SOCCER
Kansas women's soccer team remains winless against established teams. Page 4B.
SPORTS R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23,1995
Defensive effort quells red storm
PAGE 3B
For about 12 minutes it looked really cloudy Saturday night in Norman, Okla. Stormy even.
The thunder was threatening, and it looked as if everybody might have to take shelter from the oncoming barrage.
Then suddenly, the Kansas defense appeared and the thunder — running back Jerald "Thunder" Moore — disappeared. So did the Oklahoma Sooners.
I don't know how the defense keeps do it. What I do know is that late in the first quarter of the Jayhawks' 38-17 victory Saturday, I was thinking about what else I could do with my evening. Bake some cookies, give my car a tuneup, clean under my bed, perhaps. Anything seemed better than watching Kansas go down in an ugly defeat.
But I hung in there even though what I'd seen to that point was ugly. Moore, the Oklahoma senior, rumbled for 60-yard and 72-yard touchdowns and brought in the clouds. He made the Kansas
defense look silly as linebacker tried to haul him down.
After that, though, the defense got down right stingy. The Jayhawks allowed only 83 yards rushing during the remainder of the game, effectively stuffing Moore and his running partner
SPORTS EDITOR
James "Lightening" Allen before they could turn the corner and break down the sideline.
As for the Sooner passing game — nonexistent. Oklahoma was 5 of 20 for 89 yards and never could break the big play.
Dorian Brew had a lot to do with that. The senior defensive back had the dubious assignment of covering Oklahoma senior flanker P.J. Mills. He covered the speedster like a blanket. Mills did not catch a pass Saturday after averaging almost 50 yards a game in the Sooners previous games.
At one point, Mills broke a little from Brewn in a mid-field crossing pattern. He waved his arm, frantically trying to get quarterback Eric Moore's attention. But at that point, Moore wasn't even looking in Mills' direction. He didn't look there most of the time because Brew succeeded in keeping Mills from being an open target.
Oh, by the way, Brew also picked off two passes. He ran one of the interceptions in for a 25-yard touchdown that seemed to zap the remaining life out of Oklahoma.
With all this defensive success, I keep asking myself and others, why the defensive turnaround? Most of the players were Jayhawks last year, and there isn't a superstar on the squad. Some of the players who were supposed to play a big part in the defense's success, such as Ronnie Ward and Tony Blevins, are sidelined with injuries.
So how does the defense do it?
so how does the defense do it?
I'll give you three words: teamwork and Mike Hankwitz. The Jayhawks' new defensive coordinator has made the difference this year with his 3-4 defense.
When Hankwitz came to Kansas from Colorado last year, many critics said it was a ploy by Kansas football coach Glen Mason to prolong his stay at Kansas. How could he possibly think of improving his defense?
The players seem to understand Hankwitz's importance. After a victory dousing of Mason, for example, the players then went after Hankwitz.
Hankwitz, who basically was unemployed after Bill McCartney left Colorado, has helped Mason keep his job if it really was in jeopardy before and also has helped produce the No. 6 team in the nation. Those critics look pretty silly now.
The storm that threatened to rain down on Kansas early in the game never materialized, but a couple of guys still got wet.
Confusion leads to football forfeit
Alpha Gamma Delta becomes Hill champ with Watkins' no-show
By Jeffrey Auslander Kansan sportswriter
A new flag football queen sits atop the Hill, and her name is Alpha Gamma Delta.
Although the team won the Hill championship game on a forfeit, nothing can be taken away from it. The team ran up a record of 4-1-1 and surrendered only one
score in the Women's Hill Flag Football Tournament.
The team's forfeited win before Thursday's championship game was caused by a mix-up by its opponent, the Watkins Wild Women.
"We played in the semifinals on Tuesday, and the referee told us the game was at 5:30 on Thursday," said Watkins receiver Charissa Orchard, Wichita junior. "When we showed up a little after five o'clock, they told us that the game was at 4:30 and that we had lost without even playing. We were bummed."
"It's not a real big deal, but it was a sad way to lose the season," said Watkins quarterback Irene Aga, Overland Park junior.
Tom Leininger / KANSAM
"I wish we could have played, but we're happy anyway," said AGD quarterback Kourtney Gellender, Pittsburg senior. "We've wanted to win the Hill since I have been in the house."
AGD members said that they were disappointed that the game was forfeited but that they would accept the victory.
The success of AGD is attributed to the team's hard work and season-long determination, linebacker Christine McMahon
said.
"This year we had everyone show up to practices," the Greenwood Village, Colo., senior said. "We play great defense, and we have a lot of speed."
In the tournament, AGD used its defense to outscore its opponents 50-8, and the offense was only a few steps behind. The performance of the offense could be contributed to Gellender, McMahon said.
Paige Geiger (left) and Allison Adams, co-captains of the Kansas women's rowing team, are responsible for organizing team meetings, motivating the squad, and incorporating the freshmen rowers into the program.
"Kourtney has a great arm," she said. "She also sees the whole field really well. She is a big reason for the success of
this team."
Even though Gellender had an effect on the team's success, she was not the only Gellender that helped the team out. Her brother Tad was the head coach.
"This whole season has been a lot of fun," said Tad, who played at Pittsburgh State. "At first they didn't look like they knew what they were doing, but they learned very quickly."
He also spoke of his appreciation for the AGD football team.
"The Alpha Gams are a great bunch of girls," he said. "Hopefully, we can come back and reclaim the title next year."
ROWING
Captains hope to motivate rowers
Seasoned members want to foster camaraderie between team members
By Erin Johnson
Kansan sportswriter
While the coxswain is in charge of leading the Kansas women rowers in the boats, Paige Geiger and Allison Adams are in charge of leading the Jayhawks when they're not.
The two varsity rowers were chosen by team members as team co-captains several weeks ago. Kansas women's rowing coach Rob Catloth said he was not only looking for team leadership from the two rows but also for help in motivating the team and thinking of activities to help incorporate the freshman rowers into the program.
"That's one thing I really want them to get working on," Catloth said. "I want the freshman and varsity teams to be a cohesive unit."
"They're going to be a building block for the next couple of years," she said.
Adams said that Kansas could improve its rowing program by working with the freshmen to make them a part of the team.
Adams was the captain of the Kansas novice club team her sophomore year. She said that captains were necessary to the team. When team members don't feel comfortable talking to coaches or other team members, they can bring their problems to the co-captains.
Geiger said that her leadership was important because this was the program's first year.
"We're all coming into an area
that's new to all of us," she said. "It's our job to make sure everyone's adjusting to it."
However, Geiger said that the team was so motivated that it made her job as co-captain easier.
"We have so many strong individuals on the team that it doesn't put that much pressure on my shoulders," she said. "I consider everyone really self-motivated and dedicated to the sport. Everyone is so motivated, it's not hard at all."
The co-captains also are responsible for organizing team
"I just want to make sure that I get to know the freshmen well and make sure the other varsity members feel comfortable with them so we can make one big team," Adams said.
meetings. Adams said that the meetings were a good way for team members to get to know each other because the freshmen did not practice with the varsity team. Adams and Geiger organized a pizza party recently to improve team unity.
Catloth said that Adams and Geiger may have been chosen as co-captains because they had a
good work ethic, a good competitive spirit and a dedication to rowing.
"It's something I feel they've earned over the year," Catloth said. "They're out there to do their best and be as competitive as they can."
Catloth also said that Geiger and Adams had credibility on the team, because Geiger usually finished first in the daily run and Adams was one of the top pullers on the rowing machines.
"I kind of expect them to keep the team pushing forward," Catloth said.
Doubles team loses shot at grand slam
By Dan Gelston Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's tennis doubles team of Jenny Atkerson and Kylie Hunt were just one point away from advancing to the semifinals of the Riviera All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
They were one point away from furthering their quest to win consecutive grand slam collegiate doubles titles.
Instead, they blew their opportunity and never were able to recover, losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to Amanda Augustus and Renata Kolbovic of California-Berkeley.
The loss was the first for Atkerson and Hunt, who won the clay court championships earlier in the fall tournament season.
"They had some opportunities to win that match, but they just couldn't do it." Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "We had two match points and couldn't get it done. But I can't say a bad thing about the way they played. It was all good."
In singles play, Hunt advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to fourth-seeded Katie Schukebir of Stanford 1-6, 7-6, 6-2.
Hunt continues to prove herself as one of the nation's top players. She has beaten higher-ranked players and played tough in her losses.
"I didn't play my best tennis this weekend," Hunt said. "I didn't play as good as I could have, but I was able to battle my way through the matches. I was able to get through it."
Merzbacher said Kansas would focus on the Central Region Rolex Championships, which would be held Nov. 8-11 in Salt Lake City.
"We're going to get some practice in indoors, hopefully at the end of the week," Merzbacher said. "We're looking forward to it, and we're going to be ready."
Adam Ward/ KANSAN
Kansas junior Aric Peters pitches for the Gray team during an intrasquad scrimmage. Kansas lacks experience at pitcher as the most victories by a returner is three.
'We have a lot, a lot of work to do'
Intrasquad scrimmage shows lack of experience on Kansas baseball team
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
Judging from the scores of this weekend's Kansas baseball intrasquad scrimmage, it is hard to tell if the offense is really as good as it looked or if the pitching staff is really that bad.
The Gray team, mostly freshmen and sophomores, defeated the Blue team, mostly junior and seniors, in two of the three scrimmages. The Gray won 12-3 on Friday. On Saturday, it won 8-3 but then lost 11-1.
"This was a good learning experience for the team," Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall said. "It was a good indication as to what we have to work on."
Blue freshman pitcher Chris Williams was shelled for nine runs, seven earned, in about 3 innings on Friday. He allowed six runs on seven hits in
Also for the Gray team, freshman Nick Frank collected three hits, and freshman Aaron Wilhelm had two doubles.
the second inning, and the Gray team never looked back. For the Gray team, the inning was highlighted by a two-RBI triple by junior transfer Mario Opinipi.
Gray sophomore pitcher Linus Williams struck out six in five innings.
"The Gray team hit the ball extremely well," Randall said. "They took advantage of the opportunities they had and just never let up."
Headley had a single and a double, and Kliner also doubled.
After Kliner's home run, Randall ordered the scoreboard to be cleared and made it 1-0 in favor of the Blue
The Gray team had a reversal of fortune Saturday as the Blue team won one of the games.
The Blue team was ahead 1-0 in the top of the second inning when junior Justin Headley hit a three-run home run off Gray Junior Aric Peters, which increased the lead to four. Blue senior Josh Kliner added a home run in the top of the sixth, which made it 11-1.
The teams played four more innings, and the Gray won 8-3. Freshman Andy Juday had a three-RBI double for the Gray team.
team in the top of the first. Randall said he made the move because there was not much incentive to keep playing a lopsided game.
It was evident this weekend that Kansas did not have much pitching depth, a fact that was not lost on the coaches.
"Depth is a big concern for us," Kansas pitching coach Wilson Kilmer said. "The pitchers we do have certainly have ability, but we can't keep throwing a lot of pitches in so few innings like we did today."
Inexperience is also a factor. Kansas has seven pitchers who have never played for the team, and its returning pitchers did not win much last year. Senior Clay Baird was the top winner with three.
}
"We have a lot, a lot of work to do to get these guys ready," Randall said. "We're throwing a lot of pitches, and that means we're not throwing strikes."