SPORTS
PAGE 1B
FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2005
▼ KANSAS RELAYS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Frin Droste/KANSAN
Sheldon Battle, Jamestown, N.Y., Junior, swings the hammer around on his third throw for the round yesterday afternoon outside Memorial Stadium. Battle made it into the Kansas Relays finals and took second place. Battle said that his best throw was about 196 feet but that he had wanted to throw more than 200 feet. "It didn't work out how I planned." Battle said.
'Afterburners'on high
Unseeded runners finish season strong at Kansas Relays
BY PATRICK SHEHAN
pshehan@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER
She held her arms above her head and waited for the other runners to finish, patting their backs as they crossed the finish line. When all was said and done, Jayhawk runner Paige Higgins walked out of Memorial Stadium for the last time as a winner. She won the women's unseeded 3,000-meter run in the time of 10 minutes. 5.35 seconds.
For the first mile, she stayed on her pace in second place. After the mile, however, she hit the afterburn-
ers and strode into first.
"With a mile to go, that's when I started to surge a little bit," Higgins said. "A mile is usually my time to go because I don't have much of a kick.
Higgins, a senior and a cartoonist for the Kansan, won in considerable fashion and ended her home career on a high note.
"I really wanted to come out here and win," she said. "I owe it to the school to run well here. They've given me so many opportunities and so much respect here."
Erik Sloan won the men's 1,500-meter race, finishing in 4:00.00.
After nearly two laps of running in the middle of the pack, the Jayhawk
junior lunged into first place and held on for the rest of the race.
"I feel like I executed my race plan perfectly," he said. "I just wanted to get out in front and make sure I was in position at 700. Then at 500 to go, take it once and for all." I knew the victory was mine. I wasn't going to let that go in Memorial Stadium."
Sloan had a season-best last night after an injury-riddled career, but his goals go beyond this weekend. He said that his main priority was the steeplechase.
"This has been the first season I've been healthy," Sloan said. "It's only going to help me in the steeple."
Other lavhawk notables include
Laura Major's eight-place finish in the women's unsecured 800 meter run. Major, a sophomore, finished in 2:21.13.
On the men's side of the unseeded 800-meter run, Keith Schmerer finished seventh. The sophomore set a personal best at Memorial Stadium of 1:55.45.
"It was great, I just got out and went out hard with the pack, and this might be the last race of the season," Schmerer said. "It's a great way to end with a personal record. It's a lot better competition than last year."
- Edited by Laura Francoviglia
FOOTBALL
Lineman impresses scouts
BY RYAN COLAIANNI
rcolaiani@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
David McMillan has been waiting for this his entire life. This weekend the wait will be finished, as he is expected to be selected in the NFL Draft, which begins tomorrow in New York.
McMillan will stay in Lawrence rather than return to his home of Killeen, Texas, this weekend as he watches and hopes to be picked during the first day of the draft, which includes the first three of seven awards.
rounds.
McMillan said if he could pick anywhere to play he would like it to be down south, either in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Miami or Jacksonville.
“It’s been an adventure, I’ll tell you that,” McMillan said of the process leading up to draft day. “Obviously I got a chance to grow, athletically, and I learned some things that have helped me succeed
Vaughn
McMillan, who was a force on the Kansas defensive line last season, hopes to do the same at the next level playing on Sunday.
in life and also at the next level."
McMillan's agent, Craig Domann, said McMillan had met with about a third of the teams in the league either flying to their locations or meeting them for
workouts in Anschutz Pavilion
McMillan impressed scouts at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis when he ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash time among defensive defends at 4.60.
"I think it was important because it gave teams a reason to go back and watch him play," Domann said of McMillan's performance at the combine. "If you go back and watch him play against Oklahoma, he dominated their left tackle."
Domann said that McMillan worked hard to prepare himself for the combine and it paid off. Domann said a lot of players understood that they needed to prepare, but not everyone did.
"He's just one of those guys who will be popping champagne on Saturday night or you are going to be taking aspirin," Domann said. "Some guys don't even need to watch the draft on Saturday and some guys aren't going to be around on Sunday. David is one of those guys who has an excellent chance to be drafted on Saturday."
"He was one of the most athletic defensive players at the combine regardless of position," Domann said.
While scouts have expressed a concern with McMillan's size — he was listed at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, when he played for the Jayhawks in 2004 — McMillan said he weighed nearly 265 pounds now.
Domann said he thought McMillan was borderline as to which day he would be drafted.
"He has been working on getting stronger and more healthy and more athletic, all that type of stuff, but not necessarily putting on weight, not trying to be big." Domann said.
Many teams have discussed the
Kansan file photo
SEE DRAFT ON PAGE 4B
Kansas defensive end David McMillan nearly sacked Colorado quarterback Joei Klatt in the second quarter during a game in October 2003 in Boulder, Colo. McMillan expects to be selected in this weekend's NFL Draft in New York.
FOR THE WEEKEND
JOE BANT
vant@kansan.com
'Almost too familiar for Kansas
If you were to sum up the Kansas baseball team's season so far in one game, you probably couldn't pick a better one than Wednesday night's 11-9 home loss to Wichita State.
It was a story of "almost," as in Kansas was just a few opportunities away from ending the game with a W, instead of another loss. It's a story the team has become too familiar within the course of this season.
The Jayhawks led early, then trailed, then came back on junior outfielder Gus Milner's monster shot into the center field trees, then fell behind again — and stayed there. They intermingled awesome plays — like a diving catch by junior center fielder Matt Baty — with silly errors. They had 11 hits, but seemed to use nearly as many pitchers.
After all, Kansas was almost the victor of its first two conference series against Nebraska and Texas A&M — winning the first game of each before dropping the last two. It was almost a winner against Baylor on Sunday night, before a magnificent performance by junior pitcher Kodiak Quick was rendered moot in the ninth inning, and it's almost ready to turn the corner and be competitive in the Big 12 Conference.
Almost, but not quite.
Don't get me wrong. The Jayhawks have seen their share of success this year, starting the season 21-8, at one point winning eight in a row and opening conference play with a victory for the first time since 2002. As of Monday, Kansas was second in the Big 12 in hits, third in home runs and boasted Baty as the conference's leader in stolen bases. Coach Ritch Price has improved the team gradually since arriving to the team two seasons ago. This year, though Kansas hasn't been as strong on the bats, the team's ERA has improved by nearly a full point. With 19 regular-season games remaining, the Jayhawks need to win only seven to match last year's victory total of 31.
But Kansas wants to do more than win 31 games. It wants to finish in the Big 12's top eight and in doing so, secure a berth in the conference tournament. It wants to play in the tournament for an opportunity to advance to the NCAAs and ultimately the College World Series. But right now, the Jayhawks are sitting in the Big 12's cellar, sporting a last-place 3-9 conference mark, almost ready to climb out, but not quite.
And exactly how close is almost?
It's getting 25 out of 27 outs for the victory Sunday against Baylor, then losing the game on the last two. It's giving up only four earned runs to Oklahoma a couple weeks ago and still losing 7-5. It's getting on the board first in all three games against Texas A&M, but winning only
SEE BANT ON PAGE 4B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Player's dad says son didn't commit
Don't pencil Dwight Lewis into the Jayhawks' 2006 men's basketball lineup just yet.
The high school senior, whose father said verbally committed to Kansas on Tuesday, still plans to visit several other schools.
The 6-foot-5-inch, 190-pound shooting guard/small forward from Metairie, La., was thought to have committed without taking a campus visit. Yesterday, Lewis' father told rivals.com that he misinterpreted his son's intentions. He said that Kansas was still high on his son's list.
He will make an official visit to Lawrence April 29-30. Visits to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, USC and LSU are a possibility, Dwight Sr. said.
Lewis is ranked 84th in the class of 2006.
Miranda Lennina
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