THE
THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
ONDAY OCTOBER 22, 2007
SPORTS 5B
》 SWIMMING
Weekend marks start of season
BY SCOTT TOLAND stoland@kansan.com
NO HASSLE FOR YOUR TASSLE
The Kansas swimming and diving team opened its season strong this weekend, claiming a victory against Northern Iowa in a dual meet Saturday and placing fourth in the Big 12 Relays on Friday.
The Big 12 Relays, which Iowa State played host to, provided the Jayhawks with a good opportunity get a better idea of how they stack up against their
conference foes. Five other Big 12 schools competed in the meet, including Big 12 North rivals Missouri and Nebraska.
"We usually finish fourth every year," coach Clark Campbell said. "It was a good bonding experience and the team had fun."
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The team had several good showings on Friday, which included four third-place finishes in four different relay events.
Sophomore Emily Lanteigne, a transfer from Indiana, was part of the third-place 400-yard freestyle relay team. Senior Terri Schramka, junior Maria Mayrovich and freshman Sarah Edwards teamed up with Lanteigne to post a time of 3 minutes 26 seconds in the event. Junior diver Hannah McMacken placed sixth at the Relays.
"We are really glad she came to Kansas," Campbell said.
Northern Iowa played hosted its dual competition with Kansas in Cedar Falls on Saturday. The Jayhawks won the meet 180-80 as
they won every event except the 50- vard freestyle.
Schramka and Lanteigne each contributed 18 points to the team's efforts, as they both won two individual races. Freshman Joy Bunting also impressed by winning two events in her first competition with Kansas.
scoring 217 points.
Campbell said he thought Lanteigne had a strong showing on Friday.
Campbell seems pleased with where the team stands at this point and hopes to keep progressing throughout the early stages of the season.
"It's really good to have meets like these where you can try different things," Campbell said. "We are pretty much where we thought we would be at this point."
A home dual competition with the Missouri Tigers awaits the Jayhawks this Friday in Robinson Center. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. and will give the team a chance to see how it matches up with its arch rival head-to-head.
"It's definitely an easy week to stay focused because of the Missouri meet," Campbell said. "We're lucky to have such a good rivalry. Each team brings out the best in each other."
Edited by Luke Morris
NASCAR
BY HANK KURZ JR.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Johnson wins after record 21 cautions Defending series champ sweeps Virginia races, cuts Gordon's points lead to 53 points
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Jimmie Johnson made the pass he didn't allow Jeff Gordon to make in the spring, sneaking inside Gordon with 44 laps to go Sunday and holding on to win at Martinsville Speedway for his series-high seventh victory of the year.
The Hendrick Motorsports teammates who have dominated the Nextel Cup Series all season did it again at the tricky track where their superiority is most
apparent, and Johnson got some unexpected late help from Ryan Newman to tighten the points race.
Newman challenged Gordon for second with nine laps to go, getting increasingly more physical, and finally passed him on the inside on the 494th circuit as Johnson opened a lead of nearly 2 seconds.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
He then had to withstand a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish, with Gordon lurking third and ready to take advantage if the leaders faltered. s
Jimmie Johnson leads teammate Jeff Gordon into Turn 1 during the Subway 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. Sunday. Johnson won the race, his third straight victory at the track, and cut Gordon's points lead to 53.
They didn't, and Johnson held year. He also won both races at on through one lap before the Richmond International Raceway race-record and 2'
They didn't, and Johnsco on through one lap beef face-record 21st caution came out.
Johnson gained in the championship chase with four races remaining, cutting Gordon's lead to 53 points heading to Atlanta next weekend.
The Hendrick Motorsports teammates who have dominated the Nextel Cup Series all season did it again at the tricky track where their superiority is most apparent.
"This thing's not over yet," said Johnson, the defending series champion.
Newman held on for second, Gordon was third and Kyle Busch fourth.
Shuffled back into the pack during the middle of the race by staggered pit stops, the Hendrick teammates moved to the front when all the leaders pitted with
In the spring, the first time the Car of Tomorrow was used on the shortest track on the circuit.
"Jimmie was strong, we were strong and he got the best of us," Gordon said.
158 laps to go, raising expectations that they would again stage a stirring duel to the finish.
Johnson held off Gordon for the last 53 laps, his car withstanding some aggressive banging from behind by Gordon, to win his second straight race on the oval.
That victory gave the pair seven of the last nine victories at Martinsville, and Johnson's third straight on the series' oldest oval only made it more pronounced.
It also gave the defending series champ a sweep of the four short-track races in Virginia this
That victory gave the pair seven of the last nine victories at Martinsville, and Johnson's third straight on the series' oldest oval only made it more pronounced.
and became the first driver to sweep those four races since Richard Petty in 1972.
Pit stops were staggered throughout the race, but when the 12th caution came out with 158 laps to go, all the leaders but one headed for pit road. Busch stayed out to retake the lead, and teammates Johnson and Gordon were the next two off pit road.
Gordon was riding right on Johnson's bumper, but had made no effort to pass him, when David
They both made quick work of Busch, then opened a large lead over third-place Kevin Harvick, even when they caught lapped traffic and had to navigate around slower cars.
Strempe spun exiting Turn 2 and they all headed for their final pit stops.
Gordon's crew got him out first, and Newman also beat Johnson out, taking a gamble by taking only two tires and perhaps banking on some help from yellow flags.
Gordon had built a sizable lead over nine laps when Stremme spun again and hit the wall in Turns 1 and 2.
Gordon quickly rebuilt it when it went back to green, and held it through a few restarts, too, before Johnson passed him one last time.