Section B · Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, September 20, 1999
Sports
Kansas golfer walks the walk
Davis is recovering from accidental fall
By Dug Pacey sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
The first time golfer Brad Davis walked on his own this summer was when he walked down the aisle in early August to get married.
"It was the first day I had since the accident of walking without my brace," Davis said. "I didn't want my brace to screw up any of the pictures."
On May 10, Davis fell from the balcony of his fiancee's apartment. While she waited beneath the balcony, Davis ran up to get keys because she had had an operation on her foot. When he leaned over the railing to toss the keys to her, the railing gave way.
"It it fell like a gate, one end of the railing opened up and swung out," he said. "I was leaning on the end that opened up and I fell."
Davis landed on his feet but when he tried to walk, he knew something wasn't right. He had broken his heel in eight pieces and had compacted and chipped his third vertebrae.
He had to have six screws put in his heel and the lateral movement of his right foot is very limited.
"A lot of my teammates came to the hospital," he said. "Some of them were there an hour after it happened to see what was up."
Davis said his teammates were all supportive, and he thought he had made an impression on them.
"I think I've inspired some of them so far as they didn't think I could play."
He said that playing golf now was no too different from before his injury, but
too different from be
that he cannot practice
for as long as he
used to.
"When I play golf now, my back is pretty tight," Davis said.
Before the season
before the season started, Davis and men's golf coach Ross Randall had questions about how he would be able to perform.
Last week Randall said he wasn't sure what to expect of Davis and even questioned whether he would be able to play.
Davis answered those questions with his performance in the Nebraska Invitational last week. He helped the team to a first-place finish and a national ranking of No. 1 in the country according to Golfweek/Sagarin's men's college golf team ratings. He shot a 221, and a 69 in the last round to finish tied in 13th place.
Davis will get a chance to dust off the rust in his game today and tomorrow at the Kansas Invitational at Alvamar Country Club, 1800 Crossgate Dr.
"I was competitive, but was rusty," he said.
"I know Alvamar pretty well, so I'm confident I do pretty well." he said.
Before the season started Davis said his only hope was to make it around the course.
For at least the first four tournaments Davis has been cleared to use a golf cart.
"I've been called 'Casey Martin' several times," Davis said in reference to the PGA player who rides a golf cart because of a birth defect in his right leg. "But he's got something a lot worse than I do, all I have is a broken heel."
Davis said that his style of play was more of a strategic game rather than to hit the ball as far as possible.
"I kind of a placer," he said. "I try not to get into too much trouble, I have to make it easy on myself. I don't have the recovery skills that other guys do."
Davis said that he hopes to have some good finishes this fall in tournaments and play comparable to the way he played last year.
"I'd just like to get back to where I was," he said.
—Edited by Jennifer Roush
Georgia goalkeeper stops Kansas for seventh shutout
By Chris Wristen
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The streak continues for Georgia goalkeeper Nicole Williams.
With the loss, Kansas dropped to 2-4 overall, and Georgia improved to 6-0-1.
Williams recorded her seventh straight shutout and has yet to give up a goal this season, as the 17th-ranked Bulldogs defeated Kansas 3-0 on Friday in Athens, Ga.
an, and Georgia improved The Builders' defense
The Bulldogs' defense, which is ranked the nation's best, made Williams' job easier as they limited the Jayhawks to six shots. Sophomore Melanie Schroeder led Kansas with two shots.
It was a rough outing for Kansas senior goalkeeper Betsy Pollard as well. She was pelted with 22 shots during the first half. Georgia fired 29 shots, 17 of which were on goal, in the game and Pollard made 14 saves, which may boost her No. 13 ranking in saves per game in the nation.
Georgia scored both of its first-half goals during a 10-minute stretch. The Bulldogs first score came in the 23rd minute in the first half when Christy Peavy followed up a shot
SOCCER SCORE
■ Georgia 3, Kansas 0. Georgia (Christy Peavey, Shieyl Gartman, Catherine Holder; shutout by Nicole Williams. Kansas [2-4]. Records: Georgia 6-0-1, Kansas 2-4.
which was deflected by Pollard, and buried it in the back of the net. They struck again when Carolyn Cayard fed sheila Gartman, who scored. Georgia wrapped up its scoring in the game's 69th minute when Catherine Holder scored an unassisted goal.
An improvement for Kansas was its earlygame performance. In two of their previous three games, the Jayhawks gave up goals in the opening minutes and dug big holes for themselves early.
"We just have to mentally prepare before and do whatever it takes to get us pumped up to play the game," Schroeder said before Friday's game. "We know the first five minutes are (critical)."
The Jayhawks played a solid second half, limiting Georgia to seven shots and taking four of their own.
Kansas returns to action tomorrow at 4 p.m. when the team travels to Springfield, Mo., to play a 7-2 Southwest Missouri State队.
Buffaloes injure Winbush in blowout win
Edited by Brad Hallier
Rv Mike Miller
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — David Winbush thought the Colorado defense would remember him.
He was right.
Winbush, whose 268 yards figured largely in last year's Kansas victory, seemed no more than an annoying fly on the backs of the Buffalooes Saturday. Play after play, Winbush tried to find holes where there weren't any. Black Colorado jerseys surrounded him on Saturday.
"I expected to have a huge target on my back today." Winbush said. "They talked about redemption and revenge, and I guess they got theirs."
Colorado linebacker Ty Gregorak said there was no way the Buffaloes were going to let Winbush run on them two years in a row.
"Last year Kansas did everything in their power to embarrass us on the ground," he said. "Honestly, I feel bad for Winbush."
He knew the Buffaloes were focusing on him when he would look up before the snap and see Colorado linebacker Jason Sykes looking straight at him, and only him.
The black shirts that smothered Winbush all day did the same to the rest of the Jayhawks' running backs.
Kansas had 26 yards rushing and failed to establish anything on the ground. For every run for positive yardage, the next running play resulted in a loss in yards.
And it was Winbush that carried the brunt of the load.
He fumbled the first time he touched the ball and was stopped for a loss four times. His 11 carries for 12 yards was statistically the worst game of his career.
"I don't think I topped Notre Dame," he said. "Two fumbles is worse than one fumble and no vards."
But it was worse than just beating him back. Winbush also got beaten up.
A collision with Colorado cornerback Damen Wheeler in the first quarter left Winbush on the ground for a few minutes. He left the game, but returned in the second quarter. Another hit in the third quarter forced him out of the game with a sprained ankle.
"It was the worst in the third quarter when I got beat up though," he said. "That was all she wrote."
—Edited by Mike Loader
David Winbush, junior running back, walked with crutches after Saturday's game, but the injury wasn't thought to be serious. Photo by Roer Nomer/KANSAN
Kansas offense laments missed scoring chances
Continued from page 1B
"Our offense just couldn't get it together today," said Harrison Hill, Kansas wide receiver.
"But I didn't think we would get shut out this bad."
Other players were more blunt.
"I't just embarrassing," said Michael Chandler, Kansas wide receiver.
The Jayhawks couldn't do much against the Buffaloes and were dominated by Colorado from the start.
The offense moved the ball at times, but was never consistent and failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities throughout the game.
During a 7-3yard drive in the second quarter, Kansas ran the ball, made a big play and got first downs when it needed to, but the Jayhawks couldn't score a touchdown. Kansas had four chances to score from inside Colorado's 10-yard line, but all the Jayhawks could manage was a field goal.
Carl Nesmith returned a kickoff 97 yards to the Colorado three-yard line, but two plays later, the Buffaloes returned a Henri Childs fumble 96 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Dylen Smith played the final three quarters and engineered the Jahwaks' only scoring drive, while starting quarterback Zac Wegner
stayed on the bench, even when the game wasn't in doubt. But Allen dismissed that notion.
"I thought about going back to Zac in the second half, but I wanted to get Dylen a chance to play and get some repetitions," he said.
The decision left both quarterbacks hanging — Smith thought he played poorly; Wegner was upset with his reduced role.
It wasn't just Wegner who was left confused about his role and the team's play.
"As a coach, you go from disappointed
"I've been reduced to a cheerleader right now," Wegner said.
to mad to frustrated." Allen said.
The Jayhawks forced five fumbles, recovered three, held the Buffaloes to less than three yards per carry and did knock starting quarterback Mike Moschetti out of the game. They held Colorado deep in Kansas territory six times and forced five field goals.
Running back David Winbush summed up the day best.
But it was a vicious circle, because the Buffalooes defense was punishing and was the main reason Kansas couldn't do anything offensive.
"We just didn't play football today."
—Edited by Brad Hallier
Baseball team opens fall season with scrimmages
Bv Joel Francis
Kansan sports writer
The crack of the bat resonated around Hoglund Ballpark this weekend when the Kansas baseball team abandoned aluminum bats and opened the fall season with the Crimson and Blue Scriffimages.
"Wooden bats require more precision, and let you learn more about hitting," coach Bobby Randall said. "It is the equivalent of a basketball team practicing in lead tennis shoes."
New players faced the veterans in games on Friday
New players faced in and Saturday. Yesterday's game was called off because of weather conditions. The scrimmages were held as part of
games were taped, so they could be analyzed.
"By looking at tapes, you can see what you can't feel, like pitching mechanics and hitting mechanics," Randall said. "We will sit the players down individually and watch them over the next couple days."
Freshman Ryan Baty hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday giving the newcomers an 8-5 victory against the veterans.
"After getting beat on Friday, the veterans came back on Saturday and weren't going to be denied," Randall said of the veterans' 12-11 victory on Saturday. "The team showed attitude, spirit, hustle and effort."
Randall said the three areas for the team to work on were hitting, base running and pitching, but he was pleased with what he saw during the games.
"We continue to improve," Randall said. "Change is a good thing. It takes you to the next level. There are a lot of steps leading to the top, and every one of them requires change. The players are receptive to that, and that's a good sign."
The team will practice for the next four weeks, and hold several more informal scrimmages. The fall season will culminate in the Crimson and Blue World Series.
"There are two components to fundaments," Randall said. "Fundamentals to execute, and fundamentals to playing a game. We will work on execution for three weeks, and then mold them into actual games."
Randall said that he was pleased with the work that he had seen from the team so far.
"I am pleased with the changes we have made in a week," he said. "It's a good beginning to the fall."
Freshmen swimmers lead Kansas to first place finish
By Chris Wristen
—Edited by Jennifer Roush
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas swimming coach Gary Kempf wasn't kidding when he said that his younger athletes would have the opportunity to jump into leadership roles early this season.
The men's race was dominated by Kansas with eight Jayhawks finishing in the top 10 as they defeated the Salukis, Kansas was led by freshman Brian Soria who finished nearly three minutes ahead of his nearest competitor with a time of 55:40. Sophomore Nathan Rice placed second at 58:18, freshman Patrick Norman placed
The Kansas swimming team defeated Southern Illinois in the annual 5K open water race at Clinton Lake State Park on Saturday morning. Freshmen swimmers won the men's and women's races for the Jayhawks, marking impressive debuts in their collegiate careers.
fourth and senior Skip Revnolds finished fifth.
"Overall, it was a great race," coach Gary Kempf said. "I was pleased with our effort and our performance. Soria had a dominant race. That was one of the best open water performances I've seen in a while."
In the women's race, Kansas edged Southern Illinois. Although the battle was close, it also revealed that a bright future lies ahead for the Kansas women. The top four Jayhawk finishers were freshmen. Lyndsay DeVaney won the race in 58:48, 10 seconds faster than Amber Mullins of Southern Illinois. Beth Schryer captured third, Gwen Halley was fifth and Heidi Landerr finished in sixth.
Kempf was thrilled with the performance of his freshmen.
"What a tremendous job they did," Kempf said. "That's a good sign of things to come."
Edited by Jennifer Roush
Brian Soria, Sante Fe Springs, Calif., freshman, is congratulated by his teammates after dominating the swimming race with the time of 55:40. The Kansas men's and women's swim team raced Southern Illinois early Saturday morning at Clinton Lake. The course consisted of a one-mile loop. The race was three miles long. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN