THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
LACROSSE |9A Season wrap-up Team will need to rebuild after loss of several key players to graduation.
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEEKEND SWEEP
PAGE 12A
Heartbroken after tough loss
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
A ninth inning game-winning grand slam hit by Oklahoma senior outfield Ricky Eisenberg appropriately ended a crushing weekend for the Jayhawks, in which they were swept by the Sooners.
In their second to last series of the season, the Jayhawks (22-27, 9-15) needed to take at least two of three games to keep their already-slim NCAA tournament hopes alive in Norman, Okla., against the No. 10 Sooners. After nine defensive miscues led to the Jayhawks dropping their first two games, the Jayhawks were playing Sunday to simply try to protect their bid to the Big 12 Tournament.
7. 2 protect their bid to the big 12 Sunday, the Jayhawks showed toughness in a game that senior shortstop Brandon Macias said the Jayhawks' were fighting for their lives — twice clawing back from three-run deficits, only to fall short, 11-7.
"We got absolutely taken apart Friday and Saturday," coach Ritch Price said. "I'm pleased with the way we responded."
In the sixth inning, the Jayhawks knocked one run off the Sooners' 4-1 lead, after senior outfielder Jimmy Waters scored from third on a groundout hit by junior catcher
James Stanfield.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Senior shortstop Brandon Macias fields a ground ball at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks were swept by the Sooners during the weekend series in Norman, Okla.
TRACK AND FIELD
Senior Kendra Bradley (left), freshman Diamond Dixon (center) and sophomore Taylor Washington (right) spent time during the women’s 400-meter race at the 8th annual Kansas Relays. Dixon placed second in the 400-meter dress, the 4-1X 100-meter relay and the 4-1X 400-meter relay during the weekend Arkansas Twilight meet in Tavarkle, Ark.
Chris Bronson/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Dixon leads Kansas in weekend meet
BY GEOFFREY CALVERT ocalvert@kansan.com
Kansas freshman Diamond Dixon turned in yet another standout performance this weekend at the Arkansas Twilight in Fayetteville, Ark. Dixon ran in the 400-meter dash, the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay, finishing second in all of them. Her time of 52.96 seconds in the 400-meter dash was
Senior Keron Toussaint was another notable Jayhawk this weekend. He set a personal best in the 400-meter dash, running 46.80 seconds and taking third. He also anchored the 4x400 meter relay team that ran their best time of the season. Besides the relay team, freshman Charlene Browne
not only a personal best, but also a new school record. Twelve other Jayhawks finished the meet with personal bests.
The men's 800-meter run was stacked with eight Jayhawks. Freshman Dalen Fink was the top Kansas runner, finishing in eighth place. Three other Jayhawks in the event, freshman Nick Seckfort, sophomore Sean Proehl and senior Ebo Browne set personal-best times. Freshman Alex Hermes set two personal bests, running an
was the only Jayhawk to take home a victory. She won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:59.70.
Kansas returns to the track Friday in Norman, Okla., for the Outdoor Big 12 Championships that will continue through Sunday. The Jahayhawks will look to improve on the women's seventh place finish and the men's eight place finish at the 2011 Big 12 Outdoor meet.
11. 05 wind-aided 100 meters, and a 22.13 meter-dash meter.
Edited by Brittany Nelson
COMMENTARY
High school athlete faces tough decision
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Bubba Starling — a moniker from a fable and a hero next door.
He might be the greatest high school athlete of all time and he goes to Gardner Edgerton High School, a 45-minute drive from Lawrence. A three-sport superman in basketball, football and baseball, who can dunk over your center, plow through your linebacker and hit your ace's fastball to lupiter.
With Starling comes the folkore: He can hit a baseball 550 feet, run a 4.3-40 yard dash and throw a football 50 yards on his knees and 80 yards on his feet.
Anyone that has seen Starling play baseball knows that his future belongs on the diamond. He is a center fielder who runs like a track champion and jumps like one of Bill Self's Jayhawks. He is a pitcher with a funky delivery who nonetheless throws 95 mph. He is a hitter who crushes the ball, or never gets an opportunity because frightened pitchers won't throw him strikes.
Amidst the riches of supernatal athletic ability, Starling has a dilemma: go to college or go pro?
Since his freshman year at Gardner, scouts of all sports have ogled Starling and translated his mythic feats into dreamlike notes.
As a quarterback, Starling has flashed an All-American arm, scrambling ability and the intangibles of a leader. Bo Pelini and Mike Anderson, Nebraska's football and baseball coaches, offered Starling the opportunity to play both sports in Lincoln.
But Ebenezer Scrooge, ahem, I mean Scott Boras, Starling's
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
agent, is convinced he can get the kid almost $10 million in a signing bonus if he opts to jump from Gardner to Major League Baseball.
But what if Starling gets hurt and ruins his future as an athlete? If he plays football at Nebraska, he's going to have ferocious Big 12 defenses attacking him on every snap.
Unless you're Starling or his parents, it's hard to say which decision will be best. It's easy to opine: "Go to college, get an education, be the big man on campus, then collect your big league paycheck after you graduate."
When you've got a guaranteed top of the first-round paycheck staring you in the eye, it can't be so easy to put pro sports on hold.
No matter what Starling crosses, here's hoping he isn't the next big flop. Here's hoping, someday, that he is the future of some big league club.
And if you don't believe the hype, go see him play Tuesday or Thursday at 5 p.m. against Blue Valley West in Stillwell. You just might catch a glimpse of the best there ever was before the world now knows about him.
Edited by Brittany Nelson
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