UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, April 16, 1997
5B
Linebacker tackles obstacles
Jason Thoren optimistic about 1997 campaign
By Tommy Gallagher Kansan sportswriter
Coming to Kansas from Lawrence High School, linebacker Jason Thoren is proud of the fact that he has not learned how to lose, even after Kansas' last season's dismal 4-7 record.
While he would like to forget last season and its losing ways, Thoren, who will be a senior next season, said it would only motivate him in the season ahead.
"I never really lost many games before I came to Kansas," Thoren said. "I'm glad to say I still haven't gotten used to losing. It's not fun to ride home after a loss. It's not fun to practice the next week, although you do it just to get the taste out of your mouth."
Winning came easy for the Jayhawks in 1995, when they went 10-2 and won the Aloha Bowl.
Eric B. Howell / KANSAN
Thoren, a sophomore that season, was the anchor of the Kansas defense. He had team and personal highs with 119 tackles, and he also added a career-high three interceptions.
But Thoren's performance was hindered in an injury-plagued 1996 season.
Thoren was fourth on the team with 67 tackles, and he had no
interceptions.
Although he suffered from a sprained knee in October, he managed to play in all 11 games, starting in 10 of them.
"Even though I wasn't 100 percent, I went ahead and played," Thoren said. "The knee bothered me for a while, but it got to the point where I could play without worrying about it too much later in the season."
Even though he has been a fixture of the Kansas defense for the past three years, Thoren was valued more as an offensive player when he played high school football.
During his senior season in 1993 at Lawrence High School, Thoren rushed for 1,254 yards as a backback and helped the Lions win their fifth-consecutive Kansas 6A state championship.
That season he won the Simone Award, given annually to the top high school player in the Kansas City area.
In addition, he was a first team All-State and All-Sunflower League selection.
Regardless of the awards, he was recruited by former Kansas football coach Glen Mason as a linebacker, which Thoren also started at in high school.
Kansas linebacker Jason Thoren (right), who will be a senior, battles an offensive lineman in a scrimmage Sunday afternoon. Thoren had 67 tackles last season including three for a loss of yardage.
Three years later Thoren and the Jayhawks have a new coaching staff and a new defensive scheme, which he said was for the better.
Thoren said he was not upset at Mason's departure, although he must learn how to play under the
direction of a new coach.
"Of course you're going to be upset when the coach that recruits you leaves, but (Mason) made the decision in the best interest of himself and his family," Thoren said. "There's a lot to think about in terms of how we'll play with the new defense. That's just how it's going to be until we get it down and get to know the system."
Softball team sweeps Wichita State twin bill
'Hawks win two games in non-conference play
By Matt Woodruff
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas softball team improved its overall record to 29-14 by sweeping a doubleheader
"It's important for us to get wins in our non-conference games," Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said. "We need to continue to beat the teams who we should beat. And this
Kansas won both games by a score of 5-1.
against the Wichita State Shockers yesterday.
"We had a lot of batters who were out in front of pitches all day long," Bunge said. "We managed to get eight or nine hits in that game, but they weren't real pretty hits."
was a team we were supposed to beat."
Despite scoring five runs, Bunge said that the team didn't swing the bats particularly well in the first game.
Workman improved her record to 21-12 on the season.
Catcher Kristina Johnson was two-for-three at the plate, driving in two runs for Kansas.
Sarah Workman pitched the first game for the Jayhawks, giving up four hits and one run while striking out eight.
Kansas dominated the second game, with the Jayhawks pounding out 12 hits, including five doubles.
Tracy Bunge Kansas softball coach
Leadoff hitter Sara Holland was
three-for-four with two RBI and two doubles. Johnson was two-for-four with two RBI, and outfielder Aly Berry went two-for-three and scored a pair of runs.
Pitcher
Chris t y
McPhail got
the win in the
second game,
giving up just
five hits and no
earned runs in seven innings.
"I was very pleased with the way McPail pitched today," Bunge said. "We had several really short innings, like four- or five-pitch innings, and that's great because it helps us get home earlier."
Kansas will play a doubleheader vs. Creighton at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Jayhawk Field.
The teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader in Omaha, Neb., April 8, but the games were canceled because of cold weather conditions.
Dramatic single by right fielder wins game for Jayhawks
By Harley V. Ratliff
Kansan sportswriter
Last night he got that chance.
Mike Dean knew he could do it
— he just needed the chance.
Last night he got that change.
With two outs, the bases loaded and Kansas State leading by a run in the top of the ninth inning, the sophomore right fielder hit a game-winning, two-run single off Kansas State reliever David Meares.
Dean's single — his first hit of the game — capped off a stunning, three-run ninth inning comeback. It also helped the Kansas Jayhawk baseball team to a 5-4 victory against intrastate rival, the Kansas State Wildcats.
"When we came into the the
dugout (after the eighth inning), I was praying and hoping that it would come to me — and it did," Dean said. "I thought I had the pitcher beat before I came to bat. When he got down 3-1, I knew he had to throw a fastball, and he did—end of story."
The Jayhawks, with their 26th victory, have tied their win total from last season.
The Wildcats took the early lead when designated hitter Scott Poepard hit a double and brought in second baseman J.D. Louderbarger in the first inning.
Kansas took its first lead of the ballgame in the sixth inning.
After second baseman Andy Juday singled, centerfielder Justin Headley swatted a two-run home
run over the wall in right field. The homerun was Headley's teamleading 10th of the season and gave the Jayhawks a slim one-run lead.
The Wildcats answered with a run in the bottom of the six inning, tying the score at two.
Two innings later, the Wildcats earned two more runs, giving them a two-run lead. This set the stage for Dean's heroics.
After the game, Kansas head coach Bobby Randall said that he was surprised with the outcome because of the way his team played.
"I feel fortunate in some ways. We got some breaks," Randall said. "It's hard to believe that we won that game."
Mike Dean Kansas rightfielder
Haase awarded NCAA scholarship
Kansan Staff Report
The NCAA awarded 32 postgraduate scholarships to college basketball players (16 men and 16 women), with 12 of the scholarships going to Division I student-athletes.
Kansas basketball player Jerod Haase, majoring in business administration, was among those selected.
To qualify, a student must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) while performing with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student was nominated.
In addition to the basketball
Jerod Haase
scholarships, 35 awards have been presented during the year to student-athletes in football.
One hundred seven additional awards will
be given to student athletes in other sports in which the NCAA conducts championship competition.
The association awards 174 postgraduate scholarships annually.
The Multicultural Resource Center Presents The Spring Faculty Development Seminar
Special Guest:
Dr. Peter Park
Co-Founder (with Paulo Friere) of
The Center for Community Education and Action
"The Call Of Education: Transactions
In Ways of Knowing"
An Open Discussion on Participatory Learning and
Pedagogy
Tuesday, April 22, 1997
7:00 pm — 8:30 pm
Alderson Auditorium
University of Kansas
Your support is vital for the success of this program Sponsored by the Graduate Student Council and the Multicultural Resource Center
Thank you to all who participated in Dance For Heart! From Recreation Services, KU Panhellenic, and IFC
Wheatfields Bakery
Weavers
Wal-Mart
University Photography
Ultimate Tan
Bagel and Bagel
Juice Stop
Jocks Nitch
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill
The Loft
Mercantile Bank
Becky's Salon & Day Spa
Dickinson Theaters
Vanguard Airlines
Body Works
St. Louis Bread Company
Kief's audio-video
Lawrence Travel Center
Dillons stores
Midwest Graphics
GRAND OPENING BLEACHERS Lawrence's Newest Bar
FREE BURGERS!!!
18 ENTER 21 DRINK 749-HAWK FOR MORE INFO CALL: 804 W 24TH - BEHIND McDONALDS
COME PLAY OUR 10 FT. SONY PLAYSTATION
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SPORTS
The KU Hellenic Club presents a lecture by Professor Dimitrios Dendrinos
The KU Hellenic Club presents a lecture by Professor Dimitrios Dendrinos
Cyprus, Greece, the European Union and Regional Development
Wed. April 16
7:30 p.m.
Free Admission
Pine Room
Kansas Union
Sponsored by the KU Hellenic Club and by the Student Senate