8A SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SWIMMING AND DIVING
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009
Freshman swimmers face first meet
BY ANDREW TAYLOR
Junior julia Kuzuh takes a breath during a 100-yard individual medley competition Sept. 18. Thirteen new Kansas swimming and diving team members will compete against other Big 12 teams for the first time during the Big 12 Fridays.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
ataylor@kansan.com
Thirteen new Kansas swimmers and divers will make their official collegiate debut this Friday when the Kansas swimming and diving team travels to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the Big 12 Relays.
After several months of offseason training, the new faces will finally get a chance to test their mettle against competition other than their teammates.
The five other schools at the meet will bring in a high level of competition as both Texas and Texas A&M have Olympians on their teams. Both schools also finished inside the top 10 in the 2008-09 season, while Kansas finished just outside the top 25.
"I'm excited to swim in my first real college meet and see how we compare to other schools," freshman Brooke Brull said.
"We're going to get in there and compete against some of the best swimmers in the country," senior swimmer and team captain Carrah Haley said.
The freshmen will soon find out what competing at the college level takes.
"It will be a great experience for all of our newcomers," coach Clark Campbell said. "They can set their hearts and minds toward what it takes to compete in this conference."
"We're going to try and out-skill people as far as starts and turns go," Campbell said.
With such a high level of competition in attendance,Campbell hopes the newcomers can help the team outperform the other schools' talent by doing the little things better.
Regardless of how the team performs, Campbell and his staff hope to use the meet as a reference point for their training for the rest of the season. It will let the team know
how it needs to improve in order to be a better, more competitive team when the conference championships roll around in February.
The Kansas freshmen will not be the only new faces at the Big 12 Relays as Campbell and the rest of the team will have their first opportunity to see the almost 50 new swimmers and divers from the rest of the Big 12.
"It's a good way to see some of the other swimmers in the conference," Campbell said.
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The meet, first conceived in the early '90s, will consist entirely of relays. Campbell said he hopes this will help get his team excited.
"Swimmers love swimming relays." Campbell said.
—Edited by Samantha Foster
BOULDER (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
still see playing time.
"Each quarterback is different and has their own different strengths," Kansas' co-defensive coordinator Bill Miller said. "I think basically that they are going to run their offense. I don't see them coming out with a super different type of attack to play Kansas."
One aspect of Saturday's game is certain: Kansas will be playing at, literally, an elevated level. Folsom Field sits at the third-highest elevation in Division I.
behind Wyoming and Air Force.
Still, players said the impact of playing at that height is rather minimal.
"You can tell a little bit of a difference but it didn't affect me too much last time," senior defensive back Justin Thornton said. "Coaches do a great job getting our guys in shape, so I don't think that's going to be an issue for us. But at times you do notice a little bit of a difference."
— Edited by Samantha Foster
forward Shannon McCabe said capitalizing on every goal-scoring chance will be key for the team.
SOCCER (CONTINUED FROM 10A)
"If we have anything to focus on, it'll be taking advantage of the opportunities we have in front of goal," she said.
Although its play over the weekend was encouraging, it doesn't get the team around the fact that it still has a hole to climb out of if it wants to play in the postseason. McCabe said this weekend would be "do-or-die" for the Jayhawks. But heading back out on the road won't make it any easier for the team.
Baylor, seventh in the Big 12, and Oklahoma, eighth, are in similar situations as Kansas. All three schools are vying to
be among the top eight teams that advance to the Big 12 Tournament.
"Games have never been easy against Oklahoma or Baylor," McCabe said. "They're going to come out wanting to win, so we're going to need to come out with that same mentality."
Francis isn't worried about missing out on postseason yet. He said a 13-victory season should earn Kansas a spot in the NCAA tournament, which means the team would have to win four out of its last five games. From what he saw this weekend, he believes they'll be able to turn it around.
"We can't be that unlucky if we play that well again," he said.
— Edited by Tim Burgess
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Colorado coach's son may get to play again
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOULDER.Colo. — University of Colorado coach Dan Hawkins is hinting his son, quarterback Cody Hawkins, might still get some playing time after being benched in favor of sophomore Tyler Hansen.
Hansen burned his redshirt at midseason for the second straight year when he replaced a mistakeprone Cody Hawkins during the Buffaloes' 38-14 loss to Texas on Saturday. Afterward, offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau insisted Hansen was the permanent starter.
Last year, Hansen and Hawkins split quarterback duties after Hansen gave up his redshirt year. And Dan Hawkins indicated Tuesday that might be the case again.
He suggested his son was "still going to have a role and I think there's a very good chance that you'll see both of them."
Meeting with reporters after his weekly news conference, Dan Hawkins lent little clarity to the situation, saying, "We're going with Tyler, but you never know. You don't know."
The Buffaloes (1-4, 0-1 Big
12) host No. 17 Kansas (5-0, 1-0)
Saturday night.
Pressed, the coach said, "Again, if we're trying to get this down to a legal document, maybe I should say he could play. He might play. I don't know. I don't know."
He also said his son might never see the field, "We want Tyler to get in and Tyler to roll. If Tyler gets out there and rolls and we get some continuity, Cody may never play again."
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Ranked teams heat up the competition
VOLLEYBALL
BY ZACH GETZ
zgetz@kansan.com
The competition keeps getting tougher for the Kansas volleyball team. Kansas has faced two ranked teams in a row, plus ranked Texas A&M team before that, and now must face an undefeated No. 2 Texas tonight.
"Even though playing in the Big 12 can be tough, it's a good opportunity to play many ranked teams," junior outside hitter Jenna Kaiser said.
THE OFFICIAL BOOKSTORES OF KU
Texas also has two possible player of the year candidates with outside hitter Destinee Hooker and setter Ashley Engle, coach Ray Bechard said. Hooker is averaging 4.68 kills a set and 2.41 digs a set and has been the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week three out of seven weeks this season.
Kansas (9-7, 2-5) hasn't won a set in two weeks, while Texas (12-0, 7-0) has only lost five sets in 12 games.
Texas is returning six starters from a team that lost in the semifinals of last year's NCAA volleyball tournament and is one of the favorites to win the tournament this year.
Kansas needs to try and keep Texas off their game by serving aggressively, managing the ball well
and increasing Kansas' offensive options, Bechard said. Bechard said Kansas also needs to take advantage of the opportunities it gets and to prevent Texas from getting momentum.
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"You can't let a point from an impressive play lead to 3 or 4 or 5 more points," bechard said.
Kansas needs to control aspects of the game that it can affect, like eliminating errors to compete with a top team like Texas sophomore outside hitter Lauer Lagan said.
"It's just little stuff that we can put together as a team, and if we minimize those, then we have a shot," Hagan said.
Kansas will get a break and will face a slumping Kansas State this Saturday. Kansas State started the season ranked, but is currently on a seven game losing streak.
"There are teams that won't see ranked team until the NCAA tournament," Kaiser said. "We have the advantage. We can make ourselves better in our conference."
— Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
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Senior Melissa Grieb bumps the ball in game against Iowa State Saturday. Kansas hasn't won a set in two weeks and will play No. 2 Texas tonight.
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