22 ● THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2004
DAVIS: Upcoming season full of options
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portion is no slouch, opening the season against a tough Tulsa team, plus a trek to Big 10 country to face Northwestern, who upended the 'Hawks 28-20 last year. Then comes the meat and potatoes of Kansas' season, conference play.
The conference schedule will be as challenging as always, with games at Nebraska, Oklahoma and the season finale at Missouri.
The 'Hawks are also fortunate enough to welcome Texas and scandal-plagued Colorado to town. However, of all the conference games Kansas will play in 2004, one game stands out amongst the rest — October 9 at home against in-state rival Kansas State.
What makes that game so important? Never mind the fact that K-State has won the last eleven games of the series, outscoring the Jayhawks by a combined score of 460-97 over that time span. Disregard the last trip K-State made to Lawrence when they bludgeoned Kansas 64-0. No, no, this time is different, this time Kansas has history on its side. This year's game against K-State also happens to be Homecoming. Kansas has never lost to K-State on Homecoming.
Eight of the 101 games between both teams have been played on Homecoming for the Hawks, the last one in 1990.
which the Jayhawks won 27-24. A lot has changed since 1990. K-State began the one of the greatest turnarounds in college football under Bill Snyder.
Fourteen years, 126 wins, 11 bowls and one Big 12 Championship later, K-State is one of the premier programs in college football today. As for Kansas, it has endured three coaches, three bowls, 71 wins and more than a million fans heard saying, "When does basketball start?"
As one-sided as the numbers are in favor of K-State, none of that will matter when they take on Kansas in early October.
Because in-state bragging rights are not the only thing at stake; redemption and perfection are on the line for the Jayhawks.
Kansas' 2004 season is not limited to the aforementioned possibilities, yet the two items add intriguing by-lines perhaps not previously imagined. The Jayhawks are by no means a threat to win a National Championship or even their conference. However, it is not unfathomable for the 'Hawks to go 6-5, beat K-State and finish with a post-season birth.
In the meantime, something has to be done about the bees.
Davis is a pre-journalism Topeka freshman.
ARCHERY: Prosthetic arm aides athlete
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but Lear asked owner Wayne Kessler to design another that would allow him to try archery.
"We tried different things and made over a dozen changes. We finally ended up with a hook arm, and it did the job." Kessler said.
Lear's first taste of top-level competition came at the 2002 National Outdoor Games. It was there that he met U.S. Paralympic team coach Doug Moe, who talked him into joining the National Archery Association.
Lear was having a great season until he ran into a setback at the National Outdoor games last July.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency tested Lear positive for a banned substance called metoprolol, which was present in a prescribed medicine he was taking after suffering a heart attack two years before. The drug is prohibited only in archery because it lowers the heart rate, and the USADA believes that gives an archer a competitive advantage. Lear said he told officials he had no knowledge the drug was banned.
Lear regrouped and focused his efforts to the Paralympic trials this April in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
"It feels pretty awesome." Lear said.
"This isn't the regular Olympics, but there are still a very large number of athletes."
SWIM: Olympians ready for Greece
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Olympics. All of his events were within one hour of each other.
Other spots on the U.S. are filling in.
Yesterday morning, Jenny Thompson was the top qualifier in the 50-meter freestyle at 25.15. Kara Lynn Joyce, an upset winner in the 100-meter freestyle Monday night, was second at 25.16 and Natalie Coughlin also advanced to the semifinals with the fourth-fastest time (25.49).
Erik Vendt was the fastest swimmer in preliminaries for the grueling 1,500-meter
free at 15:18.15.
Amanda Beard is going to her third Olympics, having qualified in three events.
There was another upset in the 100-meter freestyle when Kara Lynn Joyce held off Natalie Coughlin by four-hundredths of a second.
Maritza Correia finished fourth and became the first black woman to make the U.S. swimming team. She'll be eligible for the relay.
"It's a great honor," Correia said. "I hope I'm the first of many."