Sports
NCAA
Final Four.
San Antonio
2004
March Madness
The bracket for this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. PAGES 6B AND 7B
The University Daily Kansan
1B
Monday, March 15, 2004
Sprinter takes 1st in NCAA
"All of the odds were against him," Redwine said. "He did an exceptional job and I am really proud of him."
By Michael Phillips
mphillips@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After his victory Saturday, Bookman became the third Jayhawk ever to defend an NCAA indoor title. The last was Karl Salb in the 1969-71 shotput.
Kansas senior Leo Bookman won the NCAA indoor national championship Saturday after he ran the fastest 200-meter dash in the world this year.
Bookman defeated hometown favorite Tyson Gay at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., to clinch the championship. His time of 20.42 seconds is the fastest time in the world this year, according to the International Association of Athletics Federation.
The championship was Bookman's second indoor title in a row. Bookman won the NCAA indoor and outdoor 200-meter dash last year.
After the meet, Coach Stanley Redwine said Bookman's victory was impressive because it took place in Gay's hometown.
Bookman will now turn his attention to qualifying for the Olympics. He plans on redshirting for the rest of this year's track season to focus solely on that goal."
"I'm going to give my body time to rest." Bookman said, "and make sure I'm fresh and I'm peaking when the Olympic trials come."
Olympics that comes If Bookman qualifies for the Olympics he would still be eligible to run for Kansas during next year's spring season. Bookman, a senior, did not run track his first year at Kansas, originally coming to the University as a football player. Eventually he gave up the gridiron to concentrate on track.
Bookman faces a difficult task in qualifying for the Olympics. The time needed to make the U.S. Olympic team could be less than twenty seconds. Bookman's — and the world's best time this year was 20.42 seconds, but outdoor track times typically are faster than indoor times.
Bookman said he would continue to have the same attitude towards qualifying for the Olympic team as he has toward track this season at Kansas.
Bookman's next stop will be in Sacramento, Calif., for the U.S. Olympic trials.
"I hate losing," he said. "I'm a competitor, and all I want to do is win."
- Edited by Cindy Yeo
Preparing for madness
Kansas seeded fourth, will play in Kansas City, Mo.
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan Sportswriter
As fate often does, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee works in funny ways sometimes.
After the Jayhawks lost in Saturday's Big 12 Conference Tournament Semifinals to the Texas Longhorns, the chances of Kansas playing its opening round games in Kansas City's Kemper Arena and having a home-crowd atmosphere appeared slim. But apparently the Jayhawks had impressed the committee enough before the loss by winning 21 games with the nation's seventh toughest schedule to earn a four-seed and play in their backyard this Friday against University of Illinois-Chicago.
Coach Bill Self said there was some element of surprise present as the Jayhawks watched the selection show Sunday evening in Lew Perkins' suite at Memorial Stadium, but the shock has worn off.
"I was breaking it down this morning and I thought that looking at the RPI and the rankings and things like that, that we were right at that 15-16-17 team," Self said. "I wasn't shocked that we got a four-seed, but obviously it worked out nice that we were able to stay at home. But then again, it's more about matchups than where you play."
Looking at those matchups, Kansas has a tough road to travel in an attempt to make a third consecutive Final Four appearance. The Jayhawks' opening round opponent, the Horizon League champion UIC Flames, will come into the game as one of the nation's hottest teams, riding a 12-game winning streak. Self is 1-0 in his career against UIC and coach Jimmy Collins, having defeated the Flames in his first year at Illinois. Collins, a long-time assistant at Illinois before Self's arrival, knows the Kansas coach well, as they have crossed paths many times while recruiting in the Chicago area.
Should the Jayhawks get by the
Flames, they will face the winner of Friday's Providence and Pacific game. Pacific won the Big West conference tournament Saturday night, and the Providence Friars are a dark horse to make a run to the Final Four. Providence has won games against powers such as Syracuse, Illinois and Connecticut this season and boasts one of the nation's top forwards in Ryan Gomes, who averages 18.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Other teams in Kansas' region include SEC champ Kentucky, No. 14 Georgia Tech and No. 3 Gonzaga.
"It's a tough region," junior guard Aaron Miles said. "But every region has tough teams in it. You can't complain."
Kansas did not complain last season when it was stuck in a West Region that included national powers such as Duke and Arizona, and the Jayhawks prevailed. If Kansas is to leave its region triumphantly this
SEE MADNESS ON PAGE 5B
Coach Bill Self discussed the need for team focus during a press conference following yesterday's NCAA Tournament seeding. Self said playing in Kansas City, Mo., would be a mixed blessing.
Eric Braem/Kansan
Longhorns shut down Simien
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan Sports writer
DALLAS — Kansas junior guard Mike Lee was asked in the locker room if playing the opening rounds of this week's NCAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., mattered.
During the past two weeks, the topic has been discussed repeatedly. It was evident that the players were sick of hearing about it when junior forward Wayne Simien, dressing next to Lee, let out a rare sigh of disgust.
Kansas was more successful Friday night against Missouri. See story on page 8B.
Thankfully for the Jayhawks, they will stay close to home. Last night, the NCAA tournament's selection committee placed the Jayhawks in the Kansas City, Mo., sub-regional.
Where the team would play later this week was the furthest thing from the Jayhawks' minds following their 64-60 loss to Texas in the Big 12 Conference Tournament semifinals. Kansas' performance against Texas was completely different from the night before, when the Jayhawks whipped the Missouri Titers 94-69.
"A loss like this, it can deflate you, but we're tough enough to bounce back from it," junior guard Aaron Miles said. "We can't gonna let it mess with us at all."
SEE TEXAS ON PAGE 5B
Eric Braenv/Kansan
Kansas junior guard Aaron Miles and Texas' Brandon Mouton struggled for the ball in second-half action during the Jayhawks' 64-60 loss in the Big 12 Conference Tournament semifinals Saturday. Miles had two steals and nine points against the Longhorns.
Jayhawks take three games from Trojans
Teammates congratulated Kansas catcher Sean Richardson after he hit a home run in the third inning of yesterday's game against Arkansas-Little Rock. The game was the final in the three-game series. The Jayhawks defeated the Trojans 9-1 yesterday, 14-2 Saturday and 18-1 Friday.
Amonda Kim Stairrott/Kansar
By Shane Kucera
skucera@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
game series.
The Jayhawks' solid play led to a sweep of the Trojans at Hoglund Ballpark: 16-1, 14-2 and 9-1. The sweep moved the team to 18-8-1 on the season while Arkansas-Little Rock fell to 6-7.
The Kansas baseball team proved to be more than Arkansas-Little Rock could handle in this weekend's threegame series.
"This might be as good of a home stand as we've ever had," coach Ritch Price said. "That's about as good as we can play offensively."
Senior Ryan Knipschild (4-2) turned in an impressive performance on Friday, allowing only one run. Knipschild earned his fourth victory of the season.
He was followed by strong starts on Saturday and Sunday by juniors Clint Schambach (2-0) and Mike Zagurski
"This might be as good of a home stand as we've ever had. That's about as good as we can play offensively."
Ritch Price Baseball coach
At the plate, Kansas crushed the ball. Senior Matt Tribble, junior Travis Metcalf, and sophomore Ritchie Price all extended their hitting streaks over the weekend. Tribble's streak was extended to 17 games before a 0-for-3 day at the plate yesterday ended his hopes of breaking Kansas' all-time record of 20 consecutive games.
(3-0). Schambach pitched seven innings and allowed only two runs in his outing Saturday. Zagurski went only five innings in yesterday's game but struck out a career-high nine batters.
Tribble admitted the streak added
Sophomore Matt Baty continued to produce over the weekend. At the lead-off spot, Baty has reached base to start the game 19 out of his last 24 attempts.
Metcalf now has the team's longest current hitting streak at 14 games followed by Ritchie Price at 13.
The sweep of the Trojans is the second three-game sweep of the season for the Jayhawks.
extra pressure to each at bat.
excited presses so to tell him,
"It's hard not to think about," said
Tribble. "All day I was thinking about
it."
Kansas is currently in five-game winning streak and ends its 12-game home stand with an 11-1 record.
Kansas will travel to Tulsa, Okla., Tuesday to face Oral Roberts. Freshman Sean Land and junior Scott Sharpe are probable pitchers for the game.
— Edited by Stephanie Lovett
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM