THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY JANUARY 26 2007
SPORTS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26. 2007
7B
WIN (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
was forward Kelsey Griffin. She had 18 points and 13 rebounds. If the lajayhawks' front court plays like it did Wednesday though, Griffin won't find it as easy to operate in the low post.
Freshman forward Porscha Weddington pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, which led Kansas to out-rebound Kansas State 54-21. Out of those 54, 19 of them were offensive boards. Henrickson thinks one of the keys to winning will be converting those offensive rebounds into points.
Edited by Will McCullough
Kansan sportswriter Case Keefer can be contacted at ckeefer@ kansan.com.
Henrickson is pleased with her team's efforts thus far. She's confident that as long as they minimize their mistakes, they will have a chance to win.
"We're going to get one," she said. "We're playing hard enough and competing."
DAVISON (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
spread) and Nebraska (21 point spread).
Kansas, on the other hand, is coming off a win at Baylor on Wednesday. Julian Wright played out of his mindtypebasketballlike most Jayhawk fans were expecting the entire season. Brandon Rush actually attacked the rim and led Kansas in scoring. If the Jayhawks are on like they were Wednesday, Saturday's game should be over by
the 10 minute mark in the first half
So, the bottom line, tomorrow the Big 12 favorites, Kansas, should win by at least 30 points to the Big 12 laughing-stock, Colorado, 87-52.
Davison is an Overland Park senior in journalism.
》 ON THE ICE
Edited by Kelly Lanigan
Olympic skater seeks championship title
BY NANCY ARMOUR ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. — One more night like this, and Kinnie Meissner should have a national title to go with her world championship.
Meissner skated a short program Thursday night that was enough to give her the early lead in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. There were still 11 skaters to go, but her main competition of Emily Hughes had already skated.
"I heard the crowd's reaction, so I knew (Emily) skated good. More
competition," said Meissner.
Meissner's score of 65.69 points gave her a comfortable lead over Hughes.
Most skaters win a national title before a world championship. But not Meissner. In one of the biggest surprises ever at the world championships, Meissner beat Fumie Suguri and Sasha Cohen.
"The national title would be great," Meissner said. "In the United States, that's the big thing. I've always been going for that. I'd be happy with that. Now the short's over with, one more step."
Juniors outnumber seniors 3-to-1
》 BASEBALL
Younger players become leaders after losing many to graduation, MLB draft
BY ALISSA BAUER
As irony would have it, the layhawks that returned eight seniors to its roster last season bring back half that amount in 2007. While Kansas was overloaded with seniors last spring, the team's senior leadership took a sizable cut this year.
Now just six days away from opening their season in Hawaii, the Jayhawk juniors and seniors are swapping roles. Where the most playing experience generally falls on the side of the senior, in 2007, junior is the new senior.
“你 almost forced into being comfortable with it,” junior shortstop Erik Morrison said of the junior leadership role. “Because if you uncomfortable with it, things aren't going to go smoothly, so 1 kind of take it as my turn to do whatever I can for this team.”
The 13 juniors on Kansas roster more than triple the four layhawks back for their senior season. The caliber of senior talent on last year's
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
squad developed over years of competing at the Division I level. In turn, this made playing time difficult to come by for the crew of 2007 seniors.
Ryotaro Hayakawa, Ross Kelling, Kyle Murphy and Dylan Parzyk make up this
Of the three position players,
Murphy saw a lot of playing time.
He often filled in at center field while
former layhawk Matt Batt recovered
from injury. He started 22 times.
native is the only Jayhawk senior to have spent his entire collegiate career at Kansas.
Parzyk and sophomore catcher Buck Afnir split playing time for the first part of the season. In the latter half, coach Ritch Price stuck with Afnir, who had found a groove at the plate. Parzyk saw the most starts with 27 games behind the plate. He had 81 at bats.
Kelling started one game and finished 2006 with 12 official at bats, racking up a .417 batting average.
Even when combining all three of the 2007 senior position players' playing time, they totalled just 191 at bats and started no more than half of the jayhawks' 68 games. Three of the four starting juniors, which include Simpson, Morrison and Allman, individually collected more than the seniors' combined number of at bats.
A Kansas baseball player holds off on an incoming pitch. As the layhawks prepare for their season opener less than a week away, much of the guidance has come from the 13-strong junior class.
Junior College Transfers
"Our whole core of juniors is
Zach Ashwood, junior pitcher
Andres Esquibel, junior
pitcher
year's group of seniors. All four generated playing time in 2006, but not the amount typically expected.
Hayakawa, the only pitcher of the group, earned a 0-0 record in 2006. He did appear 20 times on the mound, but that amounted to just 20 innings pitched. The Narita, Japan,
Hiaril Garcia, junior pictcher
Joe Servais, junior catcher
Joe Southers, junior catcher
Casey Larson, junior outfielder
great," junior outfielder John Allman said. "We've been playing together for the past three years now and we really mesh well. We have a good team — a lot of guys with a lot of talent. Those seniors are going to have to step up and
fill roles, too. We're going to have to count on everyone this year since we lost so many guys."
Allman, Morrison and junior second baseman Ryne Price lead the group of what coach Price calls impact players. These players are expected to take the reigns of this
Hitting over .350 with runners in scoring position last year, Allman's 52 RBI tied Morrison for the most of any returning starter.
"We've gelled together real well. It's a real close knit team," Morrison said. "I think with keeping everybody close with the older guys allows the younger guys to feel more confident to where they can almost step up and start their season as a sophomore already. They've already worked their freshman kinks out."
Although Ryne Price started 28 games last season because of a wrist injury, the junior still managed nine home runs and a spot on the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team.
Junior outfielder Brock Simpson used a season of unpredictable starts to ready himself for leadership.
Simpson saw time in 61 games and started 47 times. He answered
when called upon and finished last season hitting 293 and led his team in triples (6).
But Casey Larson, a junior college transfer, along with the rest of the enormous junior class, doesn't worry about who will lead the team. Although the juniors outnumber all the classes, and the seniors more than three-to-one, every Jayhawk knows that true team leadership can come from anywhere.
"I think everyone's pretty much a leader on this team, no matter what year they are." Larson said. "A lot of the guys see what the older guys do and try to follow their ways. To me that's leadership: paving a road for other people to follow."
Kanss sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kanss.com.
- Edited by Will McCullough
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP
Duke women continue win streak State pulls off only upset in Top 25 play by defeating Michigan State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Alison Bales scored 15 points and Carrem Gay added 14 to help top-ranked Duke remain undefeated with a 73-60 victory over Florida State on Thursday night.
The 6-foot-7 Bales also had nine rebounds, and Gay scored 12 first-half points to give the Blue Devils a 36-28 lead at the break.
Duke (21-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) showed no signs of a letdown after Monday's 74-70 win at fourth-ranked Tennessee, pulling away from the Seminoles late in the first half. The Blue Devils and North Carolina are tied for the ACC lead.
Alicia Gladden led the Seminoles (15-5, 4-1) with 17 points and Britany Miller added 14.
CLEMSON, S.C. — Kristi Toliver had 20 points and went 6-for-6 on 3-pointers to lead Maryland to its sixth straight victory over Clemson.
No. 3 Maryland 76, Clemson 62
Moremi Davis had 10 points to lead Clemson (9-12, 1-5), which has lost its past five games.
Crystal Langhorne added 17 points and Marissa Coleman scored 15 for Maryland (21-1, 5-1 ACC), which is off to its best start in school history.
Carla Thomas led the Commodores (17-3,4-1) with 16 points.
Duke's Alison Bales, center, drives against Florida State's Britany Miller as Duke went on to win, 73-60 on Thursday, in Tallahassee. Fla. Duke remains undefeated.
AP Photo/Steve Cannon
Candace Parker added 19 points and Alexis Hornbuckle had 11 for Tennessee (18-2, 5-0 Southeastern Conference), which avoided a hangover coming off Monday night's 74-70 loss to top-ranked Duke.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sidney Spencer scored a career-high 26 points, and Tennessee handed Vanderbilt its first home loss this season.
No. 4 Tennessee 67, No. 15
Vanderbilt 57
No. 5 Ohio St. 72, Indiana 62
Star Allen added 16 points for Ohio State (18-1, 7-0 Big Ten), which clinched the school's best start, exceeding the previous mark of 17-1 in 1973-74 on the way to an 18-2 season.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Brandie Hoskins scored 19 points and seemed to make all the clutch baskets Ohio State needed to hold off Indiana.
Sarah McKay had 16 points and Leah Enterline had 12 for the Hoosiers (13-8, 2-6).
No. 8 LSU 70, Arkansas 53
BATON ROUGE, La. — Sylvia Fowles had 13 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, giving LSU an advantage inside in its victory over Arkansas.
Quiana Chaney scored 15 and Ashley Thomas 11 for the Lady Tigers (19-2, 5-1 SEC), who have won four straight and 14 of their last 15 games.
Katie Gearlds scored 14 points and Lakisha Freeman added 10 for the Boilermakers (19-3, 8-0 Big Ten).
Lauren Ervin scored 16 for Arkansas (18-4, 3-3), which lost for the first time in four games. Donica Cosby added 15.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Lindsay Wisdom-Hytton scored 17 points and Erin Lawless had 11 points and 11 rebounds in Purdue's victory over Northwestern.
Nadia Bibbs ed Northwestern (6-15, 0-8) with 15 points.
No. 12 Purdue 72,
Northwest 30
No. 14 Georgia 69, No. 22 Mississippi 60
ATHENS, Ga. — Tasha
Georgia (17-4, 4-2) led 53-4 lead with 4:42 to play when Humphrey scored 12 consecutive points to build a 65-55 lead with 39 seconds left. Megan Darrrah added 16 points.
Humphrey had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and Georgia handed Mississippi its first SEC loss.
Ashley Akwward led Ole Miss (16-5, 5-1) with 15 points, and Arminie Price added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Penn State 69, No.23 Michigan State 58
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Amanda Brown scored 27 points and Kam Gissondanner added 16 to lead Penn State past Michigan State for the Nittany Lions' first victory over a ranked opponent since December 2005.
Brown scored 17 points during a 9-minute stretch in the first half, helping the Lady Lions (10-11, 3-5 Big Ten) to a 36-29 halftime lead. Brianne O'Rourke added a season-high 15 points.
Aisha Jefferson led Michigan
State (15-5, 6-2) with 15 points.
NCAA FOOTBALL
BY BRETT TINDER
DAILY TARGUM
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Rutgers faithful aren't the only ones sky high after the football team's recent success.
Nine assistant football coaches are receiving hefty raises, many of which are double-digit percentage increases.
The pay raises come as the University is forced to cancel 450 course selections and layoff 825 employees as they crumbles to cover an $80 million shortfall in funding.
The full-time assistant coaches, many of whom already earn six-figure salaries, are receiving the raises as the team comes off of its historic 11-2 season and first-ever bowl game win.
Recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach Joseph Susan saw an increase of 15 percent to $144,000.
Offensive coordinator Craig Very Steege got a raise of $13,400, bringing his pay to $185,000. Assistant offensive coordinator John McNulty got a pay hike of nearly $30,000.
Each coach was also awarded one month's pay and another $7,200 car stipend.
According to Rutgers athletics department policy, employees' salary adjustments are based on performance. Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications John Wooding said.
"We are being competitive in the market place we are in," Wooding said.
Not all Rutgers sports teams are so lucky.
Even with the team's recent success, the program has a way to go before it can break even. It generally takes consistent winning seasons for a program to turn a profit, but Athletic Director Robert E. Mulcahy III hopes with increased ticket revenues the team can be self-sustaining as early as next year. Season-ticket sales for football have already doubled.
In addition to the academic
and administrative cutbacks, the University cut six Olympic sports teams, a move that will save an estimated $800,000.
Glemm Pantel, a member of Save Our Sports, says his organization has always been supportive of the football team, but wants to see funding more evenly distributed.
"The student-athletes on the eliminated teams are, by virtue of their stellar athletic and academic records, similarly deserving of such respect from the athletic department and the University's Board of Governors."
The University increased the football team's budget to $13 million and has no plans to reinstate the six sports that will be phased down to the club level by the end of this academic year.
Mulcahy said the pay raises and the six cut sports are unrelated.
"The decision to transition six sports into club status stands," he said.
Advocates of saving the sports, though, continue their efforts.
In late November, SOS members offered to donate $400,000 to cover the program's costs for the upcoming season, but were turned down by the athletic department and BOG. The coalition has since raised more than $655,000.
The group also garnered the support of BOG member George R. Zoffinger, who issued a statement in December urging the University to reinstate the sports.
Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan, D-South Plainfield, who serves as chairman of the Assembly Committee Higher Education, drafted a nonbinding resolution late last year that expressed the same sentiment. The committee passed the resolution.
Wooding declined to say whether the athletic department is still in contact with the group.
University officials said the football team's budget had to be increased this year to compensate for rising costs of utilities and travel.