8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY,APRIL 18,2008
KANSAS RELAYS
Pros compete in Gold Zone
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
The Kansas Relays features more than 3,800 athletes competing during a four-day span in everything from the hammer
Bershawn Jackson 400-meter hurdles
Bershawn "Batman" Jackson, 400-meter hurdles (4:35 p.m.)
Jackson is the three-time defending Kansas Relays champion in this event and he's won it four out of the last five years. He set the meet record in 2005 and then again in 2006, crossing the line in 48.34 seconds. Jackson, 24, was the 2005 World Outdoor, 2005 USA Indoor and 2003 USA Outdoor champion in his event. He narrowly missed qualifying for the 2004 Olympic team. He is expected to compete this summer in Beijing.
Mona Lee
400-meter hurdles
throw to the steeplechase. However, the main attraction at the 81st annual Kansas Relays is Saturday's Gold Zone competition, which features a plethora of Olympic athletes. Here's a look at a few of the
Mona Lee, 400-meter hurdles (4:20 p.m.)
A 2000 graduate of Central High School in Kansas City, Mo., Lee is a fan favorite at the Kansas Relays. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Lee placed seventh in the 200-meter dash. In 2005, she won a gold medal at the World Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter relay, a silver medal in the 100 at the USA Outdoor Championships and another silver in the same event at the U.S. Indoor Championships. At the 2005 Kansas Relays, Lee set a then meet record time of 11.10 seconds in the 100.
Edited by Jared Duncan
big names participating on Saturday and the events in which they compete;
Wallace Spearmon 800 and 400meter relays
Wallace Spearmon, Jr., 800 and 400-meter relays (12:10 and 2:25 p.m.) The current American record holder in the indoor 200-meter dash. Spearmon is looking to build on a tremendous 2007 season. Last year at the World Outdoor Championships, Spearmon won a gold medal in the 400 relay and a bronze medal in the 200. He also finished second in the 200 at the USA Outdoor Championships. While at the University of Arkansas, he was a three-time NCAA champion in the 200 and won the same event at the 2006 USA Outdoor Championships.
Chris Cantwell
Chris Cantwell, Shot Put (1:30 p.m.)
Cantwell is well established as the premiere shot putter in America. He was the World Indoor Champion in 2004 and 2008, the U.S. Indoor Champion in 2004, 2007 and 2008 and the 2005 U.S. Outdoor Champion. A three-time Kansas Relays champion, Cantwell set the Invitational Shot Put record in 2006 with a toss of 70-feet 3.75-inches. He also won the Kansas Relays Invitational Shot Put in 2002 as a member of the University of Missouri team and the 2007 Shot Put, competing unattached. Cantwell will compete for Team USA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.
NBA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston Rockets guard Aaron Brooks, left, looks to move past Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson during the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 111-94 victory in an NBA basketball game in Denver on Sunday, April 13
Playoff picture looks grim for Denver Nuggets The team faces the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round
BY ARNIE STAPLETON Associated Press
Associated Press
DENVER — Allen Iverson wasn't "The Answer" in the shortterm for the Denver Nuggets.
He joined them midway through last season, hailed as the savior who would help the Nuggets win a playoff series for the first time since 1994.
But trades, suspensions and injuries, including his own severely sprained ankle,
precluded the team from developing any chemistry or cohesion, and A.I. was smothered by the San Antonio Spurs, averaging a career-worst 22.8 points in the postseason.
Iverson didn't look anything like the wizard who almost single-handedly drove Philadelphia in the playoffs, and the Nuggets were finished in five games for the fourth straight year.
Why will it be any different this time around when the eighth-seeded Nuggets face top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers starting Sunday?
"I'd be lying if I said it's the same thing if I was playing New Orleans if we were playing L.A. Everybody know how big that stage is."
camp and a full season together and he and fellow All-Star Carmelo Anthony have proven that two superstars can indeed succeed side-by-side.
Because, Iverson said, he's healthy again, the Nuggets have meshed after spending a training
"I think they've learned how to coexist with each other and
ALLEN IVERSON Denver Nuggets Guard
dominant duo in newcomer Pau Gasol and MVP hopeful Kobe Bryant, who will be matched aplenty with Iverson.
"Let's go. This is what it's all about for me. You can't draw it up any better," Iverson said. "People say he's the best basketball player on the planet, so I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge. Especially with me believing that about myself, so let's go."
play off each other," Marcus Camby said. "They're Nos. 3 and 4 in the league in scoring, they had a lot of balance out there, and they never let egos get in the way. They're both talented superstars"
The Lakers have their own
"This is what it's about. If you're scared, get a dog. If you're scared, go to church."
The Nuggets certainly aren't shy about having to face Bryant, Gasol, Derek Fisher or Lamar Odom.
"I'd be lying if I said it's the
same thing if I was playing New Orleans or if we were playing L.A.," Iverson said. "Everybody know how big that stage is. I relish the moment. This is what I play basketball for. This is why I love it so much."
Although they're facing the top team in the power-packed Western Conference once again, only seven wins separated the two up-tempo teams in the standings. The Nuggets
"The last couple of years we've been unfortunate enough to play against the top team in the Western Conference. Our work was always cut out for us," Camby said. "This year, we're coming in relatively healthy. ... We're a more balanced team, a more together team. We're playing pretty good basketball of late, we're playing great basketball here at home. Hopefully we can steal a few on the road."
Kenyon Martin has returned with a vengeance from microfracture surgeries on both knees and he teams with Camby, the reigning NBA defensive player of the year, to provide plenty of muscle inside.
Although forward Nene missed most of the season with an assortment of ailments and is still working his way back into shape after testicular cancer surgery, and Chucky Atkins missed most of the year with a sports hernia, for once the Nuggets enter the playoffs relatively healthy.
feel it's anybody's series.
MARCUS CAMBY Denver Nuggets Forward
"I think they've (Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony) learned how to coexist with each other and play off each other."
Denver's bench is a lot better than it was a year ago, when Linas Kleiza was lost in the playoff's bright lights and J.R. Smith made so many bone-headed moves that he ended up getting benched.
Kleiza has become an offensive force and Smith worked his way out of coach George Karl's doghouse this year and sparked the Nuggets' late-season surge to their first 50-win season in two decades. Karl even nixed any notion of trading for Ron Artest at the deadline in part because he didn't want to stunt Smith's progress. And Eduardo Najera has added a 3-point prowess to his energy game.
"J.R., L.K. and Eddie have been great for us in this stretch of games, the survivor games," Karl said. "Now when we're on the Broadway, they're going to have to step up further."
The Nuggets are thankful they're not facing the Spurs in the first round again.
>> COLLEGE FOOTBALL
BY BEN EVANS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Forget government corruption or corporate fraud. Three members of Congress want the Justice Department to investigate whether college football's Bowl Championship Series is an illegal enterprise.
The measure also would put Congress on record as supporting a college football playoff.
"Who elected these NCAA people? Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?" Abercrombie said at a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill, gripping a souvenir University of Hawaii football.
Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, are introducing a resolution rejecting' the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade because only the largest universities compete in most of the major bowl games. The resolution would require Justice's antitrust division to investigate whether the system violates federal law.
Abercrombie said the matter is worthy of federal review because college football is big business with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.
"it's money. That's what this is all about," he said.
But it's no coincidence that all three lawmakers have home-state schools with recent beefs against the bowl system.
The University of Hawaii and Boise State University in Idaho each had an undefeated season in recent years, but were denied a shot at the championship. And Westmoreland said he is still smarting about his University of
Georgia Bulldogs being passed over for the national championship game last year.
Georgia instead was matched up against undefeated Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, winning 41-10.
Westmoreland and Abercrombie said they started talking about the resolution after that game, as Abercrombie was paying off a bet with chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.
Abercrombie maintained that television markets are one factor in selecting which teams go to high-profile bowls.
The lawmakers say the bowl system is rigid and blocks all but the largest universities from competing in post-season bowls, denying dozens of others not just the opportunity to compete but also a shot at the big payoffs and national exposure that come with bowl appearances.
"We shouldn't have to argue about who the champion is," Westmoreland said, citing the excitement and unpredictability of the NCAA college basketball tournament. "That should be decided on the field."
The BCS was created in 1998 by the six most powerful conferences. It relies on polls and computer ratings to determine which teams qualify for the top bowls.
Congress held a hearing on the BCS in 2005, but no legislation came of it.
In a statement, ACC Commissioner and current BCS Administrator John Swofford said the BCS allows all qualified teams to participate and is beneficial for student athletes, universities and fans.
"This issue has been looked at before," Swofford said. "We're confident that it complies with the law."
BY MARK LONG ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ochoa has impressive start at Ginn Open
Playing for the fourth straight week, Ochoa shot a 4-under 68 in the first round of the Ginn Open to finish a stroke behind leaders Carin Koch and Teresa Lu.
REUNION, Fla. — Lorena Ochoa got off to a solid start Thursday in a bid for her fourth consecutive victory and fifth in six starts this year.
Ochoa had plenty of company there, too.
Karrie Webb, Suzann Pettersen, Charlotte Mayorkas, Mhairi McKay, Allison Fouch and Yani Tseng also were a stroke back.
But for the first time in a while, the field wasn't chasing the world's No. 1 player. Ochoa led start to finish in her native Mexico last week in an 11-stroke victory at the Corona Championship.
"Of course, I like my position right now," Ochoa said. "I'm not usually a player that comes from behind. It's impossible, I guess, to be winning a tournament by seven shots the first day. You have to move your way out there. That's why I feel very happy with my round."
She also enjoyed a seven-stroke win at the Safeway International three weeks ago, then followed with a five-shot victory in the first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
She has won four of five events this year and is looking to become the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2001 to win four consecutive starts.
She probably would have been out front Thursday had she not missed short birdie putts on Nos. 1, 2 and 3 to start her back nine. It got worse when she threeputted the par-4 eighth and made her only bogey of the round. But she rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.
Ochoa said she played a little cautiously on a windy day with
dry fairways and fast greens. But with a morning tee time Friday, Ochoa expected to be much more aggressive.
The 26-year-old star had the largest gallery of the field following her around the Ginn Reunion Resort, a crowd that helped keep her from feeling completely worn-down after so many rounds without much of a break.
"I in position and I'm going to make sure I give myself a good chance to win the tournament," she said.
Juli Inkster (69), Annika Sorenstam (70) and Morgan Pressel (72) weren't far behind, part of 65 players who shot par or better.
"I'm still a little bit tired," she said. "I wouldn't say it's all the energy that I ever felt, but I'm OK. I think I'm hanging in there."
... If I knew I had maybe two more tournaments coming, I would be crying right now"
Koch may have been the most unlikely name on the leaderboard.
Sure, she shot a 66 in the final round in Mexico last week and tied for fifth. But that was her best showing since winning her second career event in 2005. She mostly struggled the last two years.
"I'm just really excited right now," she said. "I've had a couple of bad years and I'm finally starting to play solid golf again. I'm hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, so that's what I'm going to focus on rather than what Lorena and Annika are doing.
"It's so much more fun for me to play again now."
Her putting was a big reason Thursday. She made seven putts from 12 feet or longer, including a 20-footer on No. 17 and a 30-footer on 18 for a birdie-birdie finish.
"I'm definitely rolling it good," Koch said. "It's not all luck. There's a lot of good putts. I'm definitely confident on the green right now."
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