They all took with them an explosiveness to their games that made them stand out and made the spectator zero in on them chasing (Keith), spiking (Lima), catching (Gordon), pitching and hitting with power (Settlemier), closing (Czyz) and kicking (Smith). Nearly every statement they made on a field came with an exclamation point at the end.

Even with those loud games gone, there will be no shortage of human fireworks shows competing for Kansas University during the upcoming 2006-07 school year. In keeping with celebrating today’s holiday, here is a look at a dozen of the most explosive athletes at KU:

1. Julian Wright, basketball: He’ll put up a shot on one side of the hoop and be there on the other side to put it back up after it glances off the rim. Nothing gets a rise out of the crowd quite like when Wright brings the ball way behind his head for his favorite dunk. The only more explosive moment associated with KU sports is when Wright misses one of those dunks and his coach, Bill Self, explodes off the bench to tell someone to check in for Wright.

2. Gary Woodland, golf: His tee shots not only look different from everybody else’s, they sound different. They sound crisper, louder, fuller. His ball speed has been measured at 191 mph, his club speed at 138 mph, his distance at an average of 338 yards with a long of 415 yards.

3. Kassie Humphreys, softball: The powerful underhanded motion results in a fastball so alive that Humphreys will finish second in career strikeouts on the school’s all-time list if she can duplicate her junior season total as a senior.

4. Brandon Rush, basketball: As impressive as a Rush flush is, his leaping ability is even more amazing when he soars above the crowd so quickly to grab a rebound with two hands. His blur of a first step gives him the edge.

5. Jon Cornish, football: A burst gets him to the outside, where he looks even faster in the open field with the football tucked under his arm, but it’s more than speed that makes Cornish stand out. When the end zone is the scent, Cornish has an excellent sense of smell.

6. Brian Murph, football: He started the scoring with an 85-yard punt return in the first quarter and ended it with a 48-yard reception in the fourth quarter of the Fort Worth Bowl rout of Houston.

7. Sherron Collins, basketball: With a football, a basketball or a baseball bat in his hands he dominated with a combination of speed, strength and quickness in such a way that he’ll be talked about in Chicago for generations.

8. Mario Chalmers, basketball: Finishing on a drive to the hoop, dunking in the open court, bursting into the passing lane for a steal, Chalmers has an unusually emphatic final burst that makes him hard to guard and even harder to be guarded by an opponent.

9. Darrell Arthur, basketball: Don’t let his smooth gait fool you. He’s all over the place, even when he looks like he’s not giving it everything he has.

10. Mike Rivera, football: The outgoing linebacker class maximized their abilities by developing their bodies and playing with nasty attitudes. Rivera has more speed and size than any of them, a combination that makes for loud, bruising hits.

11. Kerry Meier, football: The ball gets there so much more quickly than most quarterbacks get it there. He gets rid of it in a hurry and delivers it with so much velocity that when the ball arrives, the defender hasn’t had a chance to catch up to the receiver. He can turn it on carrying the football as well. A question remains: Can he soften his touch when a fastball isn’t the right pitch for the situation?

12. Zlata Tarasova, track and field: She easily outdistanced the previous school record in the hammer throw as a freshman. A former tennis player in her native Russia, Tarasova must have had a wicked serve.

-Visit KUsports.com to cast your vote for the most explosive KU athlete.