THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005
Hell on 3 wheels
Jill Toyoshiba/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cardiologist Steven Owens, left, edges out Kevin Mulhern in the final round of a tricycle race at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., this week. The event raised money for the Kansas City Heart Walk June 11.
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
Editor's note: The results of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, a double-elimination competition, will determine the softball team's opponents and game times today, tomorrow and Saturday
TODAY
- Softball vs. Texas, 11 a.m., Oklahoma City
- Softball vs. Oklahoma, Nebraska or Iowa State, 2 p.m.
or 7 p.m., Oklahoma City
- TOMORROW
- Baseball at Missouri, 6:30 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
- Baseball at Missouri, 8:30 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
* Softball at Big 12 Conference Tournament, TBA,
Oklahoma City
- Track and field at Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships, all day, Manhattan
SATURDAY
SATURDAY
Bassell at Missouri 2 p.m. Columbia, Mo.
- Rowing at NCAA South-Central Regional, all day, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Softball at big 12 Conference Tournament, TBA,
Dallas City
- Track and field at Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships, all day, Manhattan
- SUNDAY
- Baseball at Missouri, 1 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
* Rowing at NCAA South-Central Regional, all day, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Track and field at Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships, all day, Manhattan
Tell us your news
Tell us your news
Contact Bill Cross or Jonathan Kealing at
864-4858 or sports@kansan.com.
Freshman decathlete has potential
TRACK AND FIELD
BY PATRICK SHEHAN
pshehan@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
One quick glance at Matt Baysinger and you can tell he's an easy-going guy.
Flip-flops are mandatory. Bear hugs are unavoidable within three feet of him. But under that layer of kind, inviting bravado, a passionate desire burns.
"I'm a very two-faced person when it comes to competing and the rest of my life," Baysinger said. "When it comes to athletics in general, I'm a very competitive guy."
Baysinger, Overland Park freshman, wasn't hand-fed the position of sprinter on the University of Kansas track and field team. His desire to compete at a collegiate level earned him a position in a freshman class of runners, a class with potential to make Kansas track and field become an elite program.
By the time Baysinger competed as a senior for Blue Valley West, he knew there was more awaiting him.
"I knew I wanted to run track in college, but my times weren't good enough to be a scholarship athlete,"
He held three individual and four relays records in high school. He narrowed it down to Kansas and Emporia State. Baysinger said he wanted to come to Kansas to become a decathlete.
he said.
Baysinger
Earlier that semester, Paul Hefferon, then a senior at Blue Valley West, had received a scholarship at Kansas. Hefferon and Baysinger decided to be roommates.
In a 700-meter time trial before winter break last year, Baysinger showed what he was made of.
So he trained to be a decathlete, which was not an easy task. Training three to four hours, seven days a week stretches even the most dedicated athletes.
"I ended up beating almost all of the 800-meter and 400-meter runners." Baysinger said. "I took a lot of people by surprise."
"It was rough, to say the least," Baysinger said. "It took some out of me."
In the first home meet of the season, the Jayhawk Invitational, Baysinger turned more heads by winning the 600-yard race.
"That's when it was set in stone," Baysinger said.
He continued his streak in the 600-yard race, placing third at the Husker Invitational and seventh in the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
Baysinger has found older sprinters as role models, including teammates Jeremy Mims, Iowa City, Iowa, senior, and Brandon Hodges, Hot Springs, Ark., senior.
"They helped me out and didn't let me slack." Baysinger said. "They really helped me with that process a lot."
But there's more to the freshman than competing. His roots grow deep back into his old high school, where he is active in the community. Last semester Baysinger returned home every Monday night to lead Young Life, a Christian youth group.
"I definitely would like to be helping with Young Life or ministry down the road." Baysinger said.
Baysinger belongs to a freshman class with great potential. Julius
"I ended up beating almost all of the 800meter and 400-meter runners. I took a lot of people by surprise."
Matt Baysinger Freshman decathlete
Jiles, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, earned the 2004 Missouri Track Athlete of the Year. Ekaterina Sultanova, Krasnodar, Russia, freshman, broke the women's pole vault record in her second collegiate meet.
"There's going to be a lot to look forward to in the future," Baysinger said. "Me and Julius give Jeremy and Brandon a lot of crap on whose class is better."
Kansas track and field fans have another three years to find out.
AUTO RACING
Edited by Ross Fitch
Kansas City extends bid for NASCAR
BY STEVE BRISENDINE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Kan. Other cities might have more stock car racing history, bigger international profiles, brighter star power.
location than having it in the center of the United States?"
But backers of a bid to win the NASCAR Hall of Fame for Kansas City, Kan. — where Kansas Speedway is entering just its fifth season of operation — said yesterday that they represented the sport's future and NASCAR's best chance to reach beyond its traditional fan base in the southeastern United States.
"We are the future, and we believe we can extend the brand," said Jeff Boerger, president of Kansas Speedway. "It's now becoming an international sport, and what better
Other sites NASCAR has asked to submit proposals by May 31 are Atlanta; the state of Michigan; Richmond, Va.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; and Charlotte, N.C. NASCAR could make its final decision by the end of the year.
Charlotte, where many Nextel Cup teams are based, has enlisted team owner Rick Hendrick to lead its effort. Richmond, where stock car races were running two years before NASCAR's founding in 1948, has also touted its deep roots. And Daytona Beach, where NASCAR has its headquarters, also boasts the circuit's most famous race in the Daytona 500.
those cities, a great sense of the past and of what NASCAR is all about," said Bob Marcusse, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas City Area Development Council. "We certainly honor that and appreciate all that has been. But we also understand that there's a future for this sport, and we look forward to being the community that best positions NASCAR for its future."
"There's a great sense of history in
Other sports have gone with history, though, when selecting sites for their halls: the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
"Obviously, the other communities think we're the underdog," Boerger said. "But that's a good place to be in,
because we have nothing to lose."
The Kansas City area is not revealing much about its bid for the hall which would be located just east of Kansas Speedway in the booming Village West tourism and retail district.
Kansas City's bid also includes the Kansas City, Mo., architectural firm HOK SportsVenueEvent and the New York-based exhibit designers DMCD, Inc. Those companies' presentations will remain secret until they are delivered to NASCAR officials, Marcusse said.
"Our belief is that our customer happens to be the board of directors of NASCAR," said Marcusse, who estimated the project would cost $100 million and cover about 100,000 square feet.
The Kansas University Endowment Association would like to recognize the following donors who generously pledged their support for the 2005 Senior Class Gift. $
Matthew Allen
Nicholas Annin
Amber Arterz
Mathews Athiyal
Kellie Bauerle
David Beck
Holly Benjamin
Tadd Blair
Rosemary Blanke
Lance Bradley
Kimberly Briggs
Bebecca Bruce
Corrin Buckley
Ryan Burton
Elaina Butel
Keith Cantu
Christopher Carey
Chelsia Chandler
Cindy Chang
Jennifer Christopher
Alan Clement
Janette Crawford
Tracy Cunningham
Meghan Downey
Antonio Duarte
Ryan Dunah
Beth Dyer
Emily Edgren
Bix Ellenbecker
Pamela Egrebetnesh
Kyle Evans
Jonathan Even
Steven Evern
Jennifer Fortney
Sarah Fraizer
Elizabeth Franklin
Emily Frankman
Ruth French
Michelle Friedman
Matthew Gader
Karen Ganacias
Lisa Gilland
Eric Goering
Amy Graf
Alexandra Graham
Katie Guyer
Sara Hampton
Garratt Harper
Todd Hayworth
John Heffinger
Jessica Heidrich
Hammer Salemr
Bradley Henry
Joey Henry
Emily Hernandez
Jamika Hobbs
Anna Hanbeck
Sara Horst
Carin House
Blake Huff
Jason Hupp
Jose Interiano
Alexandra Jacobowicz
Clinton Jackson
Elizabeth Johnson
Richard Kaiser
Jamie Katzen
Heather Kaufmann
Shana Kayne
Jeremiah Kempke
Shannon Kenney
Jennifer Kepka
Leonid Khayet
Lydia Kim
Caleb Knorrschuln
Matthew Krierger
William Kritikos
Stephanie Kroemer
Kristyn Yuehn
Theresa Laolflette
Christopher Lankey
Jasmine Lee
Pakkapol Leearpair
Christopher Lingor
Amanda Mahoney
Lindsay Marion
Aaron Markham
Anne Martin
Christina Mason
Margaret Mason
Deepti Mathur
Ralph Matthews
Rita Mbaka
Mariza McCann
Karen McCoy
Kevin Michael
Ashley Michaels
SINCE 1873. THE GRADUATING SENIOR CLASS HAS GIVEN A COMMEMORATIVE GIFT TO THE UNIVERSITY THE JAYHAWK WALK IN THE UNION, THE TREES IN MARVIN GROVE, THE UNIVERSITY SEAL IN FRONT OF BUDIG HALL, AND EVEN THE HOPE AWARD ARE EXAMPLES OF PREVIOUS SENIOR CLASS GIFTS.
Melissa Miranda
Jessica Moore
Heather Murray
Will Nuse
Amanda O'Toole
Mark Oertel
Jessica Ogborn
Erin Ohm
Hayley Parker
Jeremy Parr
Aaron Passman
David Peal
Benjamin Pera
Erica Peterman
Randall Price
Amy Proffitt
Katie Prutt
Christopher Redford
Whitney Rice
Nicole Righe
Elizabeth Rinehart
Sarah Roberts
Kyle Rohde
Kathryn Roth
Christian Sanchez
William Santoro
Ryan Scarrow
Elizabeth Schwabauer
Morgan Scott
Christopher Seal
Kevin Shaffer
Casey Smith
Brandon Snook
Eric Stewart
Lauren Stewart
Joy Stortvedt
Jessica Strathman
Sarah Stratton
Christopher Stubbs
Christopher Tackett
Fung Hwa Tee
Robert Tobias
Rebecca Todd
Matt Toplikar
Lian Upsidell
Kristin Vaglio
Amber VanSchuyver
Colby Vick
Thu Vo
Dyan Vogel
Stephanie Volmer
Maureen Warren
Katie Watson
Ashley Werele
Matthew Westering
Lynn Wheeler
Shaun Whale
Catherine Womack
Nicholas Wright
Julie Wulfemeyer
Chungkam Yeeung*
Elisa Zahn
Christine Zanatta
AS THEIR GRADUATION GIFT TO KU, THE CLASS OF 2005 HAS CHOSEN TO PROVIDE EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPING AROUND DANFORTH CHAPEL. INCLUDING NEW SHRUBBERY, TREES AND FLOWERS. AS WELL AS A NEW WALKWAY.
- As of May 4, 2005.
Seniors: It's not too late! You can still contribute for your Senior Class Gift at www.kuendowment.org.
ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!
FEMALE AND MALE COUNSELORS NEEDED
Instructors needed for private girl's summer camp in Maine.
Camp Vega is seeking
Camp Vega is seeking applicants with strong skill backgrounds and a desire to work with children in a spirited camp environment.
June 8 or 15 - Aug 11, 2005
Outstanding facilities.
Competitive salary. Travel allowance, room, board, and laundry service included.
Instructors needed in Equestrian, Water-ski, Sailing. Ropes Course, Gymnastics and Rowing.
Apply on our website - www.campvega.com under the "staff" section. Call for more information contact Emily at 1-800-838-VEGA or eblack@campvega.com
B B D H W w th a a c J e