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MARCH 23, 2014
THE GAME OF THRONES
KANSAS IS READY
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AROUND THE NATION
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
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All-American leaves KU
Unhappy with training. diver Erin Mertz transfers to Purdue. DIVING | 3B
NOT JUST AN ATHLETE
Senior tennis player, Kuni Dorn, returns a shot from an opposing player during a doubles match against UMKC. Dorn has balanced a heavy tennis training schedule with a strenuous academic load since she attended high school.
Dorn excels on the court and in class
Senior will be called on as a leader and a motivator this season
aposch@kansan.com
BY ANDREW POSCH
Not everyone is cut out to be a Division 1 athlete, let alone a successful college student. Senior tennis player Kuni Dorn is both.
Dorn — the lone senior on the Kansas tennis team — has spent
Growing up in Sopron, Hungary, Dorn's parents introduced her to tennis at age four. It was soon apparent that she had a knack for the game, and by age 10 she divided her time almost solely between school and tennis.
three years as one of the squad's staple players while being selected as a Big 12 First-Team Academic All-American two years in a row.
"Basically, next to school it was really hard, because I needed to wake up like at 6:30 a.m. and practice before school," Dorn said. "And then after school I practiced
a lot. That was it. It was hard, but I'm glad my parents were kind of strict with me."
In fact, it was an opponent from her busy teenage years that led her to Kansas in the first place. Edina Horvath was a rival of Dorn's throughout their junior tennis careers. Horvath, one of two seniors from last year's team, graduated in the spring.
Strict as they may have been, it was just the push she needed to break into Division I athletics.
"It was my freshman year and I knew that she was looking for some universities. I was the one who e-mailed her to see if she wanted to come."
"Kuni was my friend when I was back at home." Horvath said,
After talking with the coaches, Dorn decided that Kansas was the place for her.
In addition to boosting the team's average grade point average, Dorn has also been a contributor on the court. She has started every year in a strong six-member lineup, and has competed in the top singles and doubles positions.
Along with successful play,
PAGE 1B
coach Amy Hall-Holt will be looking for the veteran Dorn to step up as the team motivator. Last year, she asked Dorn to work closely with seniors Horvath and Yuliana Swistun.
"Considering we only had two seniors last year, I think Kuni knew that she needed to keep working and getting the experience and leadership," Hall-Holt said. "I think she did a good job of kind of easing her way into a leadership role. She's accepted the role and is
SEE TENNIS ON PAGE 4B
FOOTBALL
Freshman talent gains approval in Kansas
Wide receiver impresses teammates, coach as they see his talent and smooth transition
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
By all accounts, senior wide receiver Kerry Meier is one of the friendliest and most well-liked individuals on Kansas' roster. Those who know him say he's selfless and admirably humble despite his on-field success.
"Kerry, he's just an awesome guy," friend and former teammate Tyler Lawrence said.
After hearing that coach Mark Mangino publicly heaped praise on McDongaug last week, Meier playfully ribbed Kansas' talented and rising young playmaker.
Follow Kansan football writer Jayson Jenks at twitter.com/JaysonJenks
But even the notoriously easygoing Meier couldn't resist taking a crack at Kansas' latest offensive weapon: freshman wide receiver Bradley McDougal.
"I had to just give him a little bit of trouble." Meier said, smiling.
In his short time on campus,McDougald has continually impressed coaches and teammates with his natural athleticism and smooth transition from the high school level to Division I.
It's all in good fun, though, as Meier and Mangino both said McDougald will be a significant piece of Kansas' offense and special teams this season.
With coaches unable to attend summer workouts or seven-one-sevengames, McDougald'spotential
Eventually the talk reached the ears of Mangino, who couldn't watch the scrimages but instantly saw the reason for excitement when practices resumed in early August.
bounced around the different parts of the football program through word-of-mouth.
McDougald has been on a steep rise ever since; Mangino said he'll see the field on both offense and special teams this year.
"As soon as we got him on the field, just a few days into practice, we realized he was a talented guy," Mangino said.
During training camp in mid August, McDougald joined the first team receiving corps — a unit generally viewed as the strength of the offense.
Alongside proven big-time playmakers Meier and junior Dezmon Briscoe, McDougald has thrived as Kansas' fourth receiving target.
"It kind of scared me at first because that's the position I'm playing," Meier said. "But he's a smooth individual and when he stepped
Rvan Waoooner/KANSAN
SEE MCDOUGALD ON PAGE 4B
Freshman wide receiver Bradley McDougalf (24) talks to sophomore wide receiver Willie O'Quinn during media day at the Anderson Family Football Complex practice last month. McDougalf has received praise for his skill from Mark Mangino and his new teammates.
1
Running back has speed, ability to top predecessor
The comparisons between freshman running back Toben Opurum and former Kansas running back Brandon McAnderson are inevitable. Both are bigger backs who happen to wear the number 35.
BY JAYSON JENKS
But senior wide receiver Kerry Meier, who played with McAnderson and has seen Opurum develop this offseason, said the two aren't complete replicas of each other.
"I think Toben has a little more athletic ability and speed than Brandon had," Meier said. "Toben's a big body with quick feet and he has a knack for finding that lane."
Opurum enters Kansas as one of the most highly regarded players in coach Mark Mangiino's recruiting class. Rivals.com ranked Opurum as a four-star prospect. He also received offers from Florida, Nebraska and Notre Dame.
jjenks@kansan.com
But Opurum selected Kansas for two reasons. First, he could play running back — not full-back — for the Jayhawks.
Playing for Texas 5A
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SEE OPURUM ON PAGE 4B
COMMENTARY
Wildcats growl about new writer
He wrote a few articles for a
Jayhawk blog while covering Idaho
college sports for the Idaho State-
Journal.
Kellis Robinett graduated from Kansas in 2005. He was sports editor of this very paper.
And last week, he accepted a job offer at the Wichita Eagle. He is their new Kansas STATE sports beat reporter.
The K-State fans, at least the ones who read the Eagle's Wildcat blog, are upset. They've been plastering the blog's comment boards with rage-driven messages such as these:
Comment by OP_Cat: ...Please leave before this gets too ugly. You will never be accepted in the K-State Nation and this is not a controversy that is going to go away any time soon.
Comment by Catfan06: What a ioke. Bye-bve subscription.
Both Robinett and the deputy editor for news made retaliatory posts to defend themselves.
Comment by GrumpyCat:
Wouldn't bother moving to Manhattan, Squawk blogger.
Maybe you should re-consider this position before you pack up and move. Seriously.
Some of the anger stems from the Eagle's claim that they shut down "The Jayhawk Lounge," a KU fan blog, because it doesn't allow its writers to maintain personal blogs. Wildcat fans claim Robinett rips on Kansas State in several articles on the site.
But it's Robinett's work for the Kansas that Wildcat fans find most troubling. In the 2005 Homecoming issue, Robinett ranked the football and basketball venues in the Big 12. Kansas State finished eighth.
The fans are enraged mostly by the start of one sentence in that article, one that's been copied and pasted all over the Kansas State message boards:
The fans are the ones in the wrong here. It would be understandable if they disliked Robinett because he did a poor job covering Kansas State sports. But he hasn't had a chance to do poorly or well yet: He's covered the teams for a week.
It's unfortunate that Robinett may lose his job because the fans he works for are either questioning every word he writes or abandoning The Eagle completely. It's a bad situation for both sides.
"Yes, there's a lot to hate about Manhattan..."
But the Wildcat fans should give him time to prove he can be an unbiased, in-depth Kansas State sports reporter before showing him the door.
As an aspiring journalist, I think Robinett has the right to bash Manhattan if he provides his rationale. And he does, says the football stadium still had wooden seats and that the PowerCat is "the most generic logo in the country"
But Robinett must realize that as a KU alum, he will have to work twice as hard to gain the respect of his Wildcat readers.
Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
Follow Kansan sports writer Clark Goble at twitter.com/cgoble89