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the university daily kansan
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wednesday, february 4, 2004
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SWIMMERS: Hard practices propel team members to personal bests
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with one meet to go before the Big 12 Championships. Last season the team finished 7-6 and fourth in the Big 12. Only one Jayhawk swimmer qualified for the NCAA Championships. This season at least two individuals and more than one relay team have a realistic shot at qualifying.
Jeff Brandsted/Kansan
Campbell's team practices six days a week and, on most days, two times a day. Wednesday is the swimmers' third-straight day of having double practices, the day they are the most tired.
The strict regimen doesn't relent when the swimmers have a meet. Campbell's practice routines remain consistent no matter what meet is coming up.
In its last dual meet, Kansas had an early morning practice before traveling to Ames, Iowa, to race. Then the team got back on the bus to travel to Minneapolis, Minn., to race the next day. Kansas won only the first meet, but Campbell said he didn't put much stock in dual meets. The team members are learning how to push themselves when they are exhausted.
"If you didn't swim tired, you wouldn't swim well at the end of the season," senior Maegan Himes said. "It just wouldn't happen."
Campbell's strategy — learning to race tired — is working for the team. The team usually races its team.
Amy Gruber, Bigelow, Ark., junior, took a break between laps during last week's swimming practice at Robinson Natatorium. The Jayhawks are gearing up for their dual with Arkansas on Saturday.
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best on the last day of meets, senior co-captain Kristen Johnson said.
Bolin, is a transfer from Evansville who qualified for the NCAA Championships her junior season while still at the Indianabased school.
"We just really rise to every challenge that we're given," she said.
Kansas will rely heavily on this fivesome when it heats into its final dual meet of the season, Saturday, Feb. 7 against Arkansas. This will be the team's final meet before the event Campbell has been preparing his team for all season: the Big 12 Championships.
Kansas surprised many, including itself, when it knocked off two ranked teams and won the Minnesota Invitational at the end of November.
Four of Kansas' relav teams also rank in the top 20. The 200-yard medley is 15th, the 400-yard freestyle is 16th, the 400-yard medley is 17th and the 200-yard freestyle is 19th. Almost everyone on the team has hit in-season best times, Campbell said.
"As a whole, we are just swimming so much faster in practice, and it's really showing in meets," Sondall said.
Johnson, who holds the second fastest time in KU history in the 100-yard breaststroke, also is showing steady improvement. Another senior, Ashley Dower, is recovering from shoulder surgery but has stepped up her racing, Campbell said.
The team's improvement this season is built on a solid foundation of individual success. Five Jayhawk swimmers were ranked in the nation's top 50 times as of last Wednesday, according to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Senior co-captain Whitney Sondall's time in the 100-yard backstroke ranks 22nd, which is the highest of the team's rankings.
The senior is having the best season of her KU career and is closing in on the Kansas record in the 100-yard backstroke. Her current best time of 55.52 is six-tenths off the record.
Sondall is poised to do well at the Big 12 Championships and get an invitation to the NCAA Championships, Campbell said.
Although the team is young with 10 sophomores and 13 freshmen, its five seniors are leading the charge to the Big 12 Championships.
Himes, one of Campbell's most versatile swimmers, has the team's top individual medley times this season.
The Big 12 Championships start on Feb.25, which, of course, is a Wednesday.
The last of the five seniors. Kim
BASKETBALL: Women face first road game after coach took leave
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— Edited by Meghan Brune
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Tonight's game will be the first road test for Kansas since Washington took a leave of absence. Texas Tech also will present an opportunity for Kansas to play in front of a packed house.
The Texas Tech women average about 12,000 fans per game, three times more than the Texas Tech men's squad and 10 times the number the Kansas women typically play in front of at Allen
Fieldhouse.
Woodard said the atmosphere would be tough, but also said there were benefits to playing in front of a large crowd.
"It's awesome for women to be able to play in that environment," she said. "The sport has come such a long way."
Texas Tech is the fifth ranked team in the Big 12. All three of its losses were during conference play, including a double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State.
Saturday the Kansas women will travel to Lincoln, Neb., to play a team that as recently as last week was ranked in the Top 25.
The Cornhuskers (14-5, 4-4 Big 12) have been the biggest surprise of the season. Picked by the media to finish last in the conference, now the Nebraska women rank sixth in the latest Associated Press poll.
Woodard, however, said she is locked in on the game against Texas Tech tonight.
No changes are expected in tonight's lineup. Woodard said during the conference call that she planned on sticking with the starting five players Washington was using before her leave of absence.
Both games this week are at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
"We can only take this one game,one step at a time."
Edited by Robert Perkins
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