sports
+
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017
After injury, Stigler set on proving he's not a 'fluke'
16B
TOP OF THE HILL
BEST ENTERTAINMENT VENUE THE GRANADA
KANSAN.COM
$2^{nd}$ Place: Liberty Hall $3^{rd}$ Place: The Bottleneck
Madeline Crume/KANSAN
▶ OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
For the few, The Granada on Massachusetts Street can be just another flashy sign they pass on the way to start their Friday nights. A vestige of the past with towering white letters across a star-clad backdrop - a vintage movie display board to boot.
But, for many, the building has character and life; a living pantheon of the up and coming in the music industry. Names like The Killers, John Mayer, Carly Rae Jepsen and Rae Sremurd have walked across the stage as mid-level starlets and left as A-list to-be's.
That's why, after over 80 years since the building opened, those behind The Granada's success don't want it to settle to be just another voiceless venue. Its history demands otherwise.
"We didn't want to have that corporate promoter vibe," Mary Costello, current manager at The Granada, said. "A voiceless venue, like, 'Here's the show, here's the doors.' We try to have a personality."
The Granada, formally The Granada Theater, a name established during its day as a silent movie theater in the early 30s, is home to what many may now call the best in live music in Lawrence. Starting in
1993, the location has made its focus to serve a variety of local and nationally-recognized talent to the University community.
Its key to remain at the top has been an emphasis in its concert production and, most importantly, a lively social media presence. It's a recipe that keeps audiences wanting to come back and stay up-to-date. According to Costello, The Granada saw record fall numbers in attendance in 2016.
"A lot of the college kids continue to go to shows. We also have a really hardworking staff and we have a pretty full calendar," she said.
burn native, is a Granada regular. A senior in information systems and technology, Bohm said he has been attending shows at The Granada since high school, and he hasn't gotten tired of being in the intimate venue.
"I would say The Granada is my home away from home," he said. "Some of my best memories have been made here and it gives me an escape from the pressure of school and working several jobs."
Robert Bohm, an Au-
Eli Mitchell is the promotions manager at The Granada. When he started in August 2015, it was important to effectively communicate with their audience, so they could come to them on social media for more than just the next show time.
"It's a lot of sharing funny articles and memes," he said. "You want to maintain this casual relationship with your audience and kind of play around with them in the comments, that sort of thing."
Being successful as a concert venue in a college town also means prepping for the inevitable: rowdy, raucous crowds looking to have a good time. The Granada has between 20-25 production staff members on hand to prep for, and work during and after the concert. Each members'
weekly schedules vary, but what never changes is the daylong gauntlet to make each concert experience unforgettable.
Looking to the future, Costello said The Granada is going to start collaborating with other locations around Mass Street, like next-door neighbor Lucia Beer Garden, for more outdoor events in the summer. The Granada is also ready to give Lawrence music festivals that are coming through the Midwest.
"I would attribute [The Granada's success] to Lawrence continuing to support live music," Costello said.
BEST APARTMENT COMPLEX HERE
$ 2^{n d} $ Place: The Connection $ 3^{r d} $ Place: 888 Lofts
BEST CLOTHING STORE FRANCESCA'S
$ 2^{nd} $ Place: KU Bookstore $ 3^{rd} $ Place: Jock's Nitch
athletes finish in top-three positions, including seven first-place finishes. Their performances earned Kansas an additional 138 points to add onto the 93 earned by the field athletes.
Senior Jacob Morgan crosses the finish line to place first in the men's 5,000-meter run on April 22 at the Kansas Relays.
Behind an exuberant home-crowd, several Kansas athletes contributed the home-track advantage to their strong performances.
"I can't believe how loud
In one of the final events of the evening, Morgan raced out to an early lead in the 5,000-meter race and never looked back. Morgan finished the race in 14:19.59, 2.8 seconds ahead of teammate Dylan Hodgson. The pair won 16 points between them.
in at a time of 3:53-57, Richards finished ahead of Joyce by 01 seconds.
Missy MInear/KANSAN
"The cheering, I loved it. It was awesome," Richards said, looking toward the large crowd of Kansas fans.
Jacob Morgan Senior
"I can't believe how loud people were getting on that backstretch, I was like 'dang, is that for me?' "
The Kansas women's team also put on a good
performance for the home crowd, finishing second in a hotly contested competition with 181.5 points. They trailed Minnesota by 14 points, which ended the night with 195.5 points.
Both the men's and women's team saw several athletes run multiple events throughout the day, one of whom was sophomore Gabbi Dabnev.
Dabney, who placed seventh out of a field of seven in the women's 100-meter hurdles, also competed in the college open 100-meter hurdles event earlier in the day. Dabney finished the scored quadrangular race with a time of 14.48 seconds.
Dabney felt some pain in her groin area throughout the day, but didn't feel that performing twice in one day affected her performance.
"I really wanted to score some points for my team and finish out the weekend," Dabney said.
Junior Christian Hicks was another athlete to compete twice for the Jayhawks, competing in both the college
open and scored quadrangular men's 110-meter hurdles.
Hicks beat his personal-record in the college open with a time of 14.28 seconds, but unfortunately for the Derby native, the wind was over two meters per second, the limit for an official personal-record. Hicks then followed that performance up in the scored invitational, finishing second behind California's Ashtyn Davis. Although the wind was under two meters per second, Hicks finished his race in 14.46 seconds, .01 seconds behind his personal-record.
"I needed a lot of times under my belt so I can keep lowering it. This definitely really helped me," Hicks said, looking ahead toward the Outdoor Big 12 Championships.
Kansas will return to action next week with the Jayhawks staying in Lawrence for the Rock Chalk Classic on Saturday, April 29, with the hammer throw kicking the meet off at 11 a.m.
1