10B
Monday, February 17, 1997
---
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Rowers win indoor meet
Kansas women shine in pre-season event
By Seth Hoffman
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women rowers captured the first place title and placed five individual medal winners yesterday at the 1997 Kansas Indoor Open Rowing Championships at the Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
"We're happy with the results," said assistant rowing coach Tami Odell. "We had lots of personal bests."
One of those personal bests came from Risa Petty, novice team member, who beat her previous record by 9 seconds.
“Our winter workout has been really tough,” Petty said. “It's good to see that
The event featured 15 different events and teams from around the Midwest, with participants' ages ranging from 15 to 53.
it's paying off."
The race utilizes stationary flowing machines, called ergometers, which are the same machines the rowers use to practice when the weather won't permit practice on the water. The ergometers are useful for measuring raw power but aren't necessarily a good indication of how a rower will perform on the water
"If you put an ergometer on the water, it sinks." Odell jokes.
However, the event is important to the teams.
"it's a chance to get the competitive ites flowing," said coach Rob Caloff.
Petty said, "This is the only time you can measure yourself as an individual. At all the other events, we only row together."
Teams at the championships included Kansas State, Drake, Creighton, Topeka Rowing Association and the Kansas Club Crew team.
"It is really great to get a chance to compete individually before the season actually starts," said Creighton freshman Andy O'Hara. "Without an event like this we wouldn't have any good way to measure ourselves against other teams."
"We came in with no expectations and did very well," said Michael Amick, KU club rowing coach.
The Kansas Club team also performed well. The men's and women's teams placed first.
All the rowers are eager to start outdoor practice.
"Indoor practice gets really dull," Petty said. "Outdoors is a little more exiting."
The Kansas women's crew team begins their outdoor season March 15 on the Kansas River in Lawrence.
Track team excels at K-State
Kansan staff report
Several members of the Kansas track and field team traveled to Manhattan Thursday to compete in the KSU Coors Invitational.
The meet was the team's final competition before the Big 12 Conference Indoor Championships next weekend.
Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz said that the meet was a good way to keep runners sharp in certain events.
"This is what we term a tune-up meet," Schwartz said. "Some people will benefit from running in this meet, like the short sprinters. Our distance runners are better off with a couple of weeks of solid practice."
Kansas set eight new season best marks and brought home four first-place finishes.
April Kockrow took first place in the shot put (47-8) and was two centimeters away from earning an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Carleen Roberts continued her strong indoor season with a first place finish in the 200-meter event (25.34), edging out teammate Tamra Montgomery.
In the 1,000-meter event, Tracey Thompson placed first with a season-best 3:00.59.
Sprinter Pierre Lisk won the 60-meter event with a time of 6.84, nearly breaking his 1997 personal best of 6.83.
In addition to Kockrow's and Thompson's performances, the team also got season bests from Amy Cook in the 600-yard run (1:27.01 - second), Montgomery in the 60-meters (7.75), Andy Tate in the 1,000-meters (2:30.54 - fourth), Jason Archibald in the high jump (6-10 3/4 - fourth), and Paul Tan in the triple jump (48-10 1/4 - second).
Pole Vaulter Marc Romuto tied his teambest mark with a leap of 17-1 1/2 for second place. Two weeks ago, at the Mercantile Bank Invitational in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the height earned him a NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
The Big 12 Championships will begin on Thursday at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
'I got it!'
Colorado's Ronnie DeGray and Kansas' T.J. Pugh swipe at the ball after a rarely missed Kansas basket. The game marked the 16th consecutive time Kansas has beat Colorado.
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
Gordon wins Daytona 500, dedicates win to ill Hendrick
The Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dale Earnhardt crashed 12 laps from the end to prolong his Daytona 500 jinx, clearing the way for Jeff Gordon to lead a 1-2-sweep by the elite Hendrick Motorsports team yesterday.
"We love you." Gordon told Rick Hendrick by cell phone from Victory Lane. "This one's for you."
Hendrick has leukemia and missed the Daytona 500 for the first time in 13 years.
In a bizarre race that ended under a caution — the first at Daytona since 1991 — Gordon, 25, became the youngest winner in the history of the event.
Despite fears earlier in the week that passing would be difficult if not impossible, the 39th edition of NASCAR's biggest event turned out to be spectacular.
Hendrick, 47, watched the race on television from his home in Charlotte, N.C., where he is being treated for the recent diagnose of leukemia.
The lead pack often had as many as 25 cars until late in the race, when the front six finally broke away. In all, there were 12 lead changes among nine drivers throughout the rest of the 42-car field.
Gordon, the 1995 series champion, had to leave the Daytona International Speedway track midway through the race because of a cut tire.
At the finish area, he pounded his fists on top of the car in celebration.
"I couldn't have done that without my teammates," he said. "I don't know if I could have got Bill by myself, but we worked together and got him. We were working him over pretty good out there."
Eight caution flags slowed the race for 29 laps as Gordon averaged 148.295 mph. He won $377,410 for his 20th victory at the start of only his fifth full season in NASCAR's top division.
Earnhardt, now winless in 19 Daytona 500 starts, was running second to two-time winner Bill Elliott when it appeared he got too high on the banking running off turn two on the 21/2-mile oval.
His Chevrolet smashed hard into the wall, igniting a melee in which defending and two-time Daytona winner Dale Jarrett and his Robert Yates Racing teammate, former champion Ernie Irvan, also were involved.
Gordon, who was a few car lengths of losing a lap earlier in the race, was second to Elliott's Ford, followed by defending Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte and new teammate Ricky Craven.
When the green flag waved again on lap 194 of the 200-lap event, Gordon immediately tried to get past Elliott in the second turn but was blocked. As the two crossed the finish line at the end of that lap, Gordon went almost to the infield grass to drive his Chevy into the lead.
rts teammates were then able to get past Elliott on the high side between turns one and two.
Just one lap later, a collision in turn four between Bobby Hamilton and Johnny Benson Jr. started a 10-car crash that kept Elliott from mounting any kind of attack.
Earnhardt, a seven-time Winston Cup champion, was among the leaders all day and appeared in good position to make a run for the one major victory that has eluded him until the incident on lap 189.
Elliott wound up fourth, followed by two-time winner Sterling Marlin, Jeremy Mayfield, Mark Martin, Ward Burton and Ricky Rudd. There were several crashes during the race, but no serious injuries.
Rusty Wallace, hoping to finally end his Daytona woes, ran strong early but went out on the 48th lap with an engine failure. He wound up 41st.
Swiss tennis star eyeballs No.1
Hingis wins fourth tournament in row
The Associated Press
PARIS — Martina Hingis, closing in on Steffi Graf's No. 1 ranking, won her fourth consecutive tennis tournament yesterday when she defeated Anke Huber 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the Paris Women's Open to remain unbeaten for the year.
The 16-year-old Swiss star has won all 18 of her matches in 1997, not counting a walkover in the Tokyo final when Graf defaulted with a knee injury and three singles victories in the Hopman Cup.
She is 42-4 since losing to Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the second round of the Olympics — two losses each to Jana Novotna and Graf.
Hingis kept on winning yesterday, capturing the doubles title with Novotna in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Alexandra Fusai of France and Rita Grande of Italy. Hingis has won 13 of 14 doubles matches this year.
"I said at the beginning of the year I would retire from doubles," she said. "But I'm still playing."
In the singles final, two double faults and two unforced errors by Huber in the eighth game of the third set proved decisive. That gave Hingis a 5-3 lead, and then she held serve, ending the match in one hour, 52 minutes.
Hingis now has won six tournaments. She won her first title by
defeating Huber last October in Filderstadt, Germany.
Hingis rose to No.2 in the world after winning the Australian Open, becoming the youngest women's Grand Slam singles winner this century.
She has won five of her last six tournaments, her only loss coming to Graf in the WTA championships final.
"I gained so much experience there against Steffi in that championships," Hingis said. "It was the first five-setter of my life, and hopefully my last."
Hingis is drawing nearer to the top ranking. Graf pulled out of the tournament in Hanover, Germany, this week because of a knee injury and is scheduled to play next in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 3. Hingis and Graf will play the following tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla.
Hingis leads Huber 5-1 in her career with all the matches going to three sets including two weeks ago in a semifinal at Tokyo.
Huber, the third seed, had a chance to break back in the final game of the match, but Hingis tied it 40-40 with a put away of a short return. Hingis went to match point as a shot hit the top of the net and trickled over.
Hingis then had a good serve that Huber barely returned. Hingis came up to the net and put a shot deep in the corner that Huber sent back into the net to end the match.
Hingis surprised the crowd by delivering a short acceptance speech in French. Hingis was born in
"I gained so much experience there—against Steffi in that championships. It was my first five-setter of my life, and hopefully my last."
Martina Hingis
Paris Women's Open Champion
Czechoslovakia but moved to Switzerland 10 years ago.
She has picked up English rapidly since turning pro in September 1994 when she was 14. Now it looks as if she might have to continue learning French in preparation for the next Grand Slam, the French Open in May.
"Right now I am just thinking about the next two weeks and some rest," she said. "I'm not thinking about any languages. Just to speak in my home language — Swiss German."
Union Technology Center We have more of what you want.
Compaq Presario 7222ES
8/1.2GB/4xCD
$1670.00
Compaq Presario 4104ES
16/1.6GB/6xCD
$1865.00 14" Display
$1965.00 15" Display
Compaq Presario 4406ES
16/1.2GB/6xCD
$1865.00
Power Book 1400CS
117 12/750
$2320.00
b