THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
TRACK AND FIELD
7B
Outdoor season kicks off
BY TAYLOR BERN
Kansas began its 2007 outdoor track and field season with a successful showing Saturday at the Tulsa Duels in Tulsa, Okla., which included several NCAA provisional regional qualifying marks.
After an outstanding indoor season, junior Ashley Brown continued her success by winning first place and setting a Kansas record time of 13.31 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. Brown also ran a career-best time of 59.03 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. Both times are regional qualifying marks.
Junior Hugh Murphy, a transfer from Brown University, performed well in his Jayhawk debut Saturday.
throwing 215-10 feet in the javelin, finishing second. The distance was a regional mark and sits as the fifth longest throw in Kansas history.
Several lajahaws finished well in the long jump.
Junior Crystal Manning made a career-best leap of 20-06 1/2 feet to regionally qualify and win the women's event. For the men, junior Barrett Saunders and seniors Josh Kirk and Eric Babb finished first through third, respectively. Saunder's career-best distance of 24-07 3/4 feet was also a regional mark.
Seniors Cody Roberts and Abby Emsick swept the discus events with a pair of regional marks. For the men, Roberts won the event with a massive throw of 181-01 feet.
Emsick captured the title for the women with a distance of 168-02 ft.
In the pole vault, junior Libby Harmon tied for first with a height of 11-11 3/4 feet.
Kansas has this weekend off before returning to the track in Austin, Texas, for the Texas Relays on April 5 to 7.
Sophomore Stephanie Horton won first place in the shot put, hurling a regional qualifying mark of 50-05 1/2 feet.
Kansan sportswriter Taylor Bern can be contacted at tbern@kansan.com.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Florida routs Oregon, makes Final Four
BY NANCY ARMOUR ASSOCIATED PRESS
Not yet, anyway.
Inside, outside, early, late - the Gators find a way to get it done when there's a title at stake.
Joakim Noah and his buddies are heading back to the Final Four, looking for a second straight national championship that was worth more to them than NBA millions.
"It's so great because we were under a microscope." Noah said after Florida's 85-77 victory against third-seeded Oregon in the Midwest Regional final on Sunday afternoon.
"There was so much hate. But we know that what matters is what's going on here."
Lee Humphrey made seven three-pointers and finished with 23 points, and Tauerean Green added 21. Noah had 14 points and 14 rebounds. It was Florida's 16th straight postseason victory, a stretch that includes
one national championship and two Southeastern Conference titles.
Next stop for the top-seeded Gators; Atlanta, where they'll play UCLA in the national semifinals in a rematch of last year's championship Game.
"The ultimate goal is to do it again." Chris Richard said. "We're one step away from the championship"
Florida beat UCLA last year in a rout, 73-57, for its first national championship _ and the first half of what would turn out to be the Gator Slam. When Florida beat Ohio State for the national football title in January, the Gators became the first school to be champs in both sports at the same time.
Now Florida (33-5) would like to win both crowns in the same calendar year. And make a little history as the first team since Duke in 1991-92 to win back-to-back basketball titles — and the first ever to do it with the same five starters.
Regional and will play Georgetown on Saturday.
There might even be another date with Ohio State with a title on the line. The Buckeyes won the South
"It was a lot harder this year because night in and night out, we got people's best shot. We've had to adjust and it's just been really tough," Corey Brewer said. "It's been really rewarding because we've got the same five guys back and basically the same team.
"We just love playing with each other, and it feels so good to get back to the Final Four."
Oregon was trying to get to the Final Four for the first time since winning it all in 1939, the first year of the NCAA tournament. But the Ducks (29-8) were done in by foul trouble the entire game and by freshman Tauuan Porter going cold.
"I was probably a little too hyped," Porter said. "They had pretty good shot pressure. I just wasn't hitting my shots."
Porter, the 5-foot-6 guard who went off for eight three-pointers and 33 points in Friday night's regional semifinal, didn't make his first field goal until there were 40 seconds left in the game.
》 NCAA TOURNAMENT
Hoyas gnaw on Tar Heels
BY BEN WALKER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Georgetown coach John Thompson III celebrates with his team after winning the NCAA East Regional basketball game against North Carolina 96-84 in Sunday Euttherford, N.J.
EAST RUTHERFORD,
Bill Kostroun/ASSOCIATED PRESS
EAST RUTHERFORD
N.J. — Twenty-five years later,
Georgetown got even for a coach
named Thompson and a player
named Ewing.
In an NCAA tournament full of tremendous rallies, it was the Hoyas' turn — against North Carolina, of all teams.
Georgetown overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half, then ripped off 14 straight points in overtime to stun the top-seeded Tar Heels 96-84 in the East Regional final Sunday for their first trip to the Final Four since 1985, when the coach was John Thompson Jr. and the star was Patrick Ewing.
The Hovas (30-6) did it this time with coach John Thompson III calling the backdoor plays he learned at Princeton and Patrick Ewing Jr. making key contributions.
So this time, there would be no game-winning shot for the Tar Heels a la 1982, when freshman Michael Jordan's 17-foot jumper
They were helped by an amazing collapse from Carolina (31-7), which made only one of 23 field goal attempts, including its first 12 in overtime, during a 15-minute span.
The Tar Heels actually had a chance to win in regulation, but freshman Wayne Ellington missed an open jumper from the wing right before the buzzer. Ewing grabbed the rebound, prompting his pop to high-five everyone sitting near him in the stands.
with 17 seconds left ended one of the most thrilling games in college basketball history and lifted Carolina past Georgetown 63-62 for the national championship.
The Hoyas waited a long time to avenge that defeat. When they did, they celebrated. The Thompson became the first father-son duo to reach the Final Four, much less at the same school, and they enjoyed a huge embrace at courtside.
"You've been complaining about the bus being rickety, but the ride home is going to be good tonight." Thompson the father told his son.
"isn't it?" Thompson the son said.
The Hoyas will play Ohio State (34-3) in the national semifinals next Saturday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. UCLA takes on defending champion Florida in the other
game.
While the Hoyas celebrated, Carolina coach Roy Williams could only sit in disbelief. Tied at 81, he watched Georgetown score the first 14 points in overtime before Ty Lawson hit a meaningless 3 in the closing seconds.
The Tar Heels, the 2005 champions, had won seven straight regional finals. They seemed to be on their way this time, too, leading 69-58 with 12:22 to go.
Jeff Green led Georgetown with 22 points and freshman Daluan Summers added 20.
Tyler Hansbrough had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Tor Heals.
This was the fifth time that Carolina and Georgetown had played since that epic game at the New Orleans Superdome on March 29,1982.
DOLE LEADERSHIP PRIZE
2007 Recipient:
Senator Howard Baker
Free tickets are available at the Lied Center Kansas Union and Murphy Hall Box Offices.
Join the Dole Institute as it honors Sentor Howard Baker. Baker served three terms in the United State Senate and four years as Senate Majority Leader. He also served as President Reagan's Cheif of Staff and as U.S.Ambassador to Japan.
ROBERT J. DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
Sunday, April 22, 2007 7:30 PM | Lied Center
The University of Kansas
A Special Note: Tickets for "An Evening with Walter Mondale" are available now at the Dole Institute of Politics. "An Evening with Walter Mondale" is scheduled for Thursday, April 12, 2007.Limited tickets available for this event-get yours soon!
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