SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1994
SECTION B
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Kansas junior centerfelder Charlene Reyers throws the ball during practice in Anschutz Pavilion. The team was forced to practice in Anschutz yesterday because of the wet weather.
Softball team utilizes its young bench
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas softball team is battered and bruised again.
Kansan sportswriter
The team played through last season with multiple injuries. At times, Kansas had as few as 11 available players, said Heather Richins, sophomore utility player.
With 15 players on this year's roster, injuries may not be as much of a problem.
"The players sitting on the bench are really stronger." Richins said. "The freshmen are good enough to come in and take over."
Junior pitcher Beth Robinson said that everyone was playing well, but that the freshmen had impressed her.
"They definitely don't look like freshmen," she said.
All the players must improve because of the injuries the Jayhawks have suffered this fall, said Kansas softball coach Kalum Haack.
Four players are out with injuries, including senior infielder Lora Richardson, who broke her wrist Monday in a HYPR class.
Two freshmen that have impressed Haack this fall are catcher Kristina Johnson and utility player Michelle Hubler.
"We've got four key people that are out," Haack said. "But one of the real positive things about this year is that we have some depth. They're not just bodies. They're good ball players."
Haack said he was pleased with how the entire team had come together since practice began in late August. All the players have played strong defense and improved their hitting.
"We'll have much more consistent hitting throughout the lineup," Haack said. "Last year, if the top of the lineup didn't get it done, it wasn't going to get done."
Kansas will open its fall season this weekend with the Jayhawks Softball Invitational. The Jayhawks will sponsor the round robin tournament with Johnson County Community College, Kearney State and Washburn completing the field. The first game will start at 9 a.m. Saturday at Jayhawk Field.
Robinson said she knew very little about the other teams playing this weekend.
"They'll give us a good run," she said. "We'll have to work hard no matter what."
This tournament should give the young Kansas team a chance to play competitive softball, Haack said.
"The fall is a time of learning," he said. "I want to get the freshmen some experience at the intensity level that I want them to play at."
Richins said she hoped the Jayhawks could play as a team because they had been practicing together for only a short time.
"We can learn a lot about how we need to adjust," she said.
'Hawks hoping to roll over Blazers
Kansas preparing for Division I-AA UAB no differently
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas football team will play Division I-A Alabama-Birmingham at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Memorial Stadium, but don't expect the Jayhawks to treat the Blazers any different than their first three Division I-A opponents.
"I wouldn't call them completely inferior," senior offensive guard Hessley Hempstead said. "They've got guys who are big, fast and strong. Their two defensive tackles are 285 and 290 pounds. They compare with any team in the Big Eight.
"We'll probably see faster teams in the Big Eight, but defensively they're a good football team. We can't go into the game thinking that if we show up, we're going to win."
Despite the fact that the Blazers' physical attributes match up with some Division I-A schools, their record is only 1-2 coming into the biggest game in Blazer football history. Alabama-Birmingham will play its first game against a Division I-A opponent when it plays Kansas. The Jayhawks are 2-1 after losing to Texas Christian Saturday.
For the Jayhawks, tomorrow's game means nothing towards qualifying for a bowl game because it is against a team that is not Division I-A. Alabama-Birmingham will become a Division I-A team in 1996.
"Iheard they hit real hard, and they're real fast," Blazer freshman running back Thomas Banks said.
It does allow the Jayhawks a chance to heal, improve and gain experience in the case of junior quarterback Mark Williams. Williams will replace senior quarterback Asheiki Preston, who is out indefinitely after suffering an injury against Texas Christian.
"I have some butterflies," Williams said. "But I'm really not nervous. I'm just excited about playing."
Although he was a run-and-shoot quarterback in junior college, Williams said the Kansas offense would not change much because he was in the game.
"I think it's simplified a little bit," Williams said about the Kansas passing attack. "I don't have to make as many checks."
Kansas coach Glen Mason said sophomore running back June Henley would not play so he could rest a bruised shoulder, and that senior tight end Brent Willeford also would not play.
1.
Mason said it was imperative that the Jayhawks improve when they play the Blazers.
"You're either getting better, or you're getting worse," he said. "We went the wrong way last week. We need to get going the right way this week."
"We could be leading the country in interceptions," Mason said, referring to the passes the defense has dropped this season. "We had guys in position who didn't make plays."
One area Mason said the Jayhawks need to improve his pass defense. He said they would be tested by Alabama-Birmingham's run-and-shoot offense.
Senior linebacker Steve Harvey agreed that the defense needed to improve against the pass.
"We need to get the coverages worked out," he said. "We've got to pressure on the quarterback. After last week's performance, we've got to step up our game."
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Sophomore running back June Henley barrels over a Texas Christian defender. Tomorrow's 1 p.m. game will not be televised but will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network. The game will be Kansas' first day game of the season.
Jayhawk Football Listed are the starters for Kansas' offense and defense
Micah Laaker/KANBAN
Jayhawk Football: Game 4
Kansas Notes:
A cool afternoon: The Jayhawks will play their first day game of the season Saturday. The Jayhawks next game will be a night game against Kansas State on Oct. 6.
■ Henley hampered: Sophomore running back June Henley will not play against Alabama-Birmingham in order to rest a bruised shoulder. Henley leads the Jayhawks in rushing with 321 yards. Henley has 1,445 career yards and has climbed from 26th to 13th on the all-time list since the beginning of the season. Kansas ranks 2nd in the Big Eight and 10th in the country in rushing offense.
Alabama-Birmingham notes:
Professor as coach: Blazer coach Jim Hillyer is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama School of Medicine and an adjunct associate professor in Alabama-Birmingham's department of Health Education and Physical Education.
**NFL ties:** Blazer senior quarterback John Whitcomb was the backup to Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Fewre when both were at Southern Mississippi in 1900 and 1991. Whitcomb was redshirted in 1900 and played for Southern Mississippi in 1991 before transferring to Alabama-Birmingham in 1992.
It's in the family: The Blazers' special teams are coached by Hilyer's wife, Lynn Artz, previously a swimming coach.
Motivated to win: Alabama-Birmingham is 1-2 this season, with losses to Alabama State and Jacksonville State. The Blazers defeated fellow Great Midwest Conference member Dayton, 28-10.
From club to classy: Alabama-Birmingham was a club football team in 1899 and 1900. The Blazers will become a Division I-A team in 1966.
Grass roots beginning: Alabama-
Birmingham's athletic program started
from scratch in 1977. Gene Bartow, athletic
director, has led the basketball team to 14
postseason appearances.
Cross country to compete at K-State tomorrow
— Compiled by Kansan staff writer Matt Irwin and Kansas sports information
By Kent Hohlfeld
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas cross country team hopes that a change in scenery doesn't bring a change in the team's fortunes.
Meghan Dougherty / KANSAN
Kansas runners want to continue the success they enjoyed two weeks ago during the Jayhawk Invitational when they travel Saturday to Manhattan for the Kansas State Invitational.
The Kansas cross country team practices in the rain at Memorial Stadium. The team will compete in the Kansas State Invitational meet on Saturday in Manhattan.
The men's team defeated the national-champion Arkansas Razorbacks to take the Jayhawk Invitational team title.
Head coach Gary Schwartz said the fact that Arkansas did not bring its top three runners had not diminished the significance of the victory.
Schwartz likened the victory to Kansas beating Notre Dame in football.
He said that few people would care who played for Notre Dame if the Irish lost to the Jayhawks.
"In sports, you have to compete against whoever shows up," Schwartz said. "To be able to beat Arkansas at this point in the season is great."
The victory may boost the men's team into the top 25 when the first national polls are released next week.
"I hope we're not ranked too high in
the poll just because of the Arkansas victory, 'Schwartz said.
Schwartz said he would rather have his team work its way through the polls, he said, than have it given to them on the basis of one victory.
The men's team was ranked third in the District V preseason polls behind conference rivals Iowa State and
Oklahoma State. Kansas will get its first look at the Cowboys, as well as Colorado and K-State, in this weekend's meet.
"I think it'll help out watching them run," said Bryan Schultz, sophomore team member.
The teams will meet again when Kansas runs in the Big Eight Championships, which will be held Oct. 29 on the same course the Jayhawks will run on this weekend.
He said cool temperatures expected this weekend will probably help
"We really want to beat Colorado and Oklahoma," said Schultz. "We're capable of running better than we did two weeks ago."
the team's times.
Senior co-captain Melissa Swartz agreed that running in the cooler temperatures would make for better conditions than the high humidity and 80-degree temperature present at Rim Rock Farm, north of Lawrence.
"This is ideal cross country weather," said Swartz. "I think you'll see the times begin to come down this week."
The women's teamm has inched itself closer to a top-25 ranking with its performance in the Jayhawk Invitational.
The team was ranked second in its district behind Nebraska.
The women's team finished second to Arkansas two weeks ago, but placed four runners in the meet's top 20.
"We're capable of having more runners in the top 20," Swartz said.
"We also want to concentrate on running closer together."
Swartz said that teams do pay attention to the rankings.
"Rankings do make a difference," she said.
"Personally, I would like to go into districts as the underdog."
Schwartz said the two biggest goals for the teams this weekend were to bring team members' times closer together and to get a look at the course before the Big Eight Championships.