MONDAY, OCTOBER 18. 2004
SPORTS
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By NORA KELLAM
nkellam@kanans.com
KANEIH SPORTSWINTER
Swimmers kick off new season
While other students took it easy during Fall Break, the University of Kansas swimming and diving teams were far from relaxed.
The teams hosted a flurry of meets this weekend, starting with their season-opening dual against Big 12 opponent Texas on Thursday. The following day Kansas hosted the 2004 Big 12 Relays. Kansas wrapped up the weekend against Texas A&M yesterday in another Big 12 dual. All the action took place in Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas lost to Texas, 192-107, in the first dual meet. The highlight of the meet for the Jayhawks came in the 200-meter freestyle relay. Seniors Amy Gruber and Jackie Krueger, along with freshmen Anne Liggett and Terri Schramka, finished with a time of 1:36.07 to win the race. The 200 freestyle relay time was the fastest ever recorded by a Jayhawk team in Robinson Natorium
"I was really pleased with our team's performance tonight," coach Clark Campbell said. "The relay times were great and the team should be very proud of how they performed, especially this early in the season."
Gruber earned another win in the 50-meter freestyle and recorded a second place finish in the 100-meter freestyle. The Bigelow, Ark., native finished the 50-meter
GRUBER
free in a time of 23.84 and the 100-meter free in a time of 51.94. Junior Lindsay Urbatchka placed first in the 100-meter butterfly. She finished the race in a time of 57.62.
"Texas has a great program, one that will contend for the national title," Campbell said. "For us to go out and win a couple of races against a quality opponent, such as Texas, says a lot about how good our team can be."
In diving action, sophomore Shelby Noonan finished in second place in the one and three-meter events with total scores of 242.85 and 239.92 respectively.
On Friday, Kansas tied for third in the 2004 Big 12 Relays at Robinson Natatorium. The Jayhawks earned 60 points, as did Missouri. Both teams finished 34 points behind secondplace Texas. Texas A&M won the team championship. The meet consisted of 16 relays and
two flights of diving.
The meet, hosted by Kansas for the first time since 2000, was highlighted with a Kansas first-place finish in the meet's final event of the day, the 100-meter freestyle relay. It was the second consecutive meet in which the Jayhawks won in the final event. Gruber and Urbatchka along with Liggett and Schramkia finished with a time of 44.88 to win the race. The same four swimmers combined to finish second in the 200 freestyle event in a time of 1:36.97.
"We got to see a lot of racing and got a lot of people involved with each of the relays," Campbell said. "It was a good opportunity for us to see what we need to work on."
On the diving board, Noonan and freshman Bryn Conley combined to finish sixth in the one-meter competition. Noonan, Conley and junior Robyn Karlage earned a fifth place finish in the three-meter event.
"We shook some of the rust off and performed better in the second session today," Campbell said. "We are looking forward to finishing up this weekend with the meet against Texas A&M tomorrow."
Kansas finished the weekend with a lost to Texas A&M, 187-111, in a Big 12 dual on Saturday. The loss dropped the
Jayhawks' dual meet record to 0-2 on the season.
Gruber provided the highlight of the meet for the Jayhawks in the 100 butterfly event. She won the race in a time of 56.64 and finished second in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:52.75. This marked the second consecutive dual meet that Gruber collected a win and a second-place finish.
"This weekend has been one of the toughest we have ever had," Campbell said. "We started to run out of gas towards the end."
Kansas recorded two other second-place finishes. Junior Gina Gnatzig placed second in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:26.67. The 400 freestyle relay team of Gruber, Gnatzig and Anne Liggett and Terri Schramka finished in second place in a time of 3:29.50.
Shelby Noonan led the Jayhawks divers again. She finished third in the three-meter event and fourth in the one-meter event.
The Jayhawks will face Southwest Missouri State in a dual meet at 6 p.m., Oct. 29, in Springfield, Mo. Kansas will then renew its Border Showdown rivalry with Missouri in a Big 12 dual meet at 1 p.m., on Oct. 30, in Columbia, Mo.
— Edited by Ashley Bechard
NFL
Struggling teams meet tonight in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — Of all times to be injured, Tyoka Jackson is about to miss his biggest rivalry game.
The St. Louis defensive lineman is doubtful for tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for whom he played for five seasons, because of a pulled left hamstring. By his count he'd missed only one practice in his career before getting hurt.
"This is a bad time for me right now," Jackson said. "I don't like missing practices and the thought of missing a game is just killing me, it's tearing my heart out — especially against these guys."
The Rams (3-2) and Bucs (1-4) were two of the NFC's premier teams earlier in this decade and tonight will be their fourth straight meeting. Tampa Bay has won the last four regular-season matchups, although the Rams beat the Buccaneers in the 1999 NFC championship game en route to their only SuperBowl victory.
The Rams rallied from a 17-point deficit in the final six minutes of regulation before beating the Seahawks in overtime.
The Bucs, after an 0-4 start two years after their Super Bowl championship, rallied behind second-string quarterback Brian Griese to beat the Saints.
Both teams have struggled early this season, although both are coming off perhaps their best game.
Jackson left the Bucs as a free agent in 2000 for the Rams, where he's become a team captain. So the series has special meaning to him.
But he put his odds of playing at less than 10 percent.
"I want to be out there bad, especially against my former team on Monday night in an NFC game where we really need a win to keep these good things going," Jackson said. "I want to be a part of that. If you're limping around, you can't help anyone out."
Jackson was hurt in the first quarter of the Seahawks game when Matt Hasselbeck evaded a sack.
The Associated Press
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