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SPORTS
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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1996
Kansas roughed up by Emporia State 24-10
SECTION B
Matt Flickner / KAMSAM
Emporia State left fielder Chris Malsam scores as the ball bounces away fromKansas junior pitcher Aric Peters. The Hornets defeated the Jayhawks 24-10 last night at Hogtland-Maupin Stadium.
Jayhawk pitching gives up 24 hits in offensive showdown
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team did not look ready for the upcoming Big Eight Tournament.
It didn't even look ready for a Division II tournament.
In a wretched effort in pitching futility, Division II Emporia State defeated Kansas 24-10 last night at Hogglund-Maupin Stadium.
The Kansas pitching staff tied a school record by allowing 24 hits. The last team to achieve that total against Kansas was Missouri in 1938.
"Do we get a trophy for that?" Kansas coach Bobby Randall asked fecitiously.
Kansas, 21-26 overall, saw a record-tying six pitchers allow in every inning but two, and every pitcher allowed at least two runs.
The Hornets also came within one run of tying the school record for runs against Kansas. Oklahoma State scored 25 in a 1985 game.
"They were awfully good out there," Randall said. "And we were awful bad on the mound."
The Hornets chased Kansas starter Chris Williams (2-1) after just 1 2/3 innings, allow
Aric Peters wasn't any better in relief of Williams. He was roughed up for four hits and five runs in just one inning.
The Jayhawks tried to come back early after trailing 7-0 in the second inning. They cut the lead to 9-7 after four innings, thanks in part to second baseman Josh Kliner's 10th home run of the year, a two-run shot in the third. Kliner now has 88 RBI, putting him on second in the Kansas single-season RBI list.
ing seven hits and five runs.
Former Jayhawk Darryl Monroe set the record at 71 in 1994.
"We had a lot of fight in us early on," Kansas first baseman Justin Headley said.
But the Jayhawks would not get any closer. The Hornets scored five times in fifth and sixth innings and pulled away for good.
"I thought we'd be much more improved, but we're not," Randall said of the pitching staff. "Guys are getting a lot of opportunities, but they're not pitching very well."
Kansas players seek pro-football options
Every Hornet starter but one got a hit. Right fielder Darin Canady and left fielder Chris Malsam each had four hits, while Canady, third baseman Tim Bergen and first baseman Steve Claiborne had four RBI each for the Hornets.
Kansas will be back on the field at 3 p.m. today against Cameron at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
This is the second consecutive year Emporia State has defeated Kansas. The Hornets won last season 7-5 at Hogland-Maupin Stadium.
"Hopefully the whole team will be embarrassed," Headley said.
Smith, Rodgers and Williams look for employment
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Ashaundai Smith, Keith Rodgers and Mark Williams have a couple of things in common.
While they all were productive players for the Jayhawks, they all were passed on for one reason — they're too small.
They all were seniors for the Kansas football team last season, and not one of them was drafted into the National Football League earlier this month.
PROFILE
"Whenever you're moving to the next level, whether it be from high school to college or from college to the pros, they look for bigger," said Kansas assistant coach Golden Pat Ruel. "If you're big, you have to prove you can't play. But if you're small, you have to prove you can."
While the three former Jayhawks were not drafted, they haven't given up on their dream of playing professional football. All three are pursuing other options.
Williams, the quarterback that guided Kansas to a 10-2 record last season, reportedly has been contacted by several teams from the Canadian Football League. British Columbia and Vancouver are among the teams reportedly interested in Williams.
Ruel said he was surprised no NFL team took a chance on Williams, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards last season.
"If you're going to look for a
quarterback, you look for three things," Ruel said. "You have to make good decisions, you have to throw the ball well and you have to be mobile. Mark Williams is all three."
Maybe even more so than Williams, Smith and Rodgers have been hindered the most by the "too small" rap. Smith, a wide receiver only 5 feet 6 inches tall and 160 pounds, was second for the Jayhawks with 41 catches for 550 yards last year.
Smith attended the Kansas City Chiefs mini camp over the weekend, and he was invited back to the Chiefs' next camp in June.
Rodgers, a 5-foot 11-inch 200-pound outside linebacker, isn't much bigger than most NFL safeties. However, Rodgers' size didn't prevent him from recording 69 tackles and seven sacks last season.
Rodgers said that three or four NFL teams initially had shown interest in him before the draft but that the interest had died down a little.
Ruel agreed with Rodgers that the professional football scouting process had become too heavily weighted by size.
His best opportunities now seemed to be in the CFL, he said.
There's too much reliance on size as a determining factor for a prospect, Rodgers said. So much so that even the all-time leading rusher in the NFL was once considered a marginal prospect.
"Everybody would be better off if you were judged on how good a football player you are," Ruel said. "Not how big you are."
"Bill Parcells once said he thought Walter Payton was too small coming out of college," Rodgers said. "I guess he was wrong about that."
Atkerson decides to move on
Despite eligibility, tennis player leaving
By Spencer Duncan Kansan sportswriter
It was one of the biggest decisions of Jenny Atkerson's life. But, in the end, she decided it was time to leave.
Despite a year of eligibility remaining, Atkerson, a senior on the women's tennis team, decided she will not return to the tennis team after graduating this month.
"She is going to move on," Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "It's time for her to get on with her life."
Atkerson has been at Kansas for four years. She will graduate with two majors, psychology and human development.
Despite finishing her studies, Atkerson has a year of athletic eligibility left because she red-shirted her sophomore season after injuring her right knee.
Tyler Wirken / KANSAN
"I looked at the pros and cons of staying or leaving," she said. "I decided it was time to go." The decision was not an easy one.
Kansas senior Jenny Atkinson returns a shot during a doubles match. Despite a year of eligibility remaining, Atkinson will not return to the Kansas tennis team next year.
"I had a lot of things to weigh. I'm through with school, and I have nothing else to do here," Atkerson said. "Also, the weather. I don't like the cold."
The Kansas coaching staff is sorry to see Atkerson go, but the decision was not a surprise.
Assistant women's tennis coach Frank Polito, who is in his first season as an assistant, knew Atkerson was considering leaving when he arrived in January.
"She began talking about it when I got here," Polito said of Atkerson's decision. "I think it was a little shocking, but it was also kind of expected."
Merbzacher hates to see Atkerson leave, but he said that it was not a decision for him to make. Merzbacher understands that Atkerson must do what she feels is right.
"She is doing what is best for her, and that is what matters," Mierzbach said.
The Jayhawks are losing a player that has
been a strong force for the team.
As a freshman, Atkerson recorded her best Big Eight mark, 10-0. She also was named to the All-Big Eight team in singles and doubles.
Atkerson redshirted because of an injury during her sophomore year. After recovering, she came back strong her junior year.
She went 9-0 in the Big Eight and finished the season ranked No. 97 nationally and No. 9 regionally.
This season finished the Big Eight undefeated, 9-0. She finished her Big Eight career 27-0.
"Jenny has proven to be one of the better players in this conference and in the country." Merzbacher said. "She has worked hard to get where she is."
Atkerson also holds a No. 12 doubles ranking with partner Kylie Hunt.
All of this success can be attributed to one thing.
"She is a very hard worker," Polito said. "She is a very focused person. Some players have a tendency to get emotional, but Jenny stays focused."
Akerson plans to return home to Texas and either go to graduate school or work on a teaching degree. She also has another plan.
"I am getting married," Atkerson said. "But I made my decision to leave before I knew I was getting married."
Atkerson leaves Kansas believing she has made the right decision, but there still are things she will miss.
"There are people I will miss, and I will really miss the tennis," Atkerson said. "But it is time to move on."
Kansas sprinter Nathen Hill is a chip off the old starting block
Despite losing his father at a very young age,'Hawk runner inherits his interest in track
By Adam Herschman
Kansan sportswriter
Stretching in a circle of sprinters at a Kansas track and field practice, junior sprinter Nathen Hill sits down, wearing a cutoff t-shirt and bandana.
Kansas teammate Brian Martin said Hill always competes well on the track, but he always wants to look good doing it.
"He's got his own style," Martin said. "He's the pretty boy of the team."
Hill's mother, Jerrien Hill, said her son got the charisma of lighting up a room from his father, John
Mungan.
"I think there's a natural inclination to be the center of attention," Jerrien Hill said. "He's got a natural talent that way."
Hill's aura is not the only thing that runs in the family. Both Mungan and Nathan Hill ran track in high school and college. Mungan ran at Burlington High School in Iowa and at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Besides running for the Jayhawks, Hill ran at Blue Valley North where he owns school records in the 200 and 400 meter dashes.
Hill's aura is not the only thing that runs in the family.
Despite their interest in the sport, they have never taken a jog together.
When Hill was 5 months old, he was eating breakfast with his 4-year-old brother, Kurt, before church. His father picked up the dishes, set them down in the sink and fell straight backwards.
Mungan died before he hit the floor. Mungan had a heart disease called idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes the lining of the ventricle to
enlarge and constrict blood flow to the brain.
Both Hill and his brother get checked for the disease three times every year.
"It's kind of like a legacy, like a story you hear that I just kind of grew up with," Hill said. "I don't know John the person. I know John the story. It's hard for me to say, 'dad,' just because he's not a dad to me even though he was. To me, when I was young, he was a fictional character almost."
When Hill was about 15 years old, he saw an old video of his father running in the 4x200- relay at Burlington High School.
"Looking at the pictures and watching all the videos, it kind of made me frustrated, because you look at this guy that looks just like me and hear all these stories and watch these videos," Hill said. "Even when I watch the videos I can see the resemblance. It looks like me out there."
See HILL, Page 3.
Matt Rickner / KAMBAM
Kansas junior sprinter Nathan Hill takes a cardboard baton from the Drake Relays to every track meet he competes in. Hill does this as a remembrance to his father, who died when Nathon was five-months old.
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