UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, March 31, 1997
5B
Rodman is out but Bulls rolling to strong finish
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Dennis Rodman is out, Toni Kukoc is back and the Chicago Bulls are rolling and in reach of a second straight 70-win season.
- Bulls coach Phil Jackson had initially planned to bring Kukoc back slowly after he missed 12 games with a strained arch in his right foot.
"we talked about it, and Phil said if I feel hurt or something to let him know," Kukoc said.
Kukoc was activated Thursday, two days after the Bulls learned that Rodman would miss the rest of the regular season with a sprained left knee.
Kukoc scored 17 points in 24 minutes Saturday night in only his second game back from the injured list, as the Bulls hit the New York Nets.
Bulls beat the New Jersey Nets 111-101 for their seventh straight win. In his return Thursday, Kukoc had eight points and six assists in 32 minutes.
The foot is still stiff when he awakes in the morning, but Kukoc has been able to run the floor without pain. On Saturday night, he hit seven of 11 shots, including three pointers, and had a dunk.
"I feel good." Kukoc said. "I've surprised myself a couple of times. There's no fatigue, and that's a good sign."
Four more victories and the Bulls (62-9) will ensure themselves the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, just as they did last season in winning their fourth NBA title of the '90s.
And with 11 games remaining, the Bulls have a chance not only to win 70 games again but with a sweep and go 73-9. That would be a one-game improvement over last season's best-ever NBA record of 72-10.
Chicago has a tough stretch of four games in five nights, including road games at Orlando, Indiana and New York.
"Seventy is something we aren't concerned with," Jackson said. "We just want to win ... We have a little haul, but we know that four ... wins will put this thing to bed as far as homecourt advantage in the conference and in the league."
The Bulls have gotten a big offensive boost the past seven games from center Luc Longley. He is averaging 15 points over that span, including a season-high 17 Saturday.
Michael Jordan, meanwhile, appears tired, even if he insists he isn't. His shot is off, and he's hit only 23 of 58 field goals attempts over the past three games.
"Physically I'm great," Jordan said. "I love the concern from everybody, but I'm feeling fine. I don't need Geritol. Right now, I'm not in a good rhythm. I've hit a wall a little."
The Bulls' depth could be depleted because backup center Bill Wennington hurt his left foot in the fourth quarter Saturday and had to leave the game.
Women win golf tournament
Kansan staff report
During spring break, the Kansas women's golf team did something it hasn't done in three years: Scored a tournament victory.
The Jayhawks won their first team championship since 1994 at the eight-team Southwest Missouri State Women's Golf Invitational. Kansas shot a three-round team total of 1,005 and finished four strokes ahead of secondplace finisher Oracle Roberts University.
The tournament was held at the par-72
RESULTS: Complete scores for the Kansas women and men. Page 2B
Millwood Golf and Racquetball Club in Springfield, Mo.
The Jayhawks hadn't won a tournament title since winning the five-team Aztec Invitational in 1994.
Anne Clark finished in fifth place and led Kansas with a three-round total of 248. It was her third career top-10 finish.
Following Clark was KU Beth Reuter, who shot a three-round total of 251 and
finished in sixth place. It was her first career top-10 finish.
Mandy Munsch finished in 10th place. Susan Tressary shot a three-round total of 259 to finish 16th. It was her third top-20 finish in a row and the fourth of her career.
Jill Simpson, playing in her second tournament as a Jayhawk, earned a 29th-place finish.
The team will travel to St. George, Utah, on April 7 to compete in the Jones Sport/Utah Dixie Classic.
Golfers finish in top 10 twice
Kansan staff report
The Kansas men's golf team kept busy during spring break by competing in two tournaments.
Last Sunday the Jayhawks finished in a tie for eighth place with Baylor at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas. The team then grabbed a fifth place finish Thursday in Santa Barbara, Calif., at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate.
The tournament, held at the par-72
Laredo Country Club, is considered
In Laredo, Kansas finished 24 strokes behind tournament champion and Big 12 Conference rival Texas A&M.
the second-oldest college golf tournament.
Chris Thompson paced the Kansas team. He shot a three-round total of 218 and earned a 19th-place finish. Brad Barnett, who was playing in just his fifth career tournament, shot rounds of 75, 72 and 75 for a total of 222, his career best.
On Thursday at the par-72 Sandpiper Golf Course in Santa Barbara, Kansas shot a three-round total of 881 to finish 12 strokes behind tournament champion Fresno State.
The 24-team field included seven nationally ranked teams. Kansas finished ahead of five of them.
Thompson again led Kansas with a three-round total of 213, a career best. His second-place finish was the highest of his career.
He edged the nation's top-ranked college golfer, Arton Oberholser of San Jose State University, who tied for fifth with 216. Justin Russo of San Jose earned the tournament title with 210.
Kansas Kit Grove fired a total of 218 and finished ninth. Ryan Vermeer struggled, shooting a career-worst 231.
The Jayhawks will compete on April 7 in the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Rowers' spring break is work on the lake
Kansan staff report
The Kansas women's rowing team spent spring break training in Natchitoches, La. But before the team left, it took care of business at home.
The Jayhawks won three of four races against Tulsa last Saturday on the Kansas River in Lawrence.
Kansas won the Varsity Four race, and Tulsa took second. The Jayhawks' boats were first and third in the Freshman Eight and the Varsity Eight. Tulsa won the Lightweight Four race.
Rowing coach Rob Catloth said he was happy with his team's performance.
"I feel confident in how they did and how they are improving," Caloth said. "We are working on raising our stroke rates as we go on in the season. Right now we are rowing really controlled."
After the regatta, Kansas hit the road for Natchitoches for a week of training. The team practiced three times a day on Cane River Lake, which offers rowing distances between 20 and 30 miles long.
On the trip, the team worked on conditioning and efficiency. It also should help bring the team together and should help lift morale. Catloth said.
During the week, Catloth used seat racing to determine which rowing groups worked best together. Seat racing is when two boats race, trade rowers between the boats and race again. This is repeated several times until it is determined which combinations of rowers work the best together.
"We saw what eight people made the boat go faster," Catloth said. "Hopefully, we have our best boats now."
Regatta Results
Varsity Four
Varsity Four
1. Kansas 9:47
2. Tulsa 10:02
Lightweight Four
Lightweight Four
1. Tulsa 9:13
2. Kansas 9:26
3. Kansas 9:29
Freshman Eight
Freshman Light
1. Kansas 8:52
2. Tulsa 9:03
3. Kansas 9:25
1. Kansas 8:24
2. Tulsa 8:36
3. Kansas 8:52
Varsity Eight
Swimmers perform well at NCAA Championship
Tyler Palinter and Erik Jorgensen once again showed that they were two of the nation's best distance swimmers at the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Painter finished second in the 1650-ay freewire freeplay with a school record-breaking time of 15 minutes and 00.41 seconds. Painter's second-place finish was the best finish in the history of Kansas men's swimming at the NCAA Championships.
Jorgensen earned his third All-American award with a 16th-place finish in the 1650-vari freestyle in 15:17:24.
Rebecca Andrew and Kristin Nilsen also attempted to qualify at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship preliminaries in Indianapolis, but each fell short. Nilsen swam the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:16.60, missing an All-American Award by three one-hundredths of a second.
In the team competition, the Kansas men finished 27th with 30 points. Aubum took the championship with 496.5 points.
Track and field teams finish high in Texas meet
The Kansas men's and women's track and field teams both earned top three finishes Saturday at the 21st annual Arlington Invitational in Arlington, Texas.
The women's team finished second behind Texas at Arlington, breaking its season-best marks in nine events. Sprinter Carleen Roberts won the 400-meter race with a time of 55.45 seconds. Candace Mason finished fourth in the javelin at 13-8 feet and second in the long jump with 19-1 1/2 meters. Team captain Kim Feldkamp finished second in the shot put with a throw of 44-9 feet. Marla Woodman had a four-place discus throw of 154-7 feet.
The men finished third behind Texas at Arlington and Oklahoma.
Gene Coleman earned fifth place in the 400-meter race with a time of 47.71 seconds. Three members of the men's team achieved second-place finishes: junior captain Nathan Prenger in the 1.10-meter hurdles (14.16), Marcus Scheil in the long jump (23-6), and Brent Scholz in the triple jump with a career-best 47-3 meters.
Most of the Jayhawks will travel to Austin, Texas, for the 70th annual Texas RELays April 3-5. Others will go to the Emporia State RELays on April 3.
—Kansan staff report
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