Kansas Football Captains Named
Kansas Football Blogat KUfootball.com
Aug. 18, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Five seniors have been named as season-long captains for the Kansas football team it was announced by Jayhawk head coach Turner Gill Wednesday. The captains were selected in a vote by the team with the exception of freshmen, who were not allowed to vote.
Offensive lineman Sal Capra, cornerback Chris Harris, defensive end Jake Laptad, running back Angus Quigley and linebacker Justin Springer were selected by their peers to represent the team in 2010. All are first-time captains.
“Our staff thought our players did an outstanding job of selecting excellent captains for the 2010 season,” Gill said. “All of these student-athletes have displayed phenomenal leadership qualities, both on and off the field, since I have arrived here.”
Capra, who is from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City was the team’s Gale Sayers Award winner last season as the most courageous player. He started all 12 games a year ago, including eight at right guard and the final four contests at left guard.
Harris, from Bixby, Okla. was KU’s Don Fambrough Award winner in 2009. That award is given to the team’s most unselfish player. Harris’ 29 career starts are the most among active players as he started 10 games as a freshman in 2007, seven in 2008 and all 12 last year. Harris was a Freshman All-America Honorable Mention selection by The Sporting News in 2007 and has 208 career tackles, three interceptions and 15 passes broken up.
Laptad, a Tulsa, Okla. product, was named KU’s defensive player of the year in 2009. He is a two-time All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection and for the second straight season is on the Hendricks Award Watch list, given annually to the nation’s top defensive end. Laptad registered 49 tackles last year, including 12 tackles for loss with 6.5 sacks.
Quigley, who is from Cleburne, Texas, is back for his sixth year in the program after missing 2005 and 2006 due to injuries. He spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as running back, rushing for 309 yards in 2008 to rank second on the team. In 2009 he was moved to linebacker where he recorded three tackles. This year he is back at running back.
Springer, who is from Los Fresnos, Texas, has played in 34 games in his KU career, recording 63 total tackles. He is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 First-Team selection. He is expected to be a leader on the Jayhawk defense from his middle linebacker position.
KU’s five captains are the most the team has had since 2005 when Banks Floodman, Charles Gordon, Kevin Kane, David Ochoa and Nick Reid represented the team. In each of the previous four years the Jayhawks had four captains.
Kansas will open the 2010 season hosting North Dakota State on Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at 1-800-34-HAWKS, at kuathletics.com or at the ticket office on the southeast corner of Allen Fieldhouse.
