Tuesday, November 18, 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 3
Intramurals: sports without stress
By Sara Anderson sports@kansan.com Special to the Kansan
When Angela Peters, Wichita freshman, shoots a free throw, she thinks back to her career at Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School. Michael Atha, Topeka senior, relives his glory days at Washburn Rural as he tosses the pigskin around with friends at his apartment complex.
That was then; this is now. Today both students focus on the Kansas intramural programs.
Intramurals give former prep athletes the chance to participate in the sports in which they excelled without the high stress of college athletics.
"It's been great for me," Atha said. "It gives a competitive outlet for people who were high school athletes but don't play at the college level."
Atha played football all four years in high school. He was Second Team All-State, the State Scholar Athlete of the Year and played in the Shrine Bowl. As a freshman, Atha made the Kansas football team as a walk-on. But after playing for two months, he decided to quit.
"I got involved in lots of other things," he said. "College athletics are so time consuming, and not playing has allowed me to explore other interests. Intramurals are an essential part of school for me now."
Atha has played intramural football all four years for Phi Delta Theta as a receiver and defensive back.
"We always play well in the regular season and won my freshman year," he said. "We don't take it too seriously and have fun with it."
Peters also looks forward to
intramural games. She was an All-State and All-City athlete during high school and thought about playing basketball in college but decided against it.
"I knew I wanted to go to a big school but didn't want to play on such a serious level, and big schools mean total competitive basketball," she said. "I was basically burned out and tired of serious basketball."
Peters said she enjoyed competitive basketball and playing on the Kappa Kappa Gamma intramural team without the pressures of organized athletics.
"I'm excited to play for fun and not just to win," she said. "It's a great program for people who want to come to KU but decide not to play during college."
Karl Law, intramural programming assistant and supervisor, also said the program was a good
Intramural tournament
December's Pre-Holiday Intramural Basketball Tournament is the fall semester's remaining intramural activity. There are men's, women's and coed recreational divisions.
- The $20 entry fee is due tomorrow in the Recreation Services Office, 208 Robinson Center.
- Play begins Dec. 1.
way for noncollegiate athletes to feed their competitive drives.
"Players can have a chance at a competitive game, but it's not a life-or-death situation," he said. "We have a good mix of everybody playing, but we do get a lot of athletes who do play to win the game."
Freshman runner earns spot in championships
Kansan staff report
After a day of waiting and a little help from Big 12 Conference rival Nebraska, Kansas freshman cross country runner Ricardo Amezcua earned an individual berth to the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championships Nov. 24 at the Furman University campus in Greenville, S.C.
Amezcua earned all-region honors this weekend with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals. In NCAA guidelines, the top two teams from each region, four-at-large teams and the top three runners not from those teams earn automatic bids.
Nebraska was selected as an at-
large team, which moved Amezuca into the top three individual finishers in the region.
"He is very deserving," Kansas head coach Gary Schwartz said. "With competition like that, there are a lot of deserving people, and he had to work very hard to get there. With his training, his mind and the course at Furman, he has a chance of being an All-American."
Amezcua, also an academic all-conference selection, has had four top 20 finishes this season. The Acambaro, Mexico, native joined the Kansas track and field team last January and finished 14th in the 10,000 meter race at the 1997 NCAA Outdoor Championships.