UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, January 30,1997
7
James Grau/ KANSAN
Lynn LoPresti, junior long distance runner for both the KU track and cross country teams, will run the 5,000 meter race at Friday's track meet at Anschutz Sports Pavilion. Lopresti has competed in track for three years at the University of Kansas and set a personal record of 10:34:95 in the 3,000-meter run at Saturday's track meet.
Runner set to lower personal records
LoPresti credits improvements to team's energy
Lynn LoPresti finished the 1966 season on a high note. But that doesn't mean she's slowing down for 1997.
By Matt Woodruff
Kansan sportswriter
As a member of the Kansas cross country team, LoPresti had an outstanding season last fall. She finished among the top three runners in each of Kansas' meets and earned a 35th-place finish in the 5,000-meter run at the District V meet with a time of 16:43.78.
"That was a pretty neat experience for me," LoPresti said. "I was kind of used to finishing in the middle of the pack, so it was really fun to be our first runner in."
If her performances in the first three meets of 1997 are any indication, LoPresti might make a
habit out of being the first runner in
At the Kansas Invitational on Jan. 11, LoPresti finished the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:34.95, good enough for first place.
"This indoor season she has lowered some of her personal records and is racing very aggressively," said Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz. "I'm very pleased with her progress to date."
Last Saturday, facing rivals Kansas State and Missouri, LoPresti set a personal record. She was the first Jayhawk to finish and placed third overall with a time of 10:33.68 in the 3,000-meter run.
LoPresti said the commitment she had seen on the team this season had helped to motivate her, elevating her recent performances.
"This is the most team spirit I've seen," she said. "We're doing things like the Rock Chalk Chant before our meets, and that something we've never done before."
LoPresti also has set high goals for herself.
"I want to break 18 (minutes) in the 5,000," she said. "That's something I really want to do. Maybe it will be 17:59, but I just want to break it."
LoPresti, a chemical engineering major, also is making it a point to excel academically. She earned a 4.0 grade point average and was named to the Big Eight Conference Honor Roll in 1995.
"I think she has always been able to find a way to balance her athletics and academics," said Rachel Rubin, Overland Park junior, who has been friends with LoPresti since her freshman year. "She always accomplishes whatever she sets her mind to, and she still finds time for her friends."
LoPresti's coach at John Hersey High School in Prospect Heights, Ill., told her to visit Kansas. She was a two-time all-conference selection in cross-country during high school.
She took that advice.
"Sometimes, to make a decision, it has to hit you," LoPresti said. "When I visited campus I just felt like I fit in, like I had found a niche. I think I made the right choice."
Football recruits commit
The Kansas football team received two more oral commitments yesterday, and may receive one more.
Kansan staff report
Kansas received oral commitments from Ocasio Cofeld, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound free safety from Fort Meyers, Fla., and Mike Lewis, a 6-foot, 178-pound running back from Beloit, Wis.
Lewis, who was recruited by new Kansas coach Terrell Allen and his staff at Northern Iowa, comes to Kansas after rushed for 150 yards as a senior at Memorial High in Beloit.
Nate Dwyer, a 6.3, 280-pound defensive lineman from Stillwater, Minn., said he might commit to Kansas.
He suffered a season-ending knee injury that originally was diagnosed as a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but that diagnosis was changed, and Lewis was told his leg was fine.
Lewis picked the Jayhawks instead of Northern Iowa, Eastern Michigan and Wisconsin. He is a defending state champion in the 400-meter run and has been timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40.
Coffield visited Kansas last week for the Kansas-Texas A&M basketball game. He chose the Jayhawks instead of Syracuse and South Carolina.
Coffield intercepted six passes and had 111 tackles during his senior season at Fort Meyers High.
Dwyer is expected to choose Kansas instead of Montana State. He was a three-year starter and two-time all-state selection at Stillwater High. Dwyer also was recruited by Iowa State.
The University Daily Kansas reported yesterday that BJ Tiger, a 6,3, 195-pound quarterback from Washington High in Tulsa, Okla., had reneged his oral commitment to Kansas. Chris Cantley, Washington High's assistant football coach said Tiger was considering Oklahoma State and Kansas.
Not including Tiger, Kansas has a dozen known oral commitments. National signing day is Feb. 5.
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