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SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1995
Kansas track is ready for Drake Relays
SECTION B
By Robert Moczdlowsky Kansan sportswriter
The home portion of the Kansas track season is over, but the rest of the spring season is just starting to heat up.
The Jayhawks will be in Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend for the annual Drake Relays, a meet that features not only the best collegiate field but also an elite open-athletic field.
It is a meet that traditionally draws an enormous number of fans, causing visiting teams to run not only against the tough Drake field but against their noisy crowd as well.
It's an atmosphere that gets Kansas coach Gary Schwartz excited.
"It's a great atmosphere to run in," he said. "Drake doesn't have a football team, so their Relays is their homecoming. People in Des Moines know that if they don't have a ticket, they'll miss the biggest event of the year. It could be 10 degrees outside and they'd have a huge crowd."
The big-crowd atmosphere in Des Moines could work to the Jayhawks advantage, however. Often, running in an exceptional field or in front of an active crowd sets a pace that snarks seasonal and personal best times.
For senior distance runner and All-American Michael Cox, the Drake atmosphere may spark a 1500-meter NCAA qualifying time. Cox narrowly missed the four-minute barrier in the mile at last weekend's Kansas Relaws, when he ran a crowd-pleasing 4.00:93.
"I may not get another shot at the mile," Cox said. "But I still have a chance to do well in the 1500 meters."
But Cox is not the only Jayhawk who would benefit from the high-level competition this weekend.
Senior sprinter Natasha Shafer wants to break 11.2 seconds in the 100-meters, and the 100-meter field at Drake might be on that pace.
Other Jayhawks to watch for are senior pole-vaulter John Bazzoni, junior distance runner Melissa Swartz, junior hurdler Dawn Steele-Slavens and senior spinner Joe Pickett.
After the Drake Relays, the Jayhawks will return to Lawrence for two weeks of preparation before the Big Eight Championships. The Big Eight outdoor meet will be May 15-16 in Ames, Iowa.
BRIELS
Kansas crew teams to row in Wisconsin
Selected boats from the Kansas crew club team will begin competition today at the Midwest Rowing Championships in Madison Wis.
Kansas is one of 47 teams expected to attend the event, held on Lake Wingra, a 1,852-meter stretch that finishes at Vilas Park. The crews store and launch their boats at Wingra Park.
The championship field will include varsity junior varsity and novice rowers. Many of the women's teams at the event will become opponents of the Kansas women when they begin varsity competition this fall.
Rowers will compete in 20 events. The final, held tomorrow,will be the men's and women's varsity eights.
Volleyball tournament to feature 110 teams
The Kansas men's and women's volleyball club teams will be host to 110 teams from the Heart of America region of the United States Volleyball Association for a two-day tournament this weekend.
This will be the fifth consecutive year that Kansas has been the hose site for the tournament, said Bob Lockwood, instructor of physical education and volleyball team sponsor. Matches will be held in seven locations including Allen Field House, Robinson Center and Lawrence High School.
Competition will begin at 8 a.m. tomorrow and run until 10:30 p.m.
The Jayhawks should begin play in the early morning and play five or six matches. The tournament resumes at 8 a.m. Sunday and concludes about 6 p.m.
Anyone with questions about the event can contact Lockwood at 864-0777.
Kansan staff reports
After becoming Kansas' fifth Big Eight Conference golf champion earlier this week, junior golfer Slade Adams plays a less-competitive round at Alvamar Country Club with teammates Tyler Shelton and Kit Grove and former Jayhawk Jay Hepler.
Cool, calm and the Big Eight champion
Sean R. Crosier / KANSAM
Sean R. Crosier/ KANSAI
After a less than stellar start, Slade Adams has finally made his mark.
Sean R. Crosier/ KANSAN Kansas junior golfer Slade Adams' relaxed outlook on the golf course helps him focus on his game and enjoy himself, Kansas men's golf coach Ross Randail says.
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
A cool breeze moves the sparse, white clouds above the 13th hole at the Alvamar Country Club.
All is quiet except for the hum of a groundskeeper's tractor on the 12th green and the friendly jabs being thrown during a round of golf.
"Am I a pretty relaxed guy on the course?" Slade Adams inquires jokingly of his friend and Kansas teammate Tyler Shelton.
Adams can only smile.
"You're cool," Shelton replies, straight faced.
and lately, being relaxed and smiling have come hand-in-hand for this junior.
Adams transferred to Kansas this season after two years at Texas Christian University.
"There really wasn't a lot down there, and I was kind of homesick," the Wichita native said. "It was nice to come back up here and be a little closer to home."
Because of NCAA rules, Kansas men's golf coach Ross Randall could not contact Adams about transferring. But Shelton could.
Shelton and Adams first met while playing high school and junior tournaments. At last summer's Kansas Amateur tournament, Shelton's father discovered that Adams was considering changing schools and passed that information along to his son. Shelton told Adams about Kansas' program, and by the time Adams formally contacted
Randall, he wanted to become a Jayhawk.
Since that time, Adams has solidified his position as one of the top Jayhawk golfers. He placed in the top 10 in three of four tournaments last fall and was second earlier this spring at the Waterwood Intercollegiate.
When he transferred, I was quite sure he'd be a starter," Randall said. "I didn't realize he was priming to be the Big Eight champion."
But Adams did just that. Earlier this week, he became just the fifth Kansas golfer to win the Big Eight Conference championship's individual golf title.
His score of 211 tied two Oklahoma State golfers for the best total and secured the first collegiate victory of Adams' career.
Adams would have won the tournament outright had he drained a 4-foot putt on the tournament's final hole. Despite the miss, Adams and his teammates still consider him the winner.
"When people ask me, I tell them he's the Big Eight champion," Kansas junior Dan Rooney said.
The win came on the Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, considered one of the country's toughest. Adams said he felt comfortable on the
course, though, because of its similarities to his home course, Terrydne Country Club in Wichita.
"He was saying how much he like Prairie Dunes in February," Kansas freshman Jacob Fellander recalled.
By the time the spring season came around, though, Adams may have questioned if he'd be competing at Prairie Dunes. He started the spring season shaky, posting numerous rounds in the mid-70s and even one in the 80s. He was frustrated and anything but relaxed.
Adams returned home several times to work with his long-time coach. He also consulted with Kansas sports psychologist David Cook.
"Dr. Cook and I talked about not going out to shoot a score but letting the score happen," Adams said. "If you make a couple mistakes, which you're going to, then you've just got to accept that and try to move on. That was really the whole key for me."
During the 54 holes of the Big Eight tournament, Adams said that he committed only three mistakes.
He cited two errant shots in each of the first two rounds and a three-putt during the final round as his mistakes. But the missed putt on the final hole was not.
"He made a five on the hole and played it exactly like he wanted to play it." Randall said. "He hit four perfect shots under pressure."
Pressure is something that Adams does not seem to feel — not in the Big Eight tournament and certainly not on the 13th tee box at Alvamar.
Adams tees up a golf ball, takes his stance and effortlessly launches a shot into the fairway — just another day on the course for the relaxed Big Eight champion.
'Hawks to greet 'Huskers' dual-sport athlete
By Tom Erickson
Kansan sportswriter
Darin Erstad scores on diamond and gridiron
Kansas will get to see another two-sport athlete when Nebraska comes to Lawrence for a three-game weekend series.
One two-sport athlete, Oklahoma first baseman and basketball player Ryan Minor, visited Hoghund-Maupin Stadium March 28 and 29. Minor went hitless in three at bats but brought out several curious fans from the Kansas basketball team.
Enter Nebraska outfielder Darin Erstad. The Jamestown, N.D., native also is a punter on the Cornhusker football team.
Erstad went to Nebraska on a baseball
scholarship and walked onto the football team after a tryout with Cornhusker football coach Tom Osborne.
Erstad, a junior, leads the Cornhuskers in several offensive categories, including batting average, home runs, hits and RBI. He appeared in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated and might be the first college player chosen in this year's amateur baseball draft.
"He's certainly been someone who has been a factor for us," Nebraska coach John Sanders said. "Darin is a guy who can carry our team."
Kansas coach Dingham said Erstad lived up to the attention he drew.
"He is truly one of the finest players in the Big Eight," Bingham said. "I have a great deal of respect for him."
Nebraska (27-18, 9-11) hopes to make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1985.
Sanders said the Cornhuskers might get
there, but finishing the season was more important right now.
Since Lincoln, Neb., is so far north, the Cornhuskers have a tough time competing with traditional Big Eight powers like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
"We still have a lot of work to do," he said. "We have a good team, and our goal is to finish well and see what happens. Everything else should fall into place from there."
Bingham said this series should be just as close, as both teams have similar records.
"Playing in Nebraska is certainly not an easy task," Sanders said. "We are the most northern school in the Big Eight, but we have done a lot of recruiting and have some fine players."
The Cornhuskers won both games between the teams earlier this season by scores of 6-5 and 12-10, winning in the ninth inning each time.
The Jayhawks are 16-29 overall and 7-15 in the Big Eight.
Sanders agreed.
"Both teams are under .500 in the Big Eight," he said. "Their team batting average is better than ours, but our team ERAs are both high."
"Based on our scores last time, I would say that we are about even," he said.
The opening game will be at 7 tonight, followed by a 2 p.m. game tomorrow and a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
Since both games of a doubleheader on Wednesday with Iowa State were rained out, Bingham plans to skip two spots in the rotation and start junior pitcher Jamie Splitorff tonight. Splitorff (4-5, 4.65 ERA) pitched a complete game in a 9-1 win against Missouri last Friday.
"If you have a horse, you want to ride it and not keep it in the barn," Bingham said. "We need him to go on Friday."