KICK THE KANSAN: Jonathan Kealing predicts the results of this weekend's football games . PAGE 6A
SPORTS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS COMMENTARY
www.kansan.com
FRED DAVIS
sports@kansan.com
Run away from the 'Curse' of Jim Ryun
With the Olympics now over, the U.S. team once again demonstrated its athletic superiority by being first in the medal standings.
One medal that wasn't added to the final U.S. tally is from men's distance running — events 1,500-meter run or longer. No need to fret considering the United States has not earned a medal in a distance event since 1968 when former Kansas runner and current U.S. congressman Jim Ryun silvered in the 1,500. Unfortunately, the 36-year (and counting) medal drought has left most people resigned to expecting nothing from men's distance running.
How is that possible? How does the most powerful country on Earth produce such putrid results? Simplified, it is the "Burn Curse."
The Curse began wrecking havoc in 1972, starting with its namesake.
The United States has had good runners over the years, but unforesweet — and in some cases tragic — incidents have marred the sport and left it without a true superstar since Ryun, hence the Curse.
Simply stated, it is the "Ryun Curse."
It's the Munich games in 1972, and Ryun is participating in his third Olympiad during the end of his career. Ryun is looking for 1,500 gold while his teammate, Steve Prefontaine, is running in the star-studded 5,000-meter run. The fate of each would differ drastically.
Ryun was tripped in his qualifying heat and never even made it to the medal race. Prefontaine not only made the 5,000 finals, but also turned in one of the most memorable Olympic performances ever, even leading the race with a mile to go. He tired down the stretch and finished fourth, but the heir to Jim Ryun had finally assumed the throne.
The future was bright, and U.S. distance running had its superstar ... or so it thought.
In May 1975, Prefontaine, who was training for the 1976 Olympics, died in a car accident. The running community was devastated, and once again, The Curse had struck again.
The lingering effects of Prefontaine's death seemed to shackle the sport until 1990 when the "Next Great American Distance Runner" came onto the scene. Bob Kennedy assumed the title, and it was a logical choice. Although he lacked Prefontaine's charisma or Ryun's preparatory success, Kennedy was spectacular in college, and his potential for greatness was viable. But Kennedy would soon find it's hard to run fast when you're carrying a curse on your back.
Hailed as the man to end the medal drought in Athens, Webb finished 25th in his qualifier for the 1,500, failing to advance by .11 of a second. The Curse does not play nice.
Now there's Alan Webb. The 21-year-old phenom has been doomed since he broke Jim Ryun's prep mile record as a high school senior by nearly two seconds in 2001. Think The Curse didn't notice? Webb endured an injury-plagued freshman season at Michigan in both cross country and track. He left Michigan, turned pro, and his career began to turn around. Webb began lighting up tracks this year, including posting the second fastest 1,500 time in the world during June. He also broke another Ryan record a couple weeks later when he ran the fastest mile by an American on U.S. soil. Webb was the new distance running superstar.
Kennedy was undoubtedly the best American distance runner throughout the '90s, but he was never able to achieve the lofty status of his predecessors. He would go on to compete in the '92 and '96 Olympics, finishing 12th and sixth respectively in the 5,000.
While The Curse definitely loomed, it didn't officially affect Kennedy until 2000 as he was preparing for the Sydney games. Fresh off one of his best seasons in 1999, Kennedy was confident about his chances in the 5,000. The Curse had other ideas. In May, only a couple months before the Olympic Trials and 25 years after Prefontaine's death, Kennedy was involved in an accident that cost him seven weeks of training and, ultimately, a spot on the Olympic team. His career has sputtered since, culminating in this year's failed attempt for a third Olympics.
Looking ahead to Beijing, perhaps The Curse will finally meet its match after 40 years of disenchantment. Sad thing is that the Curse of the Bambino has been in Boston since 1918 ... can Jim Ryun run in 2008?
Davis is a Teopека freshman in pre-journalism
North of the border
'Hawks ready for Canadian teams
By JESSE NEWELL
jnewell@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
This weekend's preseason Canada trip may sound like a vacation for the Kansas men's basketball team, but make no mistake.
"Even though it's an exhibition tournament, we're going up there looking to win some games," senior forward Wayne Simien said.
The team will participate in a three-day, four-game tour against Canadian collegiate teams from Saturday through Monday, leaving Lawrence today for Vancouver, Canada.
Coach Bill Self said he would give returners and freshmen about the same amount of minutes, but that the trip would be especially beneficial for the younger players.
"If we play 12 guys per game and play them all about 16 to 17 minutes, it would be a pretty good scenario," Self said.
Self announced yesterday that sophomore guard Jeremy Case and freshman forward Matt Kleinmann would not play on the Canada trip. Case has a pulled groin from Sunday's practice and will also consider redshirting this season, whereas Kleinmann has opted to sit out the 2004-2005 season.
With a redshirt, Kleinmann does not play this year but gains a season of eligibility in four years. According to NCAA rules, a player cannot redshirt if he plays in any exhibition or regular-season game.
"I'm happy about it, to be honest," Kleinmann said, "because I know I can help the team this year and four years after that. Not many guys can say they spent five years playing for Kansas."
Courtney Kuhlen/KANSAN
Self said one other person might not play on the trip as a possible redshirt candidate.
Kansas will play two games Sunday, taking on Langara at 1 p.m., and Fraser Valley All-Stars at 9 p.m. Its final matchup against the Burnaby Mountain All-Stars will be 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Kansas will play British Columbia at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Fans can watch the game on the MegaVision at Memorial Stadium if they have a ticket to the 6 p.m. football game between Kansas and Tulsa.
Edited by Neil Mulka
Wayne Simien, senior forward, laughs on the bench at last weekend's scrimmage game in Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The team will play in Canada this weekend.
Teams revved for first races
Cross country season set to begin
BY FRANK TANKARD
ftankard@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER
The Kansas cross country teams will start the season tomorrow with the Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm. This first meet will serve as a tune-up for the returning runners and an important time trial for the newcomers.
Kit Leffler/KANSAN
"It will give the new kids a chance to get their feet wet," assistant coach Doug Clark said. "And returners will get their feet back in the water, too."
The men hope tomorrow will be their first step toward the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. At the NCAA Midwest Regional meet, the team finished two spots away from qualifying for nationals, placing fourth out of 24 teams.
"We want to qualify for nationals, which we haven't done as a team in a real long time," said senior Chris Jones. Jones placed second on the team and 11th overall at the Midwest Regional last season.
"We will probably be ranked in the top 30 in the nation and in the top two or three in the region right off the bat," he said. "Definitely our goal is to be running at nationals. We
With every runner who scored in a meet last season returning, Clark likes the team's chances.
have a really experienced group returning."
Last season the team finished a disappointing 10th at the Big 12 Championships, but suddenly found its form at the last meet of the season and placed fifth at the Midwest Regional. The women are now without three of last year's top runners — Laura Lavoie, Lauren Brownrigg and Paige Higgins. But senior Megan Mantle and sophomore Laura Major will return. Both ran well at the end of last season. A strong freshman class could help make up for the losses as well.
For the women, Clark said the first few meets of the year should show the team what it is capable of.
Senior Chris Jones fills our paperwork after stretching during cross country practice Monday afternoon at the Horegi Family Athletics Center.
"We have some upperclassmen with experience, but in general, our team is pretty young" said sophomore Jess Violand, who competed in all six varsity meets last season. "At this level anyone can be a leader."
Freshman Connie Abbott will fight to compete in late-season meets. She said she looked forward to her first college race and expected to learn a lot tomorrow.
"There will be a lot more competition than in high school," Abbott said, "and you have to have a strategy. In high school I knew who to run with, but now I don't."
Freshmen on the men's side will try to prove themselves as well. Freshman Paul Hefferon, who won Kansas state titles in cross country for the 3,200-meter and the 1,600-meter races as a senior at Blue Valley West last year, sees tomorrow as a opportunity to demonstrate his abilities to the coaches.
"They brought me here for the purpose of running fast races," Hefferon said. "I want to let the coaches know that they're getting their money's worth."
With few major schools competing at the meet, Clark said the upper-classmen were more concerned with training smart and staying healthy than their performance. For sophomore Benson Chesang, the team's lone qualifier for the NCAA
Championships last year, this meet will be little more than a workout.
Still, Chesang said he hoped a crowd would show up to support the teams as they would try to defend last year's first place sweep tomorrow in the only home meet of the season.
"The Jayhawk community needs to come support the team," Chesang said. "Some people here don't have that great of an opinion of cross country. They just need to come watch."
Directions to Rim Rock Farm can be found online at www.kuathletics.com. The men's 8-kilometer race will start at 9 a.m. followed by the women's 5-kilometer race at 10 a.m.
Edited by Anna Clovis
1
1
---