-84, touching 86," he said. "We're going out there now and guys are throwing 88-89, 90-91."
Price said the team should do well against good pitching in the future, because they hit against a good staff in practice. He said the new players have a lot to do with that.
"Our goal was to upgrade our bullpen, and improve the velocity of our staff," Price said. "The new guys have really upgraded our pitching staff."
When the team travels to play the University of Hawaii-Hilo in January to start the 2004 season, Price doesn't expect many disappointments from the new additions.
"I think you'll like what you see," he said.
Edited by Neeley Spellmeier
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