SPORTS VERSITY DAILY KANSA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1994
SECTION B
Women's rugby working its way up the ranks
Sean R. Crosier / KANSAN
Players hope more students join team
Kansas freshman center Emily Holiday and fullback Darii Zudzinski, from Kansas City, Kan., polish their rugby skills for this weekend's Heart of America Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
By Kent Hohlfeld
Kansan sportswriter
When people hear the word rugby, they usually think of large men playing a violent sport. The women's rugby team is trying to present a contrast to that stereotype Monday and Wednesday evenings when they take the practice field at the Shenk Complex, 29rd and Iowa streets.
The team, which is in its third year as a club sport, is batting to set the recognition that they believe they deserve.
Christy Price, club vice president, said that the success the men's club enjoyed made it easier to start a women's club.
She said that the club had gone through the growing pains that many new clubs went through.
"During our first year we had to coach ourselves," Price said. "That was tough because no matter how disciplined you are, you never seem to do enough."
Price is the last member of the original 15 members who started the club two years ago. She said the fact that the players knew very little about the sport hurt the club during its early years.
Freshman Emily Holliday said that rugby wasn't her first choice of sports to play.
1 was really hoping to play field hockey, "Holliday said.
"They didn't have a team here, so I gave rugby a try."
Price said having a coach last year was a major step forward for the team.
Last season the team was coached by Norm Chase, who led them to a second-place finish in the Heart of America Tournament in Kansas City. Mo.
"It made a big difference when we got a coach who had a higher skill level than we had," Price said.
The team will be competing in this year's tournament on Friday. Saturday and Sunday.
Women's rugby has two forms of playoffs — team and individual select playoffs. Kansas has never qualified for the team playoffs, but players who compete in tournaments can qualify for territorial select competitions.
The best players from the territorial play, then qualify for pool play and can eventually compete for a spot on the 25-member international team.
"Every player can qualify for the national team." Price said. "Last year, Chris Miskec was an Eagle pool player from our team."
Holliday said concern about being injured kept some
women from trying the sport.
"The chance to get injured is there in any sport," Holiday said. "It's something you just have to deal with."
This year, the team has averaged about 11 players for games. A team needs 15 players to have a full team. Kansas has had to pick up players from competing teams to fill its roster.
Jeff Hoobler, who coaches the team this season, said rugby's bad reputation had hurt its effort to gain new players.
"Rugby has always had a bad reputation as being a violent sport," Hoobler said. "Both the men's and women's
teams are trying to emphasize the athletics of the sport." Holliday said the essentials of rugby were easy for beginners to pick up.
Holliday said that rugby was a good way to keep involved in athletics.
"To start, all you have to do is run straight and tackle hard," Holliday said.
"There is so much tradition involved with this sport." Price said. "I've never played a sport like this."
Price said it was the history of the sport that drew her to play rugby.
International squad within Senior's grasp
By Erlcka Sanner
Kansan correspondent
With four years of rugby experience, senior Christy Price is considered somewhat of the master of the game.
I have be considered a great asset in addition to her contributions to the Kansas rugby team, she captured a position on the 1993 developmental national rugby team.
This year, she said she hoped to kick her way onto the competitive national team with what teammate Paula Under calls the second-best kicking leg in the Midwest.
"The main reason I think I've made it this far is that I can kick the hell out of the ball," Price said.
This year, the national team will play other internationally competitive teams, including New Zealand and South Africa.
Currently, though, Price is a competitor for the Eades. one of four national division teams.
"There are four divisions in the United States: the Pacific, the Western, the Midwestern and the Eastern divisions," Price said. "And we just play each other."
As for her immediate goals with Kansas, she said she honored that more women would join the team.
"Rugby isn't too hard to learn," Price said. "It's just a cross between soccer and football. In fact, many of us didn't know anything about rugby when we came out for the team."
The good news is that one doesn't have to be a seasoned pro.
Not that Price ever stops learning about the game.
"I've been playing for four years and I still don't know half of the rules," Price said. "There's a rule book about two inches thick and they keep changing the rules every year."
Price's training with the Kansas rugby team consists of only two days per week of conditioning and technical practice in addition to weekend games.
She said that her extra training with the Eagles would help keep her in top condition for her tryout for the national team. It will also help prepare her to compete with Kansas in the Heart of America Tournament, she said.
"The Heart of America Tournament is the most important tournament we have this year," Price said. "So our biggest goal is to do well. Then, I'm shooting for the World Cup Tournament."
Big Eight quarterbacks have importance, set pace of teams
Kansan sportswriter
Bv Matt Irwin
In a league known for its rushers, teams from the Big Eight Conference are relying more and more on their quarterbacks.
Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart leads the Big Eight in passing, 164.5 yards a game. He has led his team to a 5-0 record, including one victory which came on a "Hail Mary" pass against Michigan. Kansas State quarterback Chad May, a probable top draft pick in next spring's National Football League draft, is second in the conference in passing yards and has led the Wildcats to a 4-0 record.
"That's every coach's worst nightmare, when a quarterback has one of those zone nights," Iowa State football coach Jim Walden said of May's 379-vard passing game against Kansas Thursday.
Although the two conference teams have prospered, the other Big Eight teams are starting less experienced quarterbacks or trying not to lose their veteran quarterbacks.
The league's highest ranked team, No. 2 Nebraska, and Iowa State, the only team in the league which has yet to win a football game, have been whittled down to third-string quarterbacks.
Kansas' starting quarterback, senior Asheki Preston, has been injured, causing him to miss one complete game and part of another, and Missouri's starting quarterback, Jeff Handy, also has been injured. Oklahoma has a new starting quarterback, and Oklahoma State's starting quarterback is a sophomore.
The losses affect every team. But because Nebraska's top quarterback is out for the season, and its second-string quarterback is questionable, the Big Eight race could be altered dramatically.
Nebraska plays at Kansas State at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Cornhuskers will play without starting quarterback Tommie Frazier and possibly without second-string quarterback Brook Berringer. Conference coaches said they saw a big difference in Nebraska without Frazier.
"There's no question there's a drop off." Oklahoma State coach Pat Jones said. "Frazier is one of the better skilled players in the country."
Jones' team lost on Saturday to a Nebraska team playing without Frazier, 32-3.
Inside
Nebraska leads the country in rushing, averaging 430 yards a game. Iowa State, which has played without its top two quarterbacks, also relies on its run.
A description of Nebraska's major quarter-back problems.
Page 3B
ning game. But the quarterback may be more of a key to its rushing attack.
"Robby Duncan is probably back to normal," Iowa State coach Jim Walden said about his second-string quarterback. "Todd Doxzon still labors a little bit when he runs."
Walden said the reason his team has had trouble running the ball effectively was not just because of the loss of his top two quarterbacks.
Paul Kotz / KAN$AN
"You can't name a team in America that can lose two quarterbacks, two guards, a tight end, a linebacker and a strong safety and think they're still as good as they were," Walden said.
Kansas senior quarterback Asheiki Preston passes over a Kansas State defender. Preston is averaging 177.7 total yards a game this season.
BRIEFS
Women's tennis team scores big at Classic
Kansas sophomore Chessa Bieri won the singles title in the fourth flight. She Jiefeted Minnesota's Bridget Ferguson, 6-1, 6-4, in the championship match. In the first flight, sophomore Jenny Atkerson was a third-place finisher. Drake's Nikki Uelze beat her in the semifinals, but she came back in the third-place match beat Notre Dame's Sherri Vitale, 6-4, 6-2.
The Jayhawks competed in the 10-team Eck Tennis Classic in South Bend, Ind. Sophomore Bianca Kirchhof defeated Rebecca Case of Mississippi in straight sets, 7-8, 6-4, winning the championship in the third flight.
The Kansas women's tennis team picked up two sindles championships in a weekend tournament.
May is player of the week
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State quarterback Chad May and Nebraska linebacker Ed Stewart were named players of the week Monday in the Big Eight Conference. May won the offensive award after leading the Wildcats to a 21-13 victory over Kansas last week. He completed 33 of 44 passes for 379 yards.
The Associated Press and Kansan staff reports.