WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2007 | SPORTS | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN | 19
BASEBALL
Four Jayhawks selected in MLB draft
Price, coaching staff credited for draft day success in past five seasons
By Dylan Schoonover
dschoonover@kansan.com
For the fourth straight year, more than three Jayhawks were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.
Senior Kyle Murphy and underclassmen Brock Simpson, Zach Ashwood and Erik Morrison all heard their numbers called in the 2007
draft. Within the past two years, the Kansas baseball program has had 11 players drafted - nine of those coming in the top 20
rounds.
From Murphy's viewpoint, the team's success on draft day can be attributed to the coaching staff.
"Coach Price and his staff bring in quality players," Murphy
said. "Skill level isn't all that matters though, the coaching staff knows how to make you far better than when you arrived."
Coach
Morrison
Ritch Price said he was excited for the players drafted. He said he thought junior pitcher Zach Ashwood — drafted in the 16th
round by the Chicago Cubs — and outfielder Brock Simpson — taken in the 46th round by the Cleveland Indians — would forego their final years of eligibility to make the jump to the pros. He said the recent success of the baseball team
left him with great optimism for the future.
"We've made great progress in the draft," Price said. "In the past five years at KU more players have been drafted than the previous 25 years before that."
Murphy
For a player, being drafted to play for a professional baseball
team is not as simple as finding out where they are drafted. Murphy said it was a lengthy process that included talking with all the teams and filling out paperwork for each club that expressed interest prior to
draft day. He said he was surprised the Texas Rangers selected him in the 19th round — 590th overall — because they were not one of the teams he had spoken to.
"I didn't know until a week before the draft they might take me," Murphy said. "Regardless, this
Simpson
is a dream you think about growing up and I am so excited to have the chance to continue playing."
Murphy's jump to the Major League wasn't a smooth process. During his junior year, he had trouble with hitting. At the beginning of his senior year he started the season last in the batting order. Murphy said it was head coach Rich Price who helped him rebound from the tough start during his junior year.
"Coach Price is unreal," he said. "I struggled my junior season, but he didn't give up on me. He helped me get back to where I am now."
— Edited by Joe Caponio
》 TRACK & FIELD
Men's team finishes 18th at NCAAs
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
By Dylan Schoonover
dschoonover@kansan.com
The men's and women's track and field teams landed eight All-Americans and a top-20 finish at the NCAA Track and Field Championships last weekend in Sacramento,
Sacramento Calif.
Coach Stanley Redwine said the team performed well and some athletes even managed new
The men's team finished 18th overall, while the women's team tied for 35th.
"We finished in the top-20." Redwine said. "We are excited about that result but we aren't content, we plan to build off this success."
personal bests at the meet.
"We are excited about that result but we aren't content, we plan to build off this success."
Junior Julius Jiles set a new Kansas record in the 110-meter hurdles. Jiles set the record in his first qualifying run with 13.81 seconds. During the semifinals later in the day, Jiles erased that record with a mark of 13.66 seconds. In the final, he finished eighth with a time of 13.95.
He is the first Jayhawk to earn All-American honors in the 110-meter hurdles. He said with the tough start he endured during the indoor track season, it was rewarding to run well in the outdoor championships.
STANLEY REDWINE Track and field coach
Senior Egor Agafonov, pictured here at the Kansas Relays, finished fourth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Championships.
"The indoor season was frustrating. I was so tired of not running fast and losing," Jiles said. "Going into the final I was so nervous, I didn't know what to do. I've finally regained my confidence to win."
Along with Jiles, Abby Emsick, Eric
Babb, Egor Agafonov, Crystal Manning, Barrett Saunders, Ashley Brown, and Kate Sultanova earned All-American honors. Agafonov finished fourth at the NCAA Championships with a toss of 229-02 feet. For his career, he finished as a four-time All-American in the hammer throw.
"I'm very proud to have finished with another All-American performance," Agafonov said. "It was a very tough competition with some strong opponents, but I did my best today and I'm happy about that."
— Edited by Joe Caponio
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