8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SWIMMING & DIVING
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
Diving invitational to house impressive competition
Kansas is in Houston to compete in first full invite of season
BY CHRISTIAN LUCERO clycerocookies.com
clucero@kansan.com
The swimming and diving program enjoyed an exciting week in Lawrence. After Kansas announced the signing of nine highly decorated recruits to the swimming team, the divers will look to carry the excitement to Houston for the Cougar Classic Fall Show.
Eric Elliott said he was not only excited about the meet;he was talking about practice, too.
Diving coach
"This first fall invite is our first dive against a lot of really good competition," Elliott said. "The
other great part is the diving time: they have a great pool here with a meet that helps us train and compete at the same time."
Senior captain Meg Proehl won
the big 12 Diver of the Week award back in October and hasn't let up, winning events in the past two duals. But even she's impressed with the competition this weekend.
"I think this weekend will be really exciting; it's our first chance to compete with really fantastic girls all at once," Proehl said. "There's a girl on the Houston team who's a Russian
Olympian. It definitely helps all of us to compete against this caliber of competition."
"It definitely helps all of us to compete against this caliber of competition."
"They have a great pool here with a meet that helps us train and compete at the same time."
ERIC ELLIOTT Diving coach
mentioned the format of the tournament as preparation for later in the season.
"The way this is set up will help us prepare for conference," Proehl
Elliott said. "We know Allison can be much more consistent and this will be new for Christy so this will be good for both of them."
Elliott said he also expected two other divers, Christy Cash, Lenexa freshman, and Allison Ho, Topeka senior, to compete for wins in Houston.
MEH PROEHL Senior captain
"Christy and Allison have a shot of making the final."
Both Proehl and Elliott
said.
Kansas will compete against a large field including Texas A&M, Louisiana State University. University of Nevada. Las Vegas and Air Force. The meet starts today with the finals scheduled for Sunday.
"This weekend will help the girls get the routine down that we'll go through at conference," Elliott said. "This is a good travel trip and the girls will get a chance to bond, study and just spend a lot of time together."
SWIMMING TEAM SIGNINGS
Swimming coach Clark Campbell is excited about the nine recruits who signed letters of intent to compete for Kansas next year.
"We're extremely pleased. We got some really good student athletes with a lot of potential to
THE FUTURE JAYHAWKS:
Heather Clark
(Lawrence)
Shelby Cox
(Maumelle, Ark.).
Malia Johnson
(Scottsdale, Ariz.).
Alison Moffit
(Flower Mound, Texas).
Kaila Lee
(Eugene, Ore.).
Alison Lusk
(Chattanooga, Tenn.).
Sara Snow
(Springfield, Mo.).
Morgan Sharp
(Houston, Texas).
Kara Stranski
(Portland, Ore.)
make a lot of noise." Campbell said. "There's a mixed bag: some will make an immediate impact and others will take a year or two to develop. But within two years, this class will all be movers and shakers in the Big 12 and NCAA."
- Christian Lucero
Edited by Jonathan Hermes
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Senior diver Allison Ho completes a full revolution before entering the water. He competed during the dual meet with the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
NCAA BASKETBALL Villanova edges out George Mason by point
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Freshman Isaiah Armwood hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying No. 5 Villanova past George Mason 69-68 Thursday in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Armwood won it for the Wildcats (3-0) with his only shot of the game. He played just four minutes and came off the bench after Antonio Pena and Taylor King both fouled out.
George Mason (2-1) led by 13 points in the first half. The
Patriots never trailed until late in the second half, but didn't get off a shot after Armwood's basket.
Scottie Reynolds scored 18 points and Corey Fisher had 17 for Villanova.
Ryan Pearson led the Patriots with 14 points and Cam Long added 13.
NCAA FOOTBALL Injured Nebraska players expected to play Saturday
Coach Bo Pelini says tightend Mike McNeill and freshman running back Rex Burkhead are expected to play on Saturday when the Cornhuskers take on Kansas State in Lincoln.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Things appear to be on the upswing on the injury front for Nebraska.
McNeill suffered a hit to the ribs in last week's game against Kansas. Burkhead has been out since Oct. 13 with a broken foot bone.
Pelini said both did well in Thursday's two-hour practice as the Huskers finish preparations for the Wildcats.
Kickoff is set for 6:45 p.m. Saturday, with television coverage provided by ESPN.
Associated Press
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
LSU defeats Middle Tennessee
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE, La. — Taylor Turnbow had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 7 LSU to a 61-40 victory over No. 24 Middle Tennessee on Wednesday night.
LaSondra Barrett added 10 points for LSU (2-0).
All-American forward Alysha Clark had 16 points and a gamehigh 20 rebounds for Middle Tennessee (1-1).
The Blue Raiders beat the Lady Tigers each of the last two seasons, including last year's game in which Clark scored 37. However, Middle Tennessee's hopes of a third straight win over LSU evaporated quickly.
After an early exchange of leads, LSU had its first double-digit lead by the 9:12 mark of the first half on a putback by Turnbow. The sophomore forward finished with career highs in scoring and rebounding.
ASSOCIATAED PRESS
LSU led 35-15 at halftime after Middle Tennessee's Jackie Pickel hit a 3-point shot from just across the midcourt line as time expired. It was the Blue Raiders' second basket in the final 13:25 of the half.
Middle Tennessee got as close as 16 points with 7:10 remaining on a shot by Clark, but the Lady Tigers' lead was quickly back up to 20 on a pair of free throws by Turnbow and a jumper by Barrett.
LSU forward Taylor Turnbow (35) wrestles the offensive rebound away from Middle Tennessee forward Alysha Clark (22) during the second half of the game Wednesday in Baton Rouge, La. Turnbow had 17-points on the night to lead all scorers and Clark had 16-points to lead her team. LSU won 61-40.
The Lady Tigers, who crushed Centenary 92-19 on Sunday in their season opener, held Middle Tennessee to 32.1 percent shooting and its lowest point total since scoring 32 against Tennessee-Martin on Jan. 5, 1998.
LSU senior guard Allison
Hightower was helped to the locker room after leaving the game with 3:02 remaining. Lady Tigers coach Van Chancellor said Hightower, who finished with seven points, suffered from leg cramps but was otherwise OK.
BASKETBALL UNC-Wilmington beats Penn State Thursday
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Chad Tomko scored 21 points and North Carolina-Wilmington made 10 of 16 3-point shots to knock off Penn State 80-69 on
Thursday.
The Seahawks (2-1) held the Nittany Lions to 32.3 percent from the field (21-for-65) in the first round of the Charleston Classic.
The Seahawks led 40-31 at halftime after shooting 61.5 percent from the field, including
7-for-11 from 3-point range.
Penn State, meanwhile, struggled against the Seahawks defense, shooting 35.5 percent from the field in the first half including 2-for-10 from 3-point range.
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Associated Press
BASKETBALL
Reserves help Dayton win over Georgia Tech Thursday
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Sophomore guard Paul Williams scored seven of his 13 points in the final minute, including a go-ahead 3-pointer, in No. 18 Dayton's 63-59 win over No. 21 Georgia Tech in the opening game of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday.
Chris Johnson scored 19 points for Dayton (2-0), going 4 for 8 from behind the 3-point line, and Luke Fabrizius added 12 points.
The energetic Flyers came back on Johnson's outside shooting, and Williams, a reserve, sealed the victory with his key 3 and by going 4 for 4 from the free throw line down the stretch. Dayton got 47 points from its backups.
Associated Press