2B
SPORTS / MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20. 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."
Michael Jordan
FACT OF THE DAY
Kicker Jacob Branstetter needs one more field goal to tie for sixth in team history. He has 24 in his career.
KUAthletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: How many punts does punt er Alonso Rojas have downed inside the 20 this year?
A: Four, which ties the lead in the Big 12.
Kansas Athletics
Tennis youngster impresses at Open
MORNING BREW
A about thirty miles from Lawrence, there's a bid sitter.
there's a kid sitting through his high school classes just like thousands of other students in the Kansas City area. He's blonde and lanky with plenty of lean muscle on him, but he doesn't look spectacular in any way.
But spectacular is a very accurate way to describe Jack Sock. If you follow the Kansas City sports scene at all, you've probably heard his name mentioned as one of the next great American tennis stars. Even if you haven't heard the name, there's a possibility that many of you attended the same high school as Sock, a 17-year-old senior at Blue Valley North in Overland Park.
For anyone who's not familiar with Sock, here's what he's been up to the last few weeks: On Aug. 15, he won the Boys 18 title at the 2010 USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., topping the best junior male tennis players in the nation.
That title earned him a spot
BY JOEL PETTERSON jpetterson@kansan.com
in the U.S. Open Men's Singles draw - the same bracket filled with names like Federer, Nadal and Roddick. He lost in the first round to a veteran named Marco Chudnelli
but he managed to win one set in the match.
He wasn't done in New York after that match, however. Sock still competed in the Junior U.S. Open against the best youth tennis players in the world. And he won it.
That might not have been the high point of the month, though. On the last weekend of the tournament, Sock got a call from Novak Djokovic's coach asking him to practice with Djokovic, the No. 2 tennis player in the world, to warm him up for his semifinal against Federer the next day.
Naturally, Sock agreed without hesitation. But he regretted it about an hour later when
Federer's coach called and asked the same thing. So, 17-year-old Jack Sock had to turn down a hitting session with the greatest tennis player of all time. There's a story to tell your friends in the cafeteria
With all the success and shoulder-rubbing with top pros it's easy to see why there's been some talk about this guy being one of the next big things in American tennis. He is the first American to win the Junior U.S. Open since 2000. The guy who won it that year has done pretty well for himself — Andy Roddick.
American tennis could really use some new star power, too. This summer marked the first time since computer rankings
were introduced in 1973 that there wasn't an American man ranked in the top 10.
Needless to say, that's a lot of pressure for a 17-year-old, especially when he hasn't graduated from high school yet. When he won his junior title on the final Sunday of the Open, he didn't have a lot of time to celebrate; i.e. flew from New York to Kansas City, Mo., that night, and the next morning at 7:45 he was back in a stiff desk at Blue Valley North.
All in all, not a bad start to senior year.
— Edited by Clark Goble
ASSOCIATED PRESS/Charlie Riede
Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas got past a group of Iowa State defenders in the Wildcats' 27-20 victory on Saturday. Thomas and K State come to Lawrence on October 14.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Thomas carries 34 times in Wildcats'27-20 victory
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State gave the ball to Daniel Thomas as much as they could and dared Iowa State to stop him.
Thomas proved to be too tough for the Cyclones to handle.
Thomas rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns on a careerhigh 34 carries and Kansas State rallied to beat Iowa State 27-20 on Saturday and improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2006.
"They told me to be ready to handle the load, but I didn't know it was going to be 34 carriers," said Thomas, who has gained 552 yards through three games. "I want the ball every play if I can take it."
Carson Coffman added 104 passing yards for the Wildcats (3:0,1-0 Big 12).
It didn't quite match the drama of last year's matchup in Kansas City — won by Kansas State 24-23 on a late blocked extra-point try — but it took nearly 60 minutes for the Wildcats to close out Iowa State yet again.
Thomas's 2-yard TD run gave Kansas State a 24-20 lead with 6:47 left. Brandon Harold then sacked Iowa State's Austen Arnaud with 1:58 left and recovered a fumble, setting up a 42-yard field goal by
The Cyclones drove to the Wildcats' 36-yard line with 19 seconds left, but Arnaud threw a pair of incomplitions to end the rally.
Arnaud threw for 122 yards and a touchdown to lead Iowa State (1-2, 0-1), which lost its third straight to Kansas State.
"We had our spots of good and we had our spots of bad. Definitely penalties killed us today," Arnaud said. "We've got to be a smarter football team. We've got to execute better in times when it's crunch time."
Kansas State's final touchdown drive covered 83 yards, and Thomas capped it with five straight carries after Brodrick Smith came back to the ball for a crucial 47-yard catch.
Iowa State burned all its timeouts to get the ball back with 1:38 left and a chance to tie it. The Cyclones got close, but Arnaud missed a wide-open Alexander Robinson downfield, and Iowa State didn't get any closer.
"I know one thing. He doesn't get weaker as the game goes on." Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of Thomas.
Thomas opened the second half with a 23-yard run, and it looked like the Wildcats were finally
poised to take over a game they had controlled to that point.
That's when Coffman threw it right to Iowa State linebacker A.J. Klein — who was in zone coverage without a receiver in sight — and Klein's 69-yard interception return gave Iowa State an improbable 14-10 lead.
Thomas nearly got into the miscue act himself, losing control of the ball at the goal line on a spectacular 1-yard touchdown plunge midway through the third quarter. A review held up the call, though, putting the Wildcats back ahead 17-14.
"He's a hard runner, shifty, and he showed that he had speed too," Klein said of Thomas. "He ran the ball hard."
Grant Mahoney's field goal tied the game at 17 late in the third quarter, and he put Iowa State ahead 20-17 with 11:26 to go.
The Wildcats ran it 28 times for 163 yards against Iowa State's suspect rush defense in the first half, but a muffed fake field goal helped keep the Cyclones within 10-7.
Iowa State jumped ahead 7-3 on Arnaud's 13-yard TD pass to Jake Williams to start the second quarter. Coffman answered with a 10-yard touchdown run on an option keeper to put Kansas State on top 10-7 with 11:02 left.
on top 10-7 with 11:02 left in the second quarter.
But after a couple misfires from Coffman late in the second quarter, Kansas State opted for a fake that failed miserably, as punter/holder Ryan Doerr got drilled behind the line and fumbled.
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Men's Golf
Kansas Invitational
All Day
Lawrence, Kan.
Men's Golf
Kansas Invitational
All Day
Lawrence, Kan.
TUESDAY
Volleyball
Kansas State
7:00 PM
Manhattan, Kan.
WEDNESDAY
FRIDAY
Women's Swimming
Alumni Meet
4:00 PM-
Lawrence, Kan.
**Women's Soccer**
Missouri
6:30 PM
Columbia, Mo.
SATURDAY
Football
New Mexico State
K-Club Week-end
6:00 PM
Lawrence, Kan.
Women's Volleyball Colorado TBA Boulder, Colo.
SUNDAY
Women's Soccer
Iowa State
1:00 PM
Ames, Iowa
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hochevar helps Royals top Indians
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luke Hochevar recovered from a shaky start to earn his first win since May 26 and Yuniesky Betancourt stole home, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.
The top pick in the 2006 amateur draft, Hochevar (6-5) gave up three runs in the first two innings but none after that. He allowed eight hits over six innings, striking out five and walking one.
Hochevar missed nearly three months this season with a right elbow sprain.
Mitch Maier had a two-run single in Kansas City's four-run second. Betancourt walked with the bases loaded to force in Kila Ka'ailue with the first run of the inning. With Betancourt on third, Maier broke from first and Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin ran toward him. Betancourt took off for home and by the time Tomlin turned around and fired to the plate, Betancourt slid in ahead of the tag to give the Royals a 4-3 advantage.
It was Betancourt's first stolen base of the season and the Royals' first steal of home since Alex Gordon did it on Aug. 2, 2009, at Tampa Bay.
Kaaihue doubled home Billy Butler and Wilson Betemit in the sixth.