THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Inside Sports
Sports
Wednesday
August 26, 1998
Section:
B
Page 1
The KU women's softball team is holding tryouts this week for three to five walk-on positions.
KU Soccer
SEE PAGE 3B
The women's soccer team continues practice in preparation for the 1998 season.
SEE PAGE 5B
Big 12 Football
Jeremy Weisinger quits the Colorado football team after Mike Moswchetti is named starting quarterback.
SEE PAGE 10B
Contact the Kansan
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WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Rowing team recruits boatloads of competitors
Kansan sportswriter
Forty-three women make up the University of Kansas rowing team, and on Monday, coach Rob Catloth been trvouts to find more.
By Sam Mellinger Kansas sportswriter
"You can't make a football team out of 25 guys, and it's sort of the same thing with our sport," Catloth said.
The team is looking for KU women with experience in competitive athletics. Many women already have been contacted, but Catloth will accept late entrants who want
it's really like nothing else," she said. "It's tough to learn, but it's not impossible. You want the girls to know that, to know it won't be easy, but you also don't want to scare them away."
the women and determine who made the team based on performance on the machine and in the water. Another evaluation point would be a woman's ability to understand the sport.
Women trying out for the team will work on a rowing machine before getting in the water. The workouts are grueling, and Catloth said some women probably would quit.
Petty said one of the pluses of rowing for Kansas was working with Catloth.
"He's real laid back," she said. "He can see when we're getting burned out, and he'll joke around with us."
Many of the rowers are on scholarship, but walk-onss are needed for a successful team. Walk-ons sometimes receive a scholarship, espe-
The tryout process will last four to six weeks and will involve teaching the finer points of the sport.
to learn.
"We're always looking for women who can help us out." he said.
Petty said that rowing was difficult,but that shouldn't deter women from trying.
"A lot of it has to do with the language," Petty said. "When you talk to a rower, it's like speaking a foreign language. There's so much you have to be thinking about when you're rowing. There's a lot to learn."
cically if they become one of the team's top rowers.
In his fourth year at KU, this fall marks the first time the team will feature five scholarship freshmen — Tara Alsap, St. Louis; Andrea Buch, Olime, Conn.; Lea Kuchinsky and Michelle Santangelo, Atlantic City, N.J. and Karen Nies, Brookline, Mass.
"Hopefully, all this will help jump start our program." Catloth said.
start our program,' Cationn said. Petty said the scholarship freshmen would help lead the other freshmen and new members of the team.
Kristi Elliott / KANSAN
"I think they could be especially helpful to some of the new rowers." Petty said. "They know what to expect, and that could boost our confidence."
Setter: A volleyball quarterback
Fast feet help head teams
By Laura Bokenkroger
Kansan sportswriter
Often these positions control the tempo of the game. These are the players on the field or the court that control offense and create plays.
There are positions in every sport that demand poise under pressure and the ability to make snap decisions.
"The quarterback has his hands on the ball in every play in a football game," said Kansas volleyball coach Ray Beachard. "The point guard has influence over most of the possessions in a basketball game. In volleyball, the setter will touch a third of the balls on our side of the net. Those are positions that require confidence, and you need to find someone who is comfortable with that."
It is the responsibility of the setter to initiate the offense. She calls the plays. As a play unfolds, the setter decides which hitter to set, depending on the accuracy of the pass and where she predicts the blockers are anticipating the attack. The location of the set is critical, especially with quick sets when the hitter has less time to adjust.
Bechard said the most important skills in a setter are found in the feet, the hands and the head.
The quickness and agility of a setter will enable the player to get under the pass and to reach stray balls. The way the ball contacts the setter's hands and how it is released is important for accuracy.
Knowing the attitude and the habits of a setter gives clues to her approach, Bechard said.
"One mistake that some coaches make is they look at the hands first," Bechard said. "I look at feet first, how quickly she can get to the ball. It is easier to impact the hands in practice; it is easier to train than quickness."
Beachard said setting is a physical position, requiring great physical presence and size.
"There has been a push that started from the top that setters should be able to play other positions," Bechard said. "It gives us some flexibility if the setter is tall enough to compete aggressively at the net, block some balls and hit the ball hard."
Bechard said Kansas setter Laura Rohde was that kind of versatile player.
Rohde, a senior from Galesburg, Mich., actually was recruited as an outside hitter. She converted to settler late in her freshman season and now ranks second all-time at Kansas with 2,361 career assists and also ranks 10th all-time with 140 career blocks.
She said her experience as a hitter gave her an advantage because she was familiar with the attitude and focus of a hitter.
Bechard said a setter had a unique mindset and attitude than the other players on the court. Leadership skills are as important as a strong physical presence, he said.
"It is a position of encouragement," Beachard said. "It's not a position where the athlete can go on a roller coaster of emotions. Both Rhode and our freshman setter, Molly LaMere, have that kind of mentality."
If the setter gets frustrated, it can reflect on the whole team, Rohde said.
"It takes patience, and you have to be a leader because everyone is looking to you," Rohde said.
Senior setter Laura Rohde spikes the ball during a recent practice, while freshman Molly LaMere watches. Rohde was recruited as an outside hitter but worked her way to the leadership position. Photo by Dan Elavsky/KANSAN
Kansas football looking to develop passing game
Junior Wide Receiver Michael Chandler lines up behind the tight end during the scrimmage. The Jayhawks' first game will be Sept. 5 against Oklahoma State.
Photo by Joy Sheperd/KANSAN
Hill, a true freshman last year, suffered a broken ankle in the second game of the season, forcing him to take a medical redshirt, which was difficult for him.
Mix of old,new talent cause for optimism
With a more experienced quarterback, offensive line and receiving corps, the Jayhawks are ready to let things fly instead of keeping it grounded as they did last season.
by Jodi M. Smith Kansan Sportswriter
But Hill's back and is in the No. 1 spot at split end.
The Jayhawks are looking to do something this season that they shied away from last year — throwing the ball.
Despite his high status, however, he is still looking to the older guys for guidance.
"I wouldn't consider myself a leader on the squad," Hill said. "I think the leaders of the receivers are the older guys: Mike Chandler, Eric Patterson. I definitely think it's up to me to go out every day and work hard, work my butt off, and play as hard as I can."
Vann's gone, but every wide
"Terry's background has always been throwing the football." receiver coach Darrell Wyatt said. "But the experience on our football team last year was with the running backs, having Eric Vann, and we wanted to give him a chance to help us win games."
See GRADUAL on page 2P
"It was pretty hard," Hill said. "It was real hard at first, the first couple of games after I got injured, to watch the games and not be out there."
receiver has returned from last season's sonu, including Harrison Hill
Commentary
Track renovations disgraceful reason to postpone Relays
In 1943, the nation was at war and student athletes from the University of Kansas and elsewhere were being called upon to fight for the United States.
The war had such a profound impact on the Kansas track program that for the first time since its 1923 induction, the Kansas Relays were postponed. The Relays restarted in 1946 after America had claimed victory.
And now the postponement has been extended. The track is unusable, and until a new one, or a proposed new track facility, can be constructed, the Relays will not be held.
Athletics Director Bob Frederick and track coach Gary Schwartz say the Relays will resume when a new track is built. But it won't matter. It won't be the same. In the 1940s, people understood there was a war and could accept the cancellation. Today, renovations are not a good enough reason.
Spencer Duncan
Two years ago, mega dollars were thrown at more than a dozen Olympians to lure them to participate in the Relays. It was supposed to signify the resurgence of the event. Participation was up, attendance grew and some of the excitement returned.
civil unrest.
have appeared, were put on hold.
The reason: Memorial Stadium renovations meant the Relays could not be held on the track.
But now,
the Relays,
and track
program,face
their most
ridiculous
foe:Renovations.
But at the moment the Relays were growing again, the Athletics Department killed them by cancellation.
Since then, the Relays have made it through the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars, the burning of the Kansas Union and periods of civil unrest
Last year,
the 72-year-old Relays,
where
the likes of Bruce
Jenner and
Jim Rvun
And now the department wants us to believe this postponement will be a short one. They want us to think a new track facility will
The postponement could last many years. And that means the history of the Relays, once considered one of the premier track events in the country, has been thrown away.
people will forget, and when, or if, the Relays return, people won't care.
be built in the near future.
What they don't flaunt is that there are no immediate plans to repair the Memorial Stadium track, and the department has no idea when, or if, a facility will be constructed.
In a few years, when a new field is placed in Memorial Stadium, expect the track to be removed. But don't buy into the idea that a new facility is looming on the immediate horizon.
There is no chosen location, no money earmarked, no real plans designed and no idea when it will be built.
The track team and the Relays are homeless and their future in limbo. One has to wonder how it got to this point.
The department wants to share a facility with the city of Lawrence. Or the department may build it themselves.
There was a time in Kansas track history when the University was one of the best.
It attracted Olympians and All Americans to its events on a regular basis. The team produced world record holders, Olympians and national champions.
But things have been bleak for nearly two decades. Somewhere along the line, the talent and attraction of the program dried up. There are high-quality athletes now, but none of whom you expect to be consistent superstars. In the program's heyday, there were a handful on a regular basis. Things were different.
Had former coach Bill Easton, who coached Billy Mills, or coach Bob Timmons, who led the team to three National Indoor titles, been told the Relays were being postponed for renovations, they probably would not have taken it lightly.
They might even have demanded the track be repaired and the Relays continue. Publicly, Schwartz has been quiet. He must have his reasons.
But it's a disgrace things have gotten so bad.
The Relays could be held. A smaller version could go on. Facilities at Baker University, local high schools or some places in Kansas City could house the Relays in some form until a new track was built.
If Roy Williams was told his basketball team couldn't play in Allen Field House for a season because of renovations, he would find an alternative place to go. He would keep the Kansas basketball tradition going.
That used to be the kind of tradition the Kansas track team had.
}
Duncan is a Topeka senior in journalism.
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