KU cross country coach Stanley Redwine has high hopes for this year as many runners return to the team.
The soccer team kicks off its regular season with home games today and Saturday, counting on speed to win the game.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 10A
» WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
Excitement increases as football approaches
BY B.J. RAINS
KANSAN COLUMNIST
BIRAIN@KANSAN.COM
We are only eight days away from the first football game of the season, and I can already feel the chills that I get every time I hear the beginning of "Hells Bells" during the introduction of the football team before each game.
As each day passes and the Jayhawks get closer to hosting Northwestern State Sept. 2 at Memorial Stadium, the excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season seems to get bigger and bigger, something that used to not be the case.
Here are the top 10 reasons to be excited about the 2006 KU Football season:
10. The offensive line: All five starters from last season return, including Senior David Ochoa, who was recently named to the 2006 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, which is given to the top lineman in college football. Cesar Rodriguez and Bob Whitaker also will help anchor one of the most experienced offensive lines in the Bie 12 North.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 9A
9. Jon Cornish: The senior was named the team's offensive MVP in 2005 after leading the team in several statistical categories, most impressively, his 5.8 yards per carry. In his first year as the starter, look for his numbers to improve.
8. Television exposure: Two of the layhawks' five road games in 2006 will be televised on prominent networks, something that hasn't happened in some time. The Sept. 15 matchup at Toledo, Ohio, will be televised nationally by ESPN2, and the Border Showdown with Missouri over Thanksgiving weekend will be on ABC.
7. Mark Mangino: Doubts were raised last year whether Mangino was the right guy for Kansas, but he silenced his critics with the magical 4-1 finish capped off by the Fort Worth Bowl title. Mangino has turned the football program around since his arrival in 2002, and look for that trend to continue in 2006.
6. Bowl game: For the first time in school history, the KU football team has a chance to go to bowl games in consecutive years, something that will help KU football gain the national popularity that it's starting to deserve.
5. Yes indeed...Aqib Talib: After being named as a freshman All-American by rivals.com last season, sophomore cornerback Aqib Talib has the chance to solidify himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the Big 12. Talib loves to talk trash on the field, and it looks like he will be backing it up in 2006.
4. Tailgating: Some fans look forward to the drinking more than the actual game itself. What could be better than: having a beer and grilling some burgers with your friends on a fall Saturday in Lawrence?
3. Seven home games: It only takes six wins to become bowl eligible, and if the Jayhawks have the same success at home as they did in 2005, a perfect 6-0 record, then the Jayhawks will be going bowling this holiday season.
Director steps down to take commercial job
KANSAS RELAYS
Tim Weaver resigned from his position as Kansas Relays meet director Thursday to take a position with a Commercial Real Estate company in Kansas City, Mo.
Weaver had been the Relays director since 2000 and had been with Kansas track and field since 1995. His main motivation to move on was the long hours interfering with the time he spent with his family.
"Over the summer it just became more and more clear that to abuse the relays metaphor, I've got a tired set of legs here and it's a good time to hand it off to somebody new," Weaver said.
Weaver's replacement has not been named yet. Weaver said the Athletics Department had a job
description prepared and would begin the search immediately. Weaver will assist athletics director Lew Perkins in the search for the new director.
"Lew's made it very clear he wants the absolute best person available," Weaver said. "The reiays have been a big success
under Lew's tenure here by no accident. He has gotten behind this event unlike any other."
prominence over his tenure with the University of Kansas. He was the director when the Relais came back
Weaver played a large role in bringing the Kansas Relays back to
Weaver
in 2000 after a two year hiatus. In 2005, he was responsible for starting GOLDZONE, which brought professional track and field athletes like Maurice Green, Marion Jones and Justin Gatin to Memorial Stadium.
The event provided
The event provided record crowds the past two years, thanks to GOLDZONE; however, the Relays have been entangled in controversy since the 2006 event in April.
During a post-game party for
the Relays at Abe & Jakes Landing, 8 E. Sixth St., a fight broke out that included several athletes from the Relays. Several weeks ago news broke that Gatlin tested positive for excess testosterone and using other steroids following his team's win in the 4 x 100 meters relay at Memorial Stadium. Gatlin faces an eight-year ban from track and field because it was his second offense.
Weaver said both the incidents from the past year had nothing to do with him leaving his position with the Relays.
"This was a completely personal decision. I've always preached to my staff that we've got to focus on things that we can control," Weaver
said. "Those things that are out of our control have just really never been a factor for us."
SOCCER
Weaver said he planned to continue to be involved with track and field with Olympic and US National teams and will continue with other consulting gigs away from the Kansas Relays.
"Despite me moving on and any of those other things, the meet is solid and it's going to move on without a hitch," Weaver said.
Kansan staff writer C.J. Moore can be contacted at cjmoore@kansan.com.
— Edited by Nicole Kelley
Colleen Quinn, left, Junior, and Julie Hanley, Indianapolis sophomore, are competing for the starting goal position this season. Although Coach Mark Francis said that the equality of their skill levels make them virtually interchangeable, the two are friendly competitors who like to laugh and joke with each other.
Mindv Ricketts/KANSAN
Going for the goal KU heads to first regular-season game with two healthy goalies
BY MARK DENT
Julie Hanley wanted to make sure she looked good.
Forget that Hanley, Indianapolis, Ind., sophomore, is competing for the starting goalkeeper position with Colleen Quinn, Fort Collins, Colo., junior; she is more worried about posing for a team picture than her early-morning soccer practice.
starting the first 10 games last season.
"Oh, my hair is terrible," Hanley shouted as Quinn laughed from the side.
The teammates joke around after practice, but on the field they
When Quinn went down with multiple injuries, Hanley stepped into the starting spot and made sure that she remained there the
Although the Jayhawks had 4 wins, 4 losses and 2 ties in those games, Quinn allowed only 12 goals while recording five shutouts.
"Those two are so close that the starter could change week to week."
MARK FRANCIS Coach
are immersed in a serious battle for a position.
Depth between the goal posts is nothing new for Kansas. Last year Quinn and Hanley each started 10 games with almost equal success.
"Those two are so close that the starter could change week to week," coach Mark Francis said. "I told them, if you're not getting the job done, we could play either one of you."
rest of the season.
A goalkeeper since eighth grade, Quinn honed her craft on two state-champion teams before landing at the University of Kansas. She practiced behind former Kansas goalkeeper All-American Meghan Miller her freshman year, before
Hanley had been thrust into an unfamiliar situation before. In her junior year of high school, she switched from midfielder to
goalkeeper. She was immediately successful and was named a high school All-American.
Hanley duplicated her rapid high school achievement by ascending quickly to the top ranks of Big 12 Conference goalies.
She led the team to seven wins, allowed only 11 goals, and anchored Kansas in two of its biggest victories against Texas and Missouri.
"Not playing at the beginning of last season definitely motivated me to win the starting spot." Hanley said. "I definitely want to be the one playing, as does Colleen."
SEE GOAL ON PAGE 9A
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Buffaloes look to keep North title
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Dan Hawkins doesn't care that Colorado won the Big 12 North title last season. The new coach is ready to shake things up.
"After practice, he'd bring golf clubs out and we'd have a closest-to-the-pin challenge or wed have an O-line/D-line seven-or-seven competition. Things like that are fun and make practice fun and make
.
"When we first started spring ball, he had us lay down and take a two-minute nap during the middle of practice," said Brian Daniels, senior offensive lineman.
On Saturday, Hawkins will try to take Colorado's offense to the same level he brought Boise State's to. In 2005, Boise State had an "off" year, compared to the previous three, and still scored 469 points. On it's way to winning the North title and playing in the Champs Sports Bowl, in Orlando, Fla., Colorado put up 305 points.
people excited to come to practice."
Although the Colorado offense will have a new look, players have adjusted well to Hawkins' up-tempo style.
"There only so many ways you can draw up a play. There's only so many plays out there."
Daniels said.
As Hawkins pieces together his high-octane offense at Colorado, he will have seven players from last year's team to work with who have starting experience. However, quarterback is the unknown variable.
Junior Brian White and senior James Cox are listed jointly on Colorado's depth chart as starters at quarterback, and while Cox has the experience, White has the momentum.
Cox appeared in seven regular season games and started in Colorado's bowl game, but didn't produce amazing numbers and struggled in the bowl game. White replaced Cox in
Both will rely on help from junior tailback Hugh Charles, who will try to crack the 1,000-yard barrier for the first time after rushing for 842 yards and six touchdowns in 2005.
the Champs Sports Bowl and led Colorado to its only touchdown of the game. White also put up decent numbers in the spring, while Cox missed most of the spring with a hand and thumb injury.
Seniors Mark Fenton, center, and Mason Crosby, kicker, both named preseason All-Big 12 Conference, round out the Colorado offensive attack.
SEE BUFFALO'S ON PAGE 9A
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with his team.
First-year Colorado coach Dan Hawkins gives signals to his team.
Hawkins comes from a successful running coach in Raleigh State.
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