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SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1995
Jayhawks offense a surprise
There were many pleasant surprises for the Kansas football team in Saturday's 27-10 victory against North Texas. Most of them came from the offense, which finally pulled its head out of the sand.
For senior quarterback Mark Williams, the pressure is off — for now. Given the proper amount of time to get set up, Williams looks excellent in the new passing-oriented offense created for him.
Need some proof? Just look at the numbers — 17 of 23, 269 yards, three touchdowns. In the season opener, Williams was good enough to win but had little else, going 14 of 28 and throwing for 149 yards and one touchdown. This week, Williams is a definite lock for the best quarterback award.
The Jayhawk offense racked up 293 passing yards and 169 rushing yards against a North Texas team that fought hard to make the game interesting.
Another Kansas performance to note is that of junior running back June. Hanley
Forced to step up his game in the absence of senior L.T. Levine, who was suspended for violating team rules, Henley responded nicely with 78 yards. Henley gets a strong nomination, but the Eagles went one better.
The Oscar for best performance by a running back goes to North
ASSOCIATE
SPORTS
EDITOR
Texas sophomore Bo Harrison, who drove the Kansas defense crazy in the first half. He kept the Eagles in a game which, on paper, they had no business winning. Harrison's 101 yards rushing and 73 yards receiving were impressive.
Bo knows offense.
Fortunately, the Jayhawks were able to stop Harrison and the Eagles in the second half, scoring 14 unanswered points. Leading the way for Kansas was junior wide receiver Isaac Byrd — the hands-down winner of the best player Oscar.
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Sure, Byrd had great numbers — four reception for 68 yards, two touchdowns — but given his experience in the past two seasons, it gives him a slight edge over Kansas senior Ashaunald Smith, who at 5-foot-6 defies logic as wide receiver.
Byrd, who also excels as the center fielder on the Kansas baseball team, was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1993. The St. Louis native bucked professional baseball for the chance to play both baseball and football for the Jayhawks, but he was forced to sit out his freshman year because of Proposition 48 guidelines, which requires players to have a certain ACT score to play.
Last fall, Byrd spent much of his time on the sidelines as a fourteenth team quarterback. His spring in baseball was better. He was the Jayhawks leading hitter and a definite base-speaking threat.
His success has continued into this fall — something both Byrd and this young team need for key games the rest of the season.
Where Kansas goes from here will be interesting. Although the first two games have been harder to win than expected, it can only get worse Thursday against Texas Christian.
Welcome to Division I-A — you guys are doing it right.
First, there's the ESPN factor. The Jayhawks always seem to be a bit nervous when the lights come on and the cameras start rolling. Add in the fact that North Texas didn't put up the same amount of defensive pressure Cincinnati had in week one, and Williams could spend the evening running for his life again.
And don't forget that TCU has a very talented team. Horned Frog quarterback Max Knake looks like the leading contender for this week's Bo Harrison award.
P. S. — Here's a tip of the cap to North Texas for putting together one heck of a schedule. Now that the Eagles are done with Missouri and Kansas, they have dates with Oklahoma, Oregon State and Alabama. Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder should take some lessons from a team that will someday be a force to be reckoned with.
Kansas names new baseball coach
Former Iowa State coach native Kansan to lead team
Kansan staff report
The Kansas baseball team has its new leader.
Bobby Randall, who spent the last 11 seasons as head coach at Iowa State, was named to the same position with the Jay-hawks on Friday. Randall succeeds Dave Bingham, who resigned Aug. 4 after eight seasons.
enck, athletic director. "Our commitment has always been to hire quality coaches who will attract academically capable student-athletes and represent the university in a first-class manner.
"I're really excited to have Bobby Randall leading our baseball team," said Bob Fred-
"Bobby Randall is a great coach and a great human being."
Under Randall, the Cyclones finished third in the Big Eight
Bobby Randall
Conference last season with a 28-24 record. He compiled a 309-311 record at Iowa State. The Cyclones were the runners-up at this year's conference baseball tournament and had winning seasons in six of the last seven years.
"I'm so excited and honored to become the baseball coach and part of the athletic family at the University of Kansas," Randall said, "Kansas is a highly prestigious university, and Lawrence is an outstanding community. The leadership in the athletic department and the camaraderie within the department were overwhelming during my visit.
"As a coach my philosophy is that we will
work our tails off and play fundamentally sound."
Randall, a 47-year-old native of Gove, Kan., came to Iowa State in 1981 as an assistant coach before being named head coach in 1984. He played 12 seasons in professional baseball, including five at the major league level with the Minnesota Twins.
WOMEN'S ROWING
A graduate of Kansas State, Randall was selected as the All-Big Eight shortstop in 1969. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers after receiving a bachelor's degree in physical education. Randall was traded to the Twins in 1975 and compiled a .255 career batting average in the majors.
Athletic Department gets oars wet
Rowing lessons part of kickoff for rowing program
The Kansas women's rowing team gave Athletic Department members a rowing lesson Saturday morning at the Clinton Lake Marina. The first-year program also christened two boats that were used by the Yale women's rowing team.
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
By Erin Johnson Kansan sportswriter
There's a first time for everything, and the Kansas Athletic Department staff found that out Saturday morning at the Clinton Lake Marina.
Kansas women's rowing coach Rob Catloth invited the department to the marina to experience rowing first-hand as part of events that included the christening of two boats formerly used by the Yale women's rowing program.
Senior varsity rowers and Catloth poured bottles of non-alcoholic sparkling cider on the end of each boat and renamed them the Rock Chalk and Oread to "get rid of all the Yale vuck" Catloth ioked.
"It was good to be a part of, and I'm glad I'm still here to see it." Maggie Romens, Edina, Minn., senior, said. "I think it kind of makes me happy for the future rowers or women athletes who come to KU because a great program is in place. I feel like they've been handed this huge gift. It's just a great feeling knowing for the future rowers what they have to look forward to."
Catloth also said he enjoyed the event.
"It was good just to see people come out here and get excited about what was going on," he said. "It give them a better hands-on
idea, and they can visualize exactly what we're doing out here and what we're going through to some extent."
The idea for this event was sparked when members of the department showed interest in the newly added varsity sport and wanted to know more about it. Catloth thought hands-on experience would be the best way to get a real feel for how tough rowing is.
Members of the varsity team carried the two boats, or shells, to the dock, where department staff members had the opportunity to sit in the shells and learn the motions before rowing to a buoy and back.
"It was a departmental effort to
try and understand the sport and learn what our rowing team is going to be going through," associate athletic director Betsy Stephenson said. "I have a friend who works at Harvard, and she has described it to me and actually tried it herself, so I anticipated it wasn't going to be as easy as you might think."
"If you don't know anything about the sport, you really can't gain any appreciation until you actually participate in it," he said.
Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz had been an aquatics coach and had been in sailboats and canoes, but he had never rowed until Saturday morning. Schwartz said the balance and coordination it takes with eight people in the boat was the hardest part of rowing.
While some members of the department were a little skeptical of giving rowing a try, others enjoyed the opportunity.
"There might have been a little nervousness with being in a boat with other people who weren't used to being in a boat," Schwartz said. "I don't think the fear factor is in there. It's real interesting to gain appreciation for what other athletes' sports are like."
Schwartz said he was surprised the event went as smoothly as it did considering they had to put eight
people together who had no rowing experience.
Romens said Saturday's event was a good way for the athletic department to get to know the rowers.
"I think to a lot of them, we're just the names on the paper and the roster." Romens said.
Catloth hopes Saturday's event is a sign of how the rest of the season will be.
"We're expecting to run a real organized program where they're going to have fun and they're going to be successful," Catloth said of his rowers. "That's the standard we're trying to set, and I think we'll continue with that."
Women's soccer team scores first win in Jayhawk history
By Jason Strait Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's soccer team defeated the University of Toledo 1-0 yesterday and earned its first victory of the season and in the team's history.
Kansas sophomore midfielder Mary Jones scored the game-winning goal at 46:22, early in the second half.
The goal was set up by a penalty kick from freshman Kerry Durick.
"It was great," Jones said. "It was an entire team effort. The ball was heading for the goal, and I just sort of helped it out."
The Jayhawks, now 1-2 in their first season, defeated a previously undefeated Toledo, which fell to 3-1 with the loss.
Kansas women's soccer coach Lori Walker was pleased with the first soccer victory in Kansas history.
"I told coach if we need a keeper that I would play," Hon said. "I was recruited as a stopper, and I haven't played goal in a while, so it took me some time to get mv skills back."
"One of my goals this year is to win the ones that I think we can win and think we have as good of chance as anybody against another first-year program," Walker said.
responded to the Jayhawks need of an experienced goalkeeper.
Walker said that Hon had been on the regional team as goalkeeper but had wanted to play other positions.
"She indicated she didn't really want to be our
"The ball was heading for the goal; and I just sort of helped it
Mary Jones
Kansas sophomore midfielder
Kansas out shot Toledo 15 to 9 and allowed the Eagles only two shots on goal in a game in which the Jayhawks controlled the ball for most of the game.
in."
The team played with some changes in its lineup. Kansas was without starting forwards Sarah Korpi and Jen Silver, both sidelined with injuries. Kansas also started freshman Erin Hon, who previously had played defense, in the goalkeeper position. She
goalkeeper but came to me and said she wants to help out the team in any way she can," Walker said. "She is probably our most experienced player on the team back there."
Walker said she was pleased with how her team responded after losing two starters in Friday's game against Oral Roberts University.
"Any time you are missing two of your goal scorers it's going to cause you trouble," she said.
"But everybody stepped up. I was very proud of the team."
Korpi is expected back for next week's games, but Silver's return is uncertain.
The Jayhawks went 1-1 on the weekend. On Friday, they lost their second game of the season to Oral Roberts 2-1.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, the Jayhawks scored on a penalty kick by Durig in the second.
"We showed a lot of character at the end," Walker said. "A lot of teams would have given up, but we didn't. It was a moral victory for us."
'Hawks lose fight at tourney
Kansas volleyball team battled in close games at Ball State tournament
Kansan staff report
Fresh off a win against No. 22 ranked New Mexico last weekend, the Kansas women's volleyball team entered the Reebok Ball State Classic this weekend in Muncie, Ind., with some momentum.
However, the Jayhawks needed more than momentum as they squared off against No. 8 ranked Pacific in the four-team tournament, which also included Ball State and Pittsburgh.
Kansas dropped their opener to Pacific 0-3. The match score didn't tell the whole story, though, as the Jayhawks battled the Tigers in three hard-fought games, 8-15, 11-15 and 12-15.
All-American senior Dominique Benton-Bozman paced Pacific with 16 kills. Senior captain Rebecca Downey added 12 kills and led the Tigers with nine digs.
"They were ranked No. 8 in the country, and we played them very well," Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise said.
In its second match Kansas met the host team Ball State. After winning the first match 15-9, the Jayhawks dropped the next three 4-15, 6-15 and 12-15.
Sophomore outside hitter Leslie Purkeypile led Kansas with a career-high 18 kills. Freshman outside hitter Laura Rohde contributed with a career-high 17 kills and 14 digs. The team's two seniors, Jenny Larson and Tracie Walt, combined for 15 kills and 18 digs.
"We started out well, and that's something we hadn't done yet," Schonewise said. "But consistency was our main weakness—we'd play well for four or five points then we'd stop moving."
Purkeypile and Larson both reached double digits in kills, and Schonewise was pleased with the blocking of sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Kendra Kahler.
Megan Stimmell and Becky Inman finished the match with 10 kills each for the Cardinals.
Following the Ball State match, Kansas took on Pittsburgh. The Jayhawks battled the Panthers in three tight matches but lost all three 13-15, 11-15 and 12-15 scores.
"I was happy about the play we got off the bench," Schonewise said.
Schonewise pointed out that sophomores Maggie Mohrfeld, Alisha Starnes, Tiffany Sennett and freshman Moira Donovan gave the team energy coming off the bench.
Jennie Driscoll and Sara Mitchell recorded double digits in kills for the Big East Conference defending champion Panthers.
Although the Jayhawks finished the tournament winless, Schonewise didn't look upon the trip as a total loss.
"Our blocking is starting to come around, and we're getting more aggressive on defense," she said.