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2B SPORTS
--and it's nice to know that there's a commitment to bringing in competition that's worth keeping around," he said. "The thought of bringing the meet back to where it's been in the past, and for me to be able to be a part of that history, that means a lot to me."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
RELAYS (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Junior hurdler Ashley Brown agreed.
"My dad ran track at Nebraska and said the Kansas Relays was one of the best meets he went to and it kind of fell away from that for a
while" she said, "and if we can get it back to where it was I think that would be great."
Steffens said athletes from smaller schools in Kansas such as Fort Hays State, Wichita State, and many community colleges would still have athletes in the events, but that some of their spots would be taken by athletes from around the country. He said events had minimum marks that had to be met in order to quality. He said the events that typically fielded the most entrants were sprints and
Although some athletes expressed excitement about the change, Nick Squier, Lawrence junior, said the hype surrounding big-name athletes featured in past Gold Zone events brought in many of the casual track fans that attended the Relays.
jumps.
"People that just tune in to track every four years for the Olympics might not be as interested, but as a former runner I think it'll be better in the long run," he said. "The college athletes are going to be the
future Olympic athletes anyways."
Behind the scenes of the meet, nearly forty student volunteers work for the relays committee to find sponsors, market the meet, promote it on campus and organize special events.
Kristen Rash, Lee's Summit, Mo.
jon junior heads the special events subcommittee, which will organize a family fun zone and a 50 meter dash for kids to attract families to the meet. She said she met monthly with the committee throughout the year
and much more often as the relays approached.
The Kansas Relays will be held from April 18-21 at Memorial Stadium and will feature high school, college and professional athletes. Admission is free for students with a KUID.
Kansan staff writer Kyle Carter can be contacted at kcarter@kansan. com.
Edited by Ryan Schneider
SWIMMING Kansas adds to schedule to help team qualify
In an effort to garner more qualifiers to the upcoming NCAA Championships, the Kansas swimming and diving program announced it has added an additional meet to its schedule. The Last Ditch Qualifier will be held Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
Last week, Kansas finished third at the Big 12 Championships.
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
But unfortunately for the layhawks and the Bison, the infield is completely saturated.
"You just can't run on it." Price said. "It's like in running up."
Running in mud is no good for the health of the athletes or the field, so Price and the Kansas Athletics Department had no choice but to cancel on Tuesday.
As for the series, Price has calls out to every playing facility in the county in hopes to play at least two games of the series before the lajwahys leave for Palo Alto, Calif. for a weekend series against Stanford (4-5).
Kansan staff report
Because the team takes off on
Thursday night, Price said that today would basically be the only option for getting games in with North Dakota State.
In the meantime, the Bison have been in Lawrence for the past week preparing for a series that may not even happen. Gracious for North Dakota's patience, Kansas has allowed its opponents time in both the outfield and the indoor hitting facility each day.
"They want to play just as bad as we do." Price said. "They've been first class about the whole thing."
February at home would be a roll of the dice. However, he had tracked the weather of the four years he had been here and discovered that three of the four years the weather was acceptable to play.
Before the season started in Hawaii, Price said opening in early
Using this research, Price took the gamble and set the Jayhawks' first home series for Feb. 9-11. That series was moved to the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Kansan sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@ kansan.com.
Edited by Ryan Schneider
athletics calendar
TODAY
Baseball vs. North Dakota State. 3 p.m. Hoolund Ballpark
Women's basketball vs. Oklahoma, 7 p.m. Allen Fieldhouse
FRIDAY
Track at Big 12 Indoor Championships. All day Ames, Iowa
Baseball vs. Stanford, 7 p.m.
Palo Alto, Calif.
SATURDAY
Softball vs. Kent State, 1 p.m.
Louisville, Kv.
Softball vs. Louisville, 3 p.m.
Louisville, Ky.
Track at Big 12 Indoor Championships, All day, Armes, Iowa
Swimming and diving at Last Ditch Qualifier, All day, Columbus, Ohio
Women's golf at FSU Chrysler Challenge. All dav. Destin. Fla.
Palo Alto, Calif.
Men's basketball vs. Iowa State, 5 p.m. Alien Fieldhouse
Softball vs. Iowa, Noon,
Louisville, Ky.
- Women's basketball vs.
Colorado, 8 p.m. Boulder, Colo
Baseball vs. Stanford, 3 p.m.
SUNDAY
Women's golf at FSU Chrysler Challenge, All day, Destin, Fla.
Baseball vs. Stanford, 1 p.m.
Palo Alto, Calif.
Softball vs. TBA, TBA, Louisville, Ky.
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Monday, February 26th
12:30-1:30pm
Walnut Room. 6th Floor, Kansas Union
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>> COMMENTARY
Go-to guy changes every game despite criticism
Listen to any national talking-head discuss the Kansas basketball team and they will tell you the thing keeping the lahawks from a national championship is the lack of a "go-to guy." Someone to carry the team offensively night in and night out, someone the team can give the ball to when they need a hoop.
What they don't see is that Kansas has someone different playing this role every single game.
BY KAYVON SARRAF
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
KSARRAF@KANSAN.COM
Look no further than Monday's win at Kansas State. Sophomore guard Brandon Rush, who carried the Jayhawks early in the 97-70 beat down of the Wildcats on Feb. 7, could not hit a shot and was saddled with three first half fouls. Enter sophomore guard Mario Chalmers, whose 12 points kept Kansas in the game when any offense was tough to find. Chalmers had scored in double figures in only three of the Jayhawks past 10 games.
In the second half, Chalmers handed the keys to freshman guard Sherron Collins, who teamed with freshman Darrell Arthur to handle
the bulk of the second-half scoring, Collins, Chalmers and Arthur along with Rush, Julian Wright and Sasha Kaun give Kansas six legitimate options to carry the scoring load on any given night. Not many teams in the country can claim that.
The precocious Collins is emerging as the man who wants the ball at crunch time. After perhaps being rattled early against Kansas State, Collins hit the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer just seconds after a Lance Koehler three tied the game at 43. The shot sparked a 16-4 run.
Collins' fearlessness on the biggest stage, such as nationally televised games against Missouri and Texas A&M, suggest that he wants to
be the one to carry Bill Self's bunch through the rough stretches of play. In addition to being the team's best three-point shooter, he is the only one who can get to the rim at will. How the little man is able to finish some of his drives to the hoop is beyond me, but more power to him.
Kansas is likely to see a game similar to Monday's in Manhattan when the NCAA tournament rolls around. K State did a good job of playing an active zone defense and making the game as ugly as possible. The lajhawks will need to hit some outside shots, so we'll likely see either Collins, Chalmers or Rush forced to carry the load.
As Saturday's game rolls around, there's no telling who could be the Jayhawks' offensive leader. But considering the opponent is Iowa State, don't be surprised if Brad Witherspoon is again the game's biggest highlight.
Sarraf is a Lawrence senior in journalism.
- Edited by James Pinick
>> BASEBALL CONTROVERSY
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Barry Bonds had a message for the grand jury: Go ahead, investigate me.
BY JANIE MCCAULEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
After arriving at spring training Tuesday, more fit than in recent years following a productive winter of conditioning, the slugger insisted he's unfired by all his off the-field issues and is ready to resume his pursuit of the home run record.
Bonds bats away steroid claims
"Let them investigate. Let them, they've been doing it this long." Bonds said Tuesday after his first workout this year with the San Francisco Giants.
When Bonds showed up, he waved twice to the swarm of people waiting to see him make his entrance, then quickly headed into Scottsdale Stadium to get to work.
Noticeably absent were his two personal trainers, Greg Oliver and Harvey Shields, who no longer can be with the slugger at the ballpark. Bonds, who spent the weekend in Las Vegas for the NBA All-Star game, was flanked by his two publicists and
Bonds took part in a team meeting before walking to the field for the Giants' first full-squad workout
a Major League Baseball security guard assigned to him.
—and he took a big bow for the horde of cameras. He re-emerged later in the morning to start his routine and waved his batting helmet to fans in the bleachers, carrying two bats in his right hand.
He shagged fly balls and hit five home runs in batting practice, including a shot to the berm in right-center on a fastball from No. 2 starter Matt Cain. That was enough to impress new skipper Bruce Bochy, who saw Bonds do his share of damage against his old team, the Padres. Bonds has hit more homers against San Diego than any other team.
Bonds was mostly business — with a little fun mixed in — once he got on the field.
He still could be indicted if a federal grand jury determines that he perjured himself when testifying in 2003 in the BALCO steroid distribution case that he hadn't knowingly taken performance-enhancing
drugs. Bonds, who has long denied ever using steroids, said his level of concern about the investigation is "none."
Last month, the New York Daily News reported that Bonds failed an amphetamines test last season and then attributed it to a substance he took from teammate Mark Sweeney's locker. Bonds publicly apologized to Sweeney at the time, then stretched alongside him and Ray Durham on the first day of workouts.
"I did not blame Mark Sweeney," Bonds said Tuesday, noting he apologized only "because you guys just started talking about it and I just thought it was unfair for him to be accused of something that wasn't true."
He begins his 22nd major league season, and 15th with San Francisco, needing only 22 home runs to break Hank Aaron's career record of 755. Bonds isn't about to make predictions, but said he won't stop once he catches Hammerin' Hank.
"I said I'm playing till I'm 100 — you guys get used to me," Bonds said.