8A the university daily kansan
sports
thursday, october 2, 2003
Sailing club member prepares for West Indies race
Christina Kessler sports@kansan.com
Kansan correspondent
Even though it is land-locked, Kansas has produced a world-class competitive sailor: University of Kansas student Timothy Fitzgerald.
the Wichita freshman and participant in the KU sailing club, qualified last month to participate in the Sunfish class world championships, which take place Oct. 11 through 19 off the island of St. Martin, Dutch West Indies.
To qualify, Fitzgerald took first place in the Southwest region of the International Sunfish Class Regional World Qualifying Regatta.
Two weekends ago Fitzgerald competed against some of the sailors he will face in the championships and took fourth place out of 40 racers.
Being on the water is nothing new to Fitzgerald. He has been sailing since the age of four and won his first junior
championship regatta at age five.
He started sailing with his parents on Cheney Lake, located about 25 miles outside his hometown of Wichita. He also worked during the summer at the Walnut Valley Sailing Club teaching children and adults how to sail.
The Sunfish boats Fitzgerald sails are the most common small boat in the world. The boats are 14 feet long and sailed by only one person.
Though the boats are small, they are difficult to control.
"It involves a lot of high-pressure and crucial decisions, which have to be correct, all while dealing with cold or hot conditions and buckets of water hitting you in the face," Fitzgerald said. "You have to have the ability to make your boat go exceptionally fast in all types of conditions."
The Sunfish championships, like many boat races, feature a group of boats starting at one line, going through obstacles and
crossing a finish line.
When he's in Lawrence, Fitzgerald hones his craft with the KU sailing club.
KU sailing has been around since the 1960s and just recently became a competitive entity in the South-Eastern Intercollegiate Sailing Association, part of a group known as the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.
Because the team has become more competitive, it has started to recruit members, said acting student coach Chris LaBorde.
"Tim was the second person KU recruited over the past few years," LaBorde said.
Unlike the Sunfish races, sailing at the University involves a two-person team.
"It's a good bunch of people who know how to have a lot of fun." Fitzgerald said. "There's a pretty competitive group which I learn something from every time we go out."
— Edited by Jonathan Reeder
Timothy Fitzgerald, Wichita freshman, (left) controls his Sunfish sailboat at a recent competition. Fitzgerald has been sailing since the age of four and is a member of the KU Sailing Club.
Contributed Photo
COACH: Kansas' Francis will face Texas' Petrucelli
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12A
Francis, the winningest soccer coach in Kansas history, is in his fifth season.
After graduating from Southern Methodist University, and earning three All-American selections as a player, Francis played professional soccer in the United States for 10 years.
In 1996 Francis was named head coach at South Alabama, where he was a part of the biggest turnaround in NCAA
Division I soccer history. In his first season as coach the team went 2-17.
The next year the team finished 18-3-1. Francis was named 1997 Central Region Coach of the Year by Soccer Buzz magazine.
Before landing in Kansas, Francis helped start a women's soccer team at a junior college in Texas, as well as winning two state championships as girls varsity soccer coach at a Dallas high school.
Francis said he expected tomorrow's game to be exciting.
If fans come out they are sure to experience soccer at its best, he said.
"If they've never been, I would encourage them to come out," he said. "We play attacking soccer, so it's a fast action game."
The lajhawks and Longhorns face off at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at SuperTarget Field.
—Edited by Nikki Overfelt
VOLLEYBALL: Game five ends tied streak for 'Hawks
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12A
But Kansas bounced back, winning game two. In game three, the Jayhawks took a 17-13 lead.
But after six lead changes, the game ended when Correa served the ball out of play with the Tigers leading 29-28.
In game four, Missouri jumped out to a 7-1 lead. But the Hawks used a 15-8 run to take a 16-15 lead.
After Missouri surged back ahead 25-22. Kansas ended the match with an 8-1 run on a kill by junior middle blocker Ashley Michaels.
The Jayhawks won 30-26.
junior libero Jill Dorsey had two diving digs in the run that kept rallies alive and led to two layhawk points.
"We're not going to just lay down." Dorsey said. "We're a different team than that this year. We're just not going to give up at any point in the game."
In the deciding game five, the Jayhawks continued the theme of big runs as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead.
But the Tigers returned the Jayhawks favor from game four and came from behind to win 15-10.
"They made plays at 6-1 and came back," said Bechard. "It's a
good win for them, and a very tough loss for us."
Sarah Rome, senior outside hitter, added 20 kills in the match.
She said Kansas would be ready for the Tigers when Missouri came to Lawrence.
"Come to our house and see how it turns out," she said.
The team now takes the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
Kansas will have to wait until Nov. 5 to get its revenge on Missouri.
— Edited by Nikki Overfelt
Iowa State player charged, dismissed from football team
By Nate Brown The Daily Vidette via U-wire Illinois State University
NORMAL, Ill. - The conduct of one player on the Iowa State University football team has not detracted from the Redbirds' positive attitude, and the team is stepping up to deal with the situation.
Fourth-string running back Tristan Davis and ISU student Joseph O'Brien were charged with mob action, and Davis was also charged with aggravated battery after an incident of breaking and entering midnight Saturday.
Davis was also in possession of a knife and baton.
Both posted $750 bail and were released, but not before Davis was removed from the football team.
Several students were taken into custody but only Davis and O'Brien were charged. The other students were released.
The Redbird football team is choosing to harbor a family atmosphere and the incident will be put behind instead and Saturday's game will be the main focus, coach Denver Johnson said.
"Obviously we care about one another," ISU linebacker Boomer Griglsby said. "We stand by one another, but [Davis] has been removed by the football team. We wish him [Davis] luck, I guess, if you can wish a person luck in that kind of incident. Really, we look forward to the following week and we are going to prepare the same exact way we have for every opponent."
"I do feel like a family," Johnson said. "One of things I tell [the team] is that I'm going to treat him like one of my own. I'm not going to spoil him, I'm going to get after him and make him behave."
Four other players: Wide receiver Ramon Barber, running back LaShawn Bullock, defensive end Ray Robinson and receiver LaMonte Jones were all reinstated to the football program Tuesday afternoon. The four are suspended until ISU officials can sort out the story.
"There was a breaking and entering, aggravated battery and some theft," director of athletics Perk Weisenburger said. "Of the five student athletes, Tristan was the one most involved, without question."
"There have been no charges
filed against the four that were indefinitely suspended," Weisenburger said. "Charges were filed against Tristan and he has been removed from the football team."
"The four indefinitely suspended were there at the time it happened, but were not involved," Weisenburger continued. "They did not take part in what happened and what unfolded."
The incident created a buzz Tuesday morning, but did not distract the football team.
"The mindset of the team is fine," Grigsby said. "This was not a team effort. It has nothing to do with the record of the football team. This is all on one man now."
"This is more of a distraction to me," Johnson said. "It's been more of a distraction to me than the team. I told them they need to worry about things they have control over."
Additionally, any comparisons made of this incident to one involving the football team five years ago, when altercations occurred between football players and a fraternity is inappropriate, according to Grigsby.
We Buy, Sell & Trade USED & NEW Sports Equipment