TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2006
3B
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2006
SPORTS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
Déjà Vu.
Settlemier
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Only two weeks after Settier-mier said goodbye to her dad, she was under the knife because of a torn rotator cuff. The surgery left her in rehab for a month during the fall of 2001, before the start of softball season. The surgery didn't stop her from pitching 22 games, hitting the first home run of her career or earning all-conference honors.
If only a comeback was always that easy.
Settlemier was forced to take a medical redshirt her sophomore year after an examination of her right wrist revealed that she needed bone-shortening surgery, a procedure typically performed on the elderly. She had gone to the doctor after feeling an extremely painful grinding when she pitched.
In addition to the bone shortening, a metal plate and six screws were placed in her right lower forearm to give it stability. The scars are still visible today. Her father said the hardest thing about being away from her was making sure she was doing the right thing.
Kelly Hutsell/KANSAN
She had already been pitching with a chipped ulna, a bone extending from the elbow to the wrist, and the doctors said that the other bone in her forearm was four millimeters too long. Those four millimeters had to be shaved off.
"It was so hard to keep track of everything," he said. "We
Serena Settlemier, senior pitcher pitches against UMKC on April 5, 2005. Settlemier pitched a perfect game that day, which was the first Jayhawk perfect game since 1994.
wanted to help her choose a doctor. We looked in Portland, but there's not a lot of history with wrist problems and pitchers. They didn't know what to do, so we went to a specialist in Kansas City, and he knew exactly what it was."
Settlemier then endured a long recovery period after the bone-shortening surgery. Instead of playing or practicing with the team, she performed mundane arm exercises and physical therapy.
"After 18 months of recovery, I was so afraid to be hurt again," Settlemier said.
It wasn't an injury that struck Settlemier next, but problems caused by the metal plate that was inserted after the bone shortening. The plate was rubbing on the tendons in Settlemier's arm, creating as much pain as she felt before the surgery. Settlemier still couldn't pitch, but she became the designated pitcher for two seasons. At the end of the second season, the plate and screws were removed and she started preparing to return to the mound.
During the tumultuous time, she turned to her family for support and guidance. She said her sister, Amy, was a great person to look to for advice and inspiration. Her mother sent her one card a month with inspirational quotes, and her father pushed her through practice.
The physical and emotional rollercoaster that Settlemier endured sparked feelings of doubt and extreme frustration.
'Prove him wrong'
"At one point, I wanted to quit. I wanted to stop trying to come back," Settlemier said. "I was so frustrated that I lost a year, and had to sit out two. I want to be remembered as a good player, not for my surgeries and as someone that didn't offer anything to the team."
"She went through mental distress, tears, everything you could think of," Dan said. "When she'd come home, we'd help her mental areas and tell her, 'You're going to do OK.'"
Settlemian's dad calls her the "comeback kid."
that she was likely to never pitch again in her life. Fighting through the injuries to make a difference on the Kansas team became her ambition.
Settlemier's doctor told her
"I set high standards for myself as a person, and I wanted to prove him wrong," she said.
'Comeback kid' returns
The opportunity to play with Thunder members Amanda Freed and Christa Williams, Team USA softball Olympians, is an experience Settlemier is not willing to pass up.
Proving her doctors wrong is just what Settlemier did. She is back as one of the six seniors carrying the Kansas softball team early in the season.
On Feb. 19 In the Louisville Slugger Classic, Settlemier hit two home runs, one of which was a grand slam, and accounted for five of the nine RBI against UNLV. Last Saturday, Settlemier pitched a shutout against No. 17 Nebraska to end a 10-game 'Huskers winning streak.
"Even if I'm not starting, I'm hoping to learn a lot from them because they are some of the best," she said. "That will be a good experience in itself."
Her comeback is not only being felt in Division I softball, but in the professional realm. The Thunder drafted Settlemiier alongside Louisiana-Lafayette's Krystal Lewallen and UCLA's Emily Zaplatosch. Texas outfielder Tina Boutelle will also join Settlemiier in Houston.
Edited by Frank Tankard
Robinett
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
Judging the Jayhawks on that game was foolish. Texas plays great at home, proven by its 24-point victory against Oklahoma on Sunday. It was also Kansas' worst game since December.
In spite of that loss, Kansas has defeated 12 of its past 13 opponents by an average of 19 points a game. Any team that hot, and with the best record in a major conference, should be in the mix of national title talk.
But not Kansas. Kansas is only a dark horse, not a favorite, because no one is predicting glory for the Jayhawks. But, then again, no one predicted a Big 12 conference title either.
But then again, to deserve credit you have to earn it. Performing well in the NCAA tournament is the best way to do that.
Kansas isn't the only Big 12 team struggling to receive the recognition it deserves. Texas A&M finished fourth in the conference with 10 Big 12 victories, which included seven victories in a row and a defeat of Texas.
Connecticut, Duke, Ohio State, Louisiana State, Gonzaga and Texas, all conference champions, are certainly mentioned when someone asks the question, "Who will win it all?"
That sounds like a tournament resumé to me, but Texas A&M's fate has yet to be decided. ESPN's Jay Bilas said that the Aggies were out because the Longhorns were their only quality victory. ESPN's "Bracketologist" Joe Lunardi has the Aggies as his last team in.
that the Missouri Valley Conference, a mid-major conference, has a chance at six.
A strong showing by Kansas and the rest of the Big 12 conference could put the Jayhawks on top of next year's pre-season polls.
Robinett is an Austin, Texas,
junior, in journalism
The Big 12 is a major conference, and could possibly only get three invitations to the dance. That's ridiculous, considering
AP TOP 25 Men's college basketball poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 5, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
1. Connecticut (71) 27-2 1,797 2
2. Villanova 24-3 1,797 2
3. Duke (1) 27-4 1,567 1
4. Gonzaga 27-4 1,556 1
5. Memphis 27-3 1,501 3
6. Geo Washington 26-1 1,399 7
7. Ohio St. 23-4 1,396 9
8. **Texas** 25-5 1,275 6
9. Illinois 25-6 1,202 10
10. North Carolina 21-6 1,166 13
11. Boston College 21-6 1,028 12
12. Washington 24-5 923 14
13. UCLA 24-5 904 15
14. Tennessee 21-6 814 11
15. Pittsburgh 21-6 794 8
16. Florida 24-6 716 17
17. **Kansas** 22-7 662 18
18. LSU 22-7 614 16
19. West Virginia 20-9 492 16
20. Iowa 22-11 402 23
21. Nevada 24-5 342 24
22. Oklahoma 20-7 263 19
23. Georgia旧年 19-8 166 20
24. UAB 22-5 144 —
25. N.C. State 21-8 132 22
Others receiving votes: Arkansas 109, Bucknell 83, Michigan St. 67, Marquette 58, S.Illinois 33, Texas A&M 17, San Diego St. 10, Florida St. 9, Wichita St. 8, California 7, Hofstra 7, Air Force 5, Wisconsin 4, George Mason 3, Washington 2, Cincinnati 1, Missouri St. 1, N.C.-Wilmington 1
Rematch
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Of the eight schools playing today, only Kansas State did not practice in the arena.
Senior guards Erica Hallman and Kaylee Brown will also look for redemption after going 0-for-9 on three-pointers on Thursday. Brown has been playing
For Kansas, the key to victory will be finding a way to build offensive momentum without relying on senior forward Crystal Kemp, who was named first-team All-Big 12 on Friday. Kemp was double-teamed by Kansas State on Thursday, forcing the Jayhawks to rely on their other offensive weapons.
AP TOP25 Women's college basketball poll
TEAM RECORD PTS PV
1. North Caro. (45) 29-1 1,125 1
2. Ohio St. 27-2 1,000 5
3. Maryland 28-4 996 4
4. Duke 26-3 977 2
5. LSU 27-3 938 3
6. Rutgers 25-3 934 6
7. Tennessee 28-4 901 8
8. Oklahoma 28-4 819 9
9. Connecticut 27-4 804 7
10. Baylor 22-5 713 10
11. Stanford 23-6 630 13
12. Purdue 24-5 593 14
13. DePaul 25-5 574 15
14. Georgia 21-8 559 12
15. Arizona St. 24-6 494 11
16. Michigan St. 22-9 460 16
17. Louisiana Tech 23-4 339 19
18. Temple 23-7 243 22
19. Utah 21-6 242 17
20. BYU 23-4 227 18
21. New Mexico 21-8 211 21
22. Texas A&M 22-7 194 25
23. Minnesota 19-9 105 20
24. Bowling Green 25-2 101 23
25. Vanderbilt 20-10 82
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 5, total points based on 20 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
Others receiving votes: Florida 60,
George Washington 54, Wake 25,
Kentucky 30, Tulsa 27, Boston
College 20, N.C. State 19, St. John's
19, Chattanooga 16, Florida St. 15,
W. Kentucky 15, Indiana St. 12,
Wyoming 10, Missouri 6, Virginia
Tech 6, Virginia 2, Hartford 1
AP
with an injured ankle during the past week and a half.
"Offensively, it's glaring we have to get better looks," Henrickson said. "It's just execution of the offense."
She added that defensively, the Jayhawks will try to shut down the Wildcats' three-point shooting. Kansas allowed seven three-pointers Thursday, all of them uncontested.
The three seniors can also draw on the motivation of being beaten at home on their senior night, but getting one last chance to break the streak, even if that victory comes in a different state.
Edited by Vanessa Pearson