SPORTS / MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
CROSS COUNTRY
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The KU women's team leads the pack at the start of the Bob Timmons Invitational meet last season at Rim Rock Farm. The team finished with a first place victory. The Jayhawks will run the race again on Sept. 4 in their first competition of the season.
Jayhawk runners will balance class with two-a-days
BY LAUREN NEWMAN Inewman@kansan.com
The cross country team was recognized last spring for the achievement of a high academic progress rate, among the nation's top 10 percent. To continue this upbeat motivation, assistant coach Michael Whittlesey has encouraged the teams to remember their first priority is always academics. To maintain good grades the coaches require progress reports
from each runner in order to keep the team on the right path.
en's team. These three women give confidence to the entire team and continuously support one another.
Without alumna Lauren Bonds, a leader on the team, Whittlesey still said the strong connections and leadership Bonds left will continue throughout the team. The women's team has 15 returning runners and eight new competitors. Senior Amanda Miller, junior Rebeka Stowe, and sophomore Allie Marquis, in previous seasons, proved themselves to be outstanding leaders on the wom-
The inspiration for the men's team comes from several key runners, especially junior Donny Wasinger, who finished first in all six meets last season. This summer, Wasinger focused on building his stamina and would frequently visit with Whittlesey about the upcoming season. Other runners like senior Nick Caprario and
juniors Austin Bussing and Zach Zarda are also strong contenders for the first meet. In addition to these runners, the men's side will welcome back eight runners from last season along with 12 new faces.
The approaching cross country season looks promising to the coaches for several reasons. Whittlesey and head coach Stanley Redwine are hopeful because the success of last year's track season inspired each runner to set individual goals. Runners who participated in the Spring 2010 track and field season proved themselves to be tough competitors. Their success sets the bar high for the upcoming cross country season and encourages the whole team to strive to do its best.
The runners reported to campus Sunday and practice officially starts Tuesday. The team will start off with two-a-day practices in order to set the tone for the season and new runners. The first meet is
the Bob Timmons Classic Sept. 4.
"The first couple weeks of practice are pretty tough," Redwine said in a release. "It will be two-a-days. I am not trying to kill them by any means because the season gets really long. We will be teaching the newcomers to understand our ways."
Edited by Alex Tretbar
SWIMMING & DIVING
Experience will lead team's success
After a second-half surge and a fourth-place finish in the Big 12 Championship, the 2009- 2010 Kansas swimming and diving team ended the year with a 33rd place finish in nationals, finishing with 18 points.
Coach Clark Campbell said he looked to build on that late success this year. Honorable Mention All-American Julia Kuzhil will return for one final season as a Jayhawk. The Cherkasy, Ukraine native finished ninth in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events at the NCAA Championships.
athlete on the team. Bunting was also named one of this year's captains, joining junior Abigail Anderson and senior Brittany Potter.
After the annual alumni and intrasquad meets on Sept. 24 and Oct. 8, the team heads to Tuscon, Ariz. to compete against the powerhouse University of Arizona Wildcats in the Arizona Triple Duals, which will be held Oct. 15 and 16.
Kuzhil will be joined by senior Joy Bunting, a three-time winner of the Karen Dionne award, given by the coaching staff to the most inspirational
The team's first home meet puts Kansas against Drury and North Dakota, set for Nov. 13.
NFL
Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley argues with referees Doug Rosenbaum and Carl Paganelli during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Atlanta Falcons Friday in Atlanta. Atlanta won 20-10.
-Kory Carpenter
After picking back up in Florida for the Orange Bowl Classic Jan. 4, the team competes throughout February leading up to the Big 12 Championship Feb. 23-26 and culminating with the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas March 17-19.
Chiefs fall to Falcons in bland opener
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Matt Ryan played two decent series. Matt Cassel played four average ones.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Both quarterbacks lacked solid protection in the preseason opener, but Ryan's Falcons got better play from their rookie reserves in Atlanta's 20-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night.
Dexter McCluster, a second-round pick, made a few dazzling moves as a tailback and a slot receiver for Kansas City. But Dimitri Nance and Shann Schillinger helped put the Falcons ahead to stay early in the third quarter.
Nance, an undrafted rookie free agent from Arizona State, ran for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 10-3. Schillinger, a sixth-round cornerback, set up the score by picking off Brodie Croyle's throw and returning it 29 yards.
Kansas City safety Eric Berry, the
Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop twice tried field goals from 53, hitting the left upright and missing wide right. His 20-yarder with 2 seconds left before halftime made it 3-3.
Haley started Thomas Jones ahead of Jamaal Charles at running back. Jones played one series, gaining 2 yards, before Charles played the rest of the first quarter and into the second, running five times for 33 yards.
22. He needed only limited space to run past the first level of Atlanta's defense and into the open field.
Croyle was 8 of 16 for 65 yards. Third-string Chiefs QB Tyler Palko completed 7 of 10 passes for 62 yards, but Falcons cornerback Chevis Jackson picked him off and ran the ball back 26 yards to set up Steve Hauschka's 37-yard field goal and a 20-3 lead.
Lofton, the heart of Atlanta's defense, limped off the field before halftime, but Falcons officials said he only had a leg cramp.
No. 5 overall pick, was credited with one tackle.
The Chiefs had a winless preseason in 2009, then no victories in the first five weeks of the regular season. They finished 4-12 under first-year coach Todd Haley.
Nine plays into his third drive, Cassel was sacked by middle linebacker Curtis Lofton for a 6-yard loss.
Atlanta is coming off a 9-7 season that ended a 44-year franchise history of never achieving consecutive winning records.
The first half was a dud despite McCluster's speedy bursts and a few timely defensive plays by the Falcons.
Five of the first eight drives ended with field-goal attempts. Matt Bryan's 30-yarder on Atlanta's first possession made it 3-0, but the next four tries all missed from 50 yards or more.
Falcons running back Michael Turner, a 2008 Pro Bowl selection trying to come back from an ankle injury last year, gained 29 yards on
McCluster, a second-round pick from Mississippi, ran five times for 25 yards and caught three passes for
Cassel, who completed 6 of 8 passes for 25 yards, suffered from worse protection.
Palko ran for a 1-yard TD in the final minute.
After a three-and-out, Cassel's second drive ended with Kroy Biermann's sack and John Abraham's fumble recovery.
four carries.
Ryan, whose final month of '09 was affected by a turf toe injury, connected on a pair of third-and-long completions to tight end Tony Gonzalez, for 16 and 12 yards. He otherwise went 1 of 4 for 6 yards.
EVENT
Boathouse Club hosts Gale Sayers
WICHITA — The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame plans a series of speakers and entertainers at its newly formed Boathouse Club in
The kickoff gala will feature National Football League great Gale Sayers as its first speaker on Aug. 30. The Wichita native known as "the Kansas comet" starred at the University of Kansas before going on to a Hall of Fame career as a running back with the Chicago
Wichita.
Bears.
Kansas Hall board director Tim Daniel says the board wants the Boathouse Club to be like a private country club for sports junkies.
- Associated Press