SAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
PAGE 9B
I a batter
wered his.
chance
who
Royals
right with
it of the
n lofted
right-field
foot fair,
sing sec-
sis feet, the
spotted
to score
throw to
e to get
in the
wielding a
B.J. Upp
cop came
efensive
grab on
other a
hit ball
a dou
ie in three
her failed
ard retired
ix runs in
Vs in the
lightly lonely second out grounded the first.
TRACK AND FIELD
39 slump land's big
ated Press
254.
TARA RRYANT/KANSAN
Senior forward Kevin Young chats with bronze medalist Reese Hoffa after the two squared off in a Rubik's Cube challenge to end day one of the Kansas Relays. Young solved the Rubik's Cube in less than two minutes, not quickly enough to beat Hoffa. Hoffa was one of several professional shot putters who participated in the first day of the Kansas Relays Wednesday night. The shot put event was moved from downtown Lawrence to the Douglas County Fairgrounds because of weather conditions.
Kansas Relays underway, event locations unusual
COLIN WRIGHT
cwright@kansan.com
The 86th edition of the Kansas Relays got underway on Wednesday, albeit in the unlikeliest of places. The elite division of men's shot put was held inside a livestock pavilion at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on the east side of Lawrence. The standing-room-only crowd gathered to watch nine shot put hopefuls claim the top spot.
The family friendly atmosphere offered music that played leading up to the competition, the University's cheerleaders throwing out t-shirts and sweatshirts in between rounds, as well as a visit by Big Jay himself. The event was originally scheduled to be downtown near 8th and Massachusetts Street, but was moved to the fairgrounds because of inclement weather. The attendance did not falter though, as the crowd filled up the bleachers and surrounded the makeshift shot put arena on all sides.
Highlighting the competition was last year's Kansas Relays winner, Reese Hoffa. The Georgia native, who earned a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, was leading entering the final round of competition. That was when Ryan Whiting, a graduate of Arizona State University, entered the ring
for his final throw and landed a toss of 21.65 meters (71'0.5") , topping Hoffa's best throw of 21.60 meters (70'8.5").
Finishing in third place was Justin Rodhe, a Canadian who also threw in the 2012 Olympics, with a throw of 21.12 meters (69*4"). Cory Martin, an Auburn University graduate, finished in fourth place with a heave of 20.32 meters (66*8").
The excitement in the building was evident throughout as the crowd cheered on each and every participant — even Christian Cantwell, a University of Missouri graduate — and erupted when Whiting's throw in the final round took the lead. The event was also featured on Metro Sports in the Kansas City area on ESPN3, which goes to show how special this event truly is.
After Hoffa's runner-up finish in the shot put, he had one more competition before his night was done. Hoffa loves solving Rubik's cubes, and so does Kansas mens basketball player Kevin Young. The two of them agreed to a competition after the conclusion of the shot put event.
There they stood in the shot put ring. The $6'8"$ — nearly seven feet tall if you include his hair — Young stood up against the $5'11"$ Hoffa in a battle of wits. After nearly two
minutes went by, Hoffa successfully solved his Rubik's cube, defeating Young by less than twenty seconds. The two of them shook hands to a final standing applause from the crowd that stayed and watched the competition.
The Relays are off to a great start, but there's plenty more events worth watching. Thursday offers more field events that feature athletes of Olympic caliber, and Memorial Stadium will be the center of attention on Friday and Saturday as some of the fastest athletes in the world compete against each other.
Even if you missed the excitement Wednesday night at the fairgrounds, you have another opportunity Thursday night to see the elite division of women's long jump at 6 p.m. at the same place. Leading the group of women competing is 2012 Kansas Relays champion in the event, Janay DeLoach.
No matter what your cup of tea is, the RELays have something to offer you. Just ask Kevin Young.
Edited by Hayley Jozwiak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade drives against Orlando Magic's Beno Udhril during the second quarter of Wednesday's game. The Heat won 105-93.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wade plays in Heat's regular season finale, Miami wins
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade successfully lobbied to play in Miami's regular-season finale, saying he wanted to get a little more work in before the playoffs begin this weekend.
He looked more than ready for another postseason run.
Wade scored 21 points and handed out 10 assists, Mike Miller added 21 points and the Miami Heat wrapped up the regular season with a 105-93 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
Orlando finished with the NBAs worst record, 20-62.
MAKING THE CUT
Miami (66-16) became the 14th team in NBA history to finish with a winning percentage over 800. The Heat have home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs and will open their quest for a second straight championship on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.
"Awesome," Wade said. "It's great. It's a testament to the team being committed and being very consistent all year."
"We still have time to get into this mentally." Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Juwan Howard scored 12 points in the 900th start of his career, while Rashard Lewis scored 16 points and Ray Allen scored 10 for Miami.
The Heat were without LeBron James, who was away from the team for the day while tending to a personal matter and almost certainly would not have played even if he was in the arena anyway. Chris Bosh was in the first starting lineup the Heat submitted Wednesday, before the team changed course about 45 minutes before game time and decided to give him the night off as well.
The Heat surely won't mind not seeing Vucevic again until next fall. In three games against Miami this season, Vucevice — who arrived in Orlando as part of the Dwight Howard trade last summer — finished with 65 points and 63 rebounds, getting double-doubles in every outing.
The Heat finished 37-4 at home, and not long after putting together a 27-game winning streak — the
"I'm thankful for being here, for the organization, the coaches, the fans," Harris said. "I just look forward to grow from it and come back next year even more ready. We're just building on everything to be a better team."
Wade has been sidelined for much of the past couple weeks while recovering from bone bruises around his right kneecap. He announced about an hour before the game that he would play, citing a need to improve his conditioning before Game 1 of the postseason.
"It's not a fluke," Magic coach
Jacque Vaughn said. "He's done it on a consistent basis for us. And he's improved ... he's gotten better along the way."
Nik Vucveci had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando. Only once have the Magic won fewer games in a season — their inaugural year, going 18-64 in 1989-90.
"Now we start the real thing." Wade said.
Tobias Harris scored 19, Beno Udhril scored 12, Andrew Nicholson scored 12, E'Twaun Moore had 11 and Maurice Harkless finished with 10 for the Magic.