FOOTBALL PREVIEW Kansas will rely on defense and special teams against Texas Tech PAGE 7A
SPORTS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
New 'Hawks ready to play
Tennis coach wants intensity from freshmen for Hurricane Invitational
www.kansan.com
BY RAHUL SHARMA
rsharma@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRIVER
Hurricanes kept the women's tennis team from its first scheduled tournament, so the Jayhawks have used the extra time to prepare for their first action of the fall season.
The tennis team will travel to Tulsa, Okla., this weekend where it will face hurricanes of a different kind.
The Jayhawks are gearing up for the 12th Annual Hurricane Invitational, hosted by Tulsa.
Second-year coach Amy Hall-Holt said the team was ready to get started.
"With us not traveling last weekend is not going to effect us at all." Hall-Holt said. "The girls are very excited about playing this weekend and are doing a good job preparing for Tulsa."
Schools competing in the women's field are Illinois State, Kansas, Southwest Missouri State, Texas-Arlington, Tulsa and Wichita State.
One of the top players in the country in this week's Home Games.
HAL-HOLT
Invitational is Tula's Daniela Muscolino.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranks the Buenos Aires, Argentina, junior as 29th in singles and 45th in doubles with freshman teammate Carla Zabaleta.
For Kansas, this weekend's tournament will serve as an indicator of the team's progress in practice, as well as
a basis for lineups.
As of right now, we are still evaluating the girls," Hall-Holt said. "We will have a much better feel of line-ups and doubles teams after the weekend."
Hall-Holt, after having three seniors last season, wanted the new players to pick up the intensity, especially with the addition of freshman Lauren Hommell.
"I have been very impressed with Lauren's work ethic and dedication to herself as well as to the team," Hall-Holt said. "We are looking to see some great results out of her this weekend."
Lacking seniors, Hall-Holt expects junior Christine Skoda to be a team leader for Kansas.
"Skoda has been working extremely hard in practice and taking on the
challenge of being a leader," Hall-Holt said.
In addition to the efforts by the players, assistant coach Frank Polito has served as an instrumental figure in the Iavhawks' resurgence.
"The girls have responded great to Polito," Hall-Holt said. "After only four weeks of practice, the girls see that he is very knowledgeable and very passionate about the game. They have a lot of confidence in him."
Hall-Holt said the keys for Kansas to have success this weekend were confidence and being prepared both mentally and physically.
The Jayhawks will compete this weekend beginning on Friday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
- Edited by Neil Mulka
Conference play begins today
Women's soccer team faces Nebraska today Colorado on Sunday
BY KELLI ROBINETT krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Kansas women's soccer team kicked off the season with an 8-1 record and a No.8 ranking. Now, the team will take on the challenge of the Big 12 Conference beginning today with Nebraska.
Nebraska comes into today's game at 5 p.m. at SuperTarget Field, adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse, with a 6-3 record after starting the season ranked in the top 25.
This is only the second road game of the season for the Cornhuskers. The team's only road game was a 3-2 victory at Creighton
The game will match one of the Big 12's best goalies, Kansas senior goalie Meghan Miller, against one of the conference's best forwards, Nebraska sophomore Brittany Timko, who has been named conference offensive player of the week twice.
Miller leads the Big 12 in every statistical category for a goalkeeper: goals against average with 0.22, 44 saves, a 0.957 save percentage and seven shutouts.
Timko enters the game as the Big 12 leader in points with 25, goals with eight and assists with nine.
Nebraska has outscored its opponents 21-7 this season.
Offense isn't the team's only strength.
Sophomore goalie Katie Wright has posted a 5-3 record with a .811 save percentage.
Nebraska holds an 8-1-1 advantage over Kansas in the all-time series. The Jayhawks won last year's meeting 1-0 in Lincoln, Neb.
This weekend features another conference match-up for Kansas. The team will face Colorado, the defending Big 12 champion, on Sunday.
Caroline Smith, junior forward, battles Lyndsey Williams, Mississippi sophomore defender, for control of the ball. Smith recorded one goal and one assist during the Jayhawks' 2-0 victory over the Rebels last Friday in Lawrence.
SEE PLAY ON PAGE 6A
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
Runners face challenge at invitational
BY FRANK TANKARD
fankard@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITER
Joshy Medatilil,
Liberal junior, leads
the pack at the Wildcat
Invitational. Both men's
and women's cross
country teams will
compete in St Paul,
Minn., at the Roy Grisk
Invitational this
weekend.
Kansas File Photo
tomorrow morning, in the land of Paul Bunyan, the Kansas cross country teams will face a test of massive proportions at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn.
The men's squad will line up against 25 of the top teams in the nation, including Minnesota and Iowa, the only teams ranked ahead of Kansas in the Midwest region by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association.
The women's side will compete against 31 Division I teams.
"We might be good, but we don't know
what is cooking out there," said Benson Chesang, Ravine, Kenya, sophomore.
In past seasons, this has been an off week for the Ivahawks.
But this year assistant coach Doug Clark said the men's team was strong enough that it could benefit from the extra opportunity to earn at-large points, which it may need to qualify for the NCAA Championships, a feat not accomplished by Kansas since 1994.
An at-large point is earned by beating a team that goes on to place in the top two at its regional qualifying meet in November.
The top two finishers from each of the nine
SEE RUNNERS ON PAGE 6A
PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
Age can add edge, help an athlete's performance
Every day, some professor gives me a thought-provoking lesson.
"Neon Deion" has fooled himself and the Baltimore Ravens into thinking, that after coming off a stint as a football commentator, he would be the same cornerback as when he left football.
It turns out Deion was right. He has not changed since he left the NFL. He is still the same cocky egomaniac who now wears his age, 37, as his jersey number and last week earned an excessive celebration penalty for removing his helmet following a 23-yard punt return. All Sanders has earned is a hamstring injury and one more critic.
As I was playing basketball at the Student Fitness Recreation Center, the opposing team was led by a professor point guard. This man, probably 15 years my senior, deftly ran his team's offense, made smart passes, took gutsy shots and nearly brought home a victory for his squad.
Yesterday's lesson was simple: Sports can be ageless.
While stories of old-timers can have happy endings, comebacks and unnecessary perseverance of players can often forever farnish a former star's image.
In this performance, it was proven that age can work to a player's advantage by giving the player the uncalculated edge of experience.
Sometimes time is not the only factor in determining when athletes give up their dream. Reality should also be taken into account. Age in sports is not about years, but about how far removed you are from your prime and your skill in relation to the competition.
The perfect present-day example is Deion Sanders.
Outside of Deion, there are countless other athletes who envisioned a triumphant return, but instead found a sport they were no longer fit to handle.
Mike Tyson, 38, who was once the best heavyweight boxer in the world, lost in his latest comeback attempt to a fighter who was a 9-1 underdog.
On the Kansas front, many have made the argument that former Jayhawk Eric Chenowith should have given up basketball after his first season. He made virtually no progress for his remaining three years and perhaps the many detractors would have preferred it if he had stayed on tour as a groupie with Dave Matthews indefinitely.
Today's sporting world holds plenty of age-defying success stories.
In one of the most mystifying decisions in sports history, Michael Jordan chose to return to baseball — a sport he had not played since high school. His dreams vanished as the .200 hitter embarrassed himself playing for the minor league Birmingham Barons.
Former Kansas City Athletics pitcher Satchel Paige pitched in the Major Leagues until he was 59. In his final game, he pitched three shutout innings.
At age 40, Barry Bonds was the most feared hitter in baseball and was in his prime. Bonds has shown no signs of slowing down and recently hit his 700th home run. At age 42, he is a lock to be the all-time home run king.
When looking for a piece of wisdom on this subject, one should look no further than Satchiel Paige, the 59-year-old pitcher, who rarely answered questions about his age: "Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
VOL.
Some know when to make the graceful exit; others hang around like a cloud of smoke in a 2003 Lawrence bar.
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As long as a player still has the desire and, most importantly, the talent to compete. he should do so.
Sports are all about timing.
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