FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 9, 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3B
CROSS COUNTRY
Off and running
Josh Kirk/KANSAN
BY ANTONIO MENDOZA
amendoza@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Sophomore Connie Abbott led the women's cross country team with a seventh place finish at the Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm last Saturday. Both men's and women's teams will compete in the Kansas State Invitational tonight at 6:30 at Warner Park in Manhattan.
The Kansas cross country team will head to Warner Park at 6:30 p.m. to race against Kansas State in Manhattan.
This season, the rivals have an agreement to square off against one another.
Before this season, the dual was called the KSU Invitational. The tournament included other schools in addition to Kansas and Kansas State.
"We just talked to Kansas State about it over the summer and decided to have a little key meet against each other," assistant coach Doug Clark said.
The men's team will run in an 8K race as it did in last week's meet in the Bob Timmons Invitational in Lawrence.
The women will run in a 6K race tonight. They ran in a 5K race last week.
Last season, the men's team placed first out of six schools at the KSU Invitational. The women's team placed fourth out of eight teams.
"I'm pretty sure everyone is looking to go out there and beat as many K-State runners as they can," sophomore runner Connie Abbot said.
The competitive air of the meet against Kansas State will prepare Kansas for the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 24 in Minnesota, Clark said.
The Kansas men's and women's teams are coming off last week's first place finishes in the 8K and 5K runs, respectively.
Both the men's and the women's teams swept the field of 12 male teams and 10 female teams.
The women came in first
place with a final score of 56. Sophomore runner Connie Abot paced Kansas with a time of 19:19 in the 5K race.
The meet against Kansas State will prepare Kansas for a difficult schedule the rest of the semester, which will include meets that take place in
"Between the meet last week and the Kansas State dual this week, I think those two meets will get us well-prepared to compete to our potential." Clark said.
minnesota, Indiana, Texas and Iowa.
Edited by Erin Wisdom
Team ready for season's start
BY ERIC JORGENSEN
ejorgensen@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Anticipation and expectations for the 2015 season run high in the KU Women's tennis team. "The coaches are expecting a lot more than last season," senior Christine Skoda said. "We need to step up and pass their expectations."
Sophomore Stephanie Smith echoed her teammate's opinion and said the team would strive to exceed goals set by the coaches.
Match/Opponent
09/16 to 18
09/30 to 10/2
10/19 to 23
11/4 to 6
"We have higher goals this year," Smith said. "We want to finish higher in the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament."
Tulsa Invittal
Indiana Invittal
ITA Central Regionals
Western Michigan
The team members look forward to playing as a team, which they were unable to do this summer because of offseason rules. The rules limit group play to four
members of the team at a time.
Source: www.kuathletics.com
Skoda said she had spent much of the summer in Lawrence fine-tuning her game for her last season as a Jayhawk.
"Having everyone on the courts will be better than the workouts this summer," Skoda said. "There will be a better atmosphere. Everyone's ready to play."
"I feel like I've been practicing this whole time," Skoda said. "I."
wont feel rushed after practice
starts. I get into a routine."
The start of the season starts quickly; the first tournament will be Sept. 16 to 18 at the Tulsa Invitational.
Junior Ashley Filberth said the team was eager to start playing on the courts again in a competitive atmosphere.
Edited by Theresa Montaño
QB
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
"He can run, pass, do anything. He is real similar to Brad Smith. He is a great player, and we have to prepare for him."
Smith led Missouri to 95 yards rushing, 317 yards passing and four touchdowns in last weekend's victory against Arkansas State.
Beginning during his sophomore year, Williams was thrown
into the leadership role at Appalachian State. He said that was something he wasn't used to, but he learned to adjust.
"I'm probably more of a leader by example," Williams said. "I never yell at other guys because I don't think things get done when you do that. If we're up, I'll try to have fun with the guys too and keep them loose."
After college, Williams said he would love to play in the NFL, but knows he has to take care
of business this year and win games for Appalachian State.
Off the field, Williams said he was a clown. He loves to have fun with his teammates and sometimes likes to talk a bit on the field to opposing defense*
He said he knew how good the Kansas defense was, and that he would have to pick his battles as to whom he talked to on the field.
— Edited by Patrick Ross
NFL Chief's Green healthy again
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two weeks after undergoing surgery to restore circulation in his leg, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green pronounced himself 100 percent fit.
"I feel really good," he said yesterday. "It's amazing how quick the turnaround has been, how quickly it came back."
"I haven't had any muscle soreness. My foot feels fine," he said. "It's really amazing how quickly it recovers."
He was taken off blood thinners this week and will no longer require them.
"I'll be fine, ready to go," he said. "I took every snap (Wednesday), every drill the first unit ran. I'm taking everything today. I haven't had any setbacks."
questions remain about the overall state of an offense that has been hobbled by aches and pains throughout the preseason. The top unit actually worked together in the four exhibition games only a few snaps. Green played only the first two series in the Chiefs' third preseason game, and was not even at the stadium for the fourth.
Most of the quarterbacking in those two games was done by emergency backup Jonathan Quinn, who was released on cut-down day.
Green may feel great,but
The Associated Press
kansan.com