UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, August 16. 1995
17B
Women's soccer kicks off inaugural campaign
Kansas starts season with new program, players, coach
By Jenni Carlson
Kansan sports editor
Lori Walker knows the first step in establishing a new program.
"We've got 21 players that we've got to go through and play the name game," said the first Kansas women's soccer coach.
Not only will the names be new, but so will everything else as the Kansas women's soccer team begins its first season.
That newness and excitement sold Walker on the program earlier this spring, she said.
Walker accepted the Kansas coaching position on Feb. 1 but was tied to her contract as the assistant soccer coach at Maryland for several weeks. Therefore, she could not recruit players for the Javahawk program.
When she officially started work at Kansas, it was five days after signing began for national letters of intent.
Her first week in Lawrence, she spent most of her 16-hour work days on the telephone talking to prospective players.
But Walker said she did not have a hard job selling the program.
"I was so excited about being here,
that was easy," she said. "I had people
"We've got 21 players that we've got to go through and play the name game."
Lori Walker
Lori Walker
Kansas women's soccer coach
to share that excitement with."
Walker said she also talked to recruits about being part of something new, starting new traditions and writing the record books.
The players have many opportunities to record their names in history, such as by scoring Kansas' first goal, blocking the first shot on Kansas' goal or scoring the most goals in the first season.
"That was the way she talked the whole time," said freshman forward Heidi Taggart of Walker's recruiting pitch. "That just blew my mind."
With 16 freshmen on the team's 21-player roster, team members also will have an opportunity to contribute, Walker said. Because there is not a professional women's soccer league, most players only have four years of competitive soccer remaining when they enter college.
"Why sit the bench for two years?" Walker said. "They're going to compete
The positive aspects surrounding Kansas' first soccer season appealed enough to one player that she changed her original plan.
Denise Cooke, a freshman midfielder forward from Tacoma, Wash., had verbally committed to Washington before Kansas came knocking at her door.
right away here."
At first Cooke shied away from a Midwest school. Then she met Walker.
"She wants to go forward," Cooke said. "She wants to start on the level that I want to play on."
Walker is used to playing soccer on a high level. She played four years at North Carolina where she was part of three NCAA championship teams and three Atlantic Coast Conference championship teams.
After leaving North Carolina, Walker became an assistant at Maryland. She spent the last three years there training goalkeepers and coordinating the team's defense. During that time, Maryland goalkeepers set several team records including saves and fewest goals allowed.
During the former goalkeeper's collegiate career, the Tar Heels lost one game.
"She knows what she's talking about," sophomore midfielder Amy Dyksterhuis said. "Lori's young enough to relate to us but not too young."
Youth seems to be a theme for the Jayhawks, but Walker doesn't seem to be worried about that.
Walker is quite comfortable with the
1995 Kansas Women's Soccer
Stacy Bialek F Fr. Leawood
Denise Cooke M Fr. Tacoma, Wash.
Tiffany Divine D Fr. Lenexa
Jackie Dowell D-F Fr. Germantown, Md.
Kerry Durig M Fr. Overland Park
Amy Dyksterhuis M So. Omaha, Neb.
Erin Hon M-D Fr. Millersville, Md.
Sarah Korpi M Fr. Maple Grove, Minn.
Jen Magid M Fr. Dallas
Malle Robichaud Fr. Lenexa
Jen Silvers F Fr. Fairfax, Va.
Heidi Taggart F Fr. Omaha, Neb.
Melissa Mitchell GK So. Lenexa
Kim Ambruz M-D Jr. Anchorage, Ala.
Melissa Brace M Fr. Lakewood, Colo.
Kati Deitemeyer F Fr. Colorado Springs, Colo.
Heather Heidel M-D Jr. Grosse Pointe Farms, Minn.
Audra Henderson M So. Omaha, Neb.
Kathie Hertling GK Fr. St. Louis, Mo.
Sarah Kornmeyer M Fr. Richardson, Texas
RoseAnne Mauch Fr. Bettendorf, Iowa
Amanda Romek D Fr. Englewood, Colo
talent and experience of 11 players on the roster, she said.
"But what they've done is not important," Walker said. "What they're going to do is important. They're all equal right now."
However, some have that much needed experience.
And Walker had her first chance those players and others in action last night. The team held an intrasquad scrimmage at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
team leaders, Walker said.
Two players from Anchorage, Alaska, junior midfielder Kim Ambruz and sophomore midfielder Micaela Brogen, have an opportunity to step up and be
Last night gave Walker an opportunity to set expectations for the team.
"Our measure of success will be where we were on Tuesday and where we are on Nov. 5, our final game of the season," she said. "A brand new team can't be measured on a win-loss record."
Former Colorado standout has 'catching' up to do
The Associated Press
FROSTBURG, Md. — Twenty-six days late and $6.5 million richer, Michael Westbrook showed up for work Tuesday for the Washington Redskins.
Now comes the tough part:
breaking the Redskins' holdout
jinx.
By signing a seven-year, $18 million contract, Westbrook became the third round pick in four years to join the team
after a lengthy holdout. His predecessors, Desmond Howard and Heath Shuler, never could recover from their late starts and suffered through miserable rookie seasons that pulled the team down with them.
"He's not going to be as good as he could have been had he been here the whole training camp," said coach Norv Turner, who expects to give Westbrook some playing time in Saturday's preseason game at Miami.
"There's certain things he's going to be able to do, and we'll have to evaluate which things those are and try to use them."
"He'll be doing a lot of on-the-job training," said 13-year veteran Henry Ellard, who will serve as Westbrook's mentor. "This offense takes a good year-and-a-half, two years to get comfortable with it."
The Redskins are seeking to
rebound from 4-12 and 3-13 seasons, and the first team offense has yet to score a touchdown in two pre-season games.
"It's a little different playing pro football than it is college," Westbrook conceded. "Actually, it's a lot different."
But Westbrook, who was been working out with former teammates at the University of Colorado, said he could quickly adjust to the Redskins' routine.
"As long as the ball is thrown to me, it won't take long at all," he said. "I can't predict the future, but I'm going to try hard to get where they want me to be. I'm like a kid in a candy store, can't wait to get out there. This is all I've dreamt about."
At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Westbrook has the size and speed to warrant comparisons to Art Monk, a three-time Pro Bowl selection for the Redskins during
the 1980s. Turner's plans call for "Shuler-to-Westbrook" to become a catch phrase for Redskins scoring plays for years to come.
Turner and Ellard said Westbrook could contribute quickly by keeping his moves simple — not the easiest thing to do in Turner's highly-structured offense. Turner said it was realistic to expect Westbrook to be in the game for about 30 plays in the season opener Sept. 3.
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