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Allenfe 'monstep'
will atfack ISU
By Scott Jones
UNL gymnasticsr coach Francis Allen may feel a little
like Dr. Frankenstein this week.
He will unleash his "monsters" on defending Big 8
Conference champion Iowa State University (ISU)
Saturday at 2 pjn. at the Coliseum.
Allen has taken a group of second-hand parts,
unheralded Nebraska high school gymnasts almost
exclusively from Omaha or Lincoln, and assembled them
into a monsterously good gymnastics team. A fifth-place
national ranking attests to that.,
But Allen is having trouble controlling his creation.
- Sometimes it goes too fast and burns itself out, and at
, pther times it stalls. .
Last year, for example, the monster devoured Southern
Illinois University and set a national scoring record against
Oklahoma University but was less than perfect two weeks
later in the Big 8 meet;
Then Tuesday, Allen's creation backfired against
- Louisiana State, losing 210.S5-209.15 to the third-ranked
Tigers. Allen laid he'd like to put a button m&iked
'steady acceleration" on the monster.
"I think our secret is going to be progressively improv
ing meet after meet," he said. "If we perform like we did
against Southern Illinois last year, we can be national
champs."
"I don't know what happened at LSU. It was like
Colorado (an upset loss) last year," Allen said. "We just
didn't do a very good job."
If possible, Allen would program his creation to aim
for the Big 8 meet and work through dual meets, even
Saturday's matchup with rival ISU. .
He may have a difficult time holding the 12-headed
monster back Saturday, however. Nebraska hasn't beaten
the top ranked Cyclones in a dual since 1963-64, includ
ing a 214-207.65 loss Oct. 24, 1975.
One of the vital parts of Allen's creation, all-arounder
Gene Mackie, said Nebraska still has something to prove
Saturday. '
"We have to prove to everyone that we can beat
them," the Omaha senior said. "We really are a better
team than Iowa State. Everybody (on the team) really
feels that way.
"When I came here five years ago we could barely
beat Kansas," Mackie said. "Now we're right there, and
if we could just get a little bit of impetus, well be at the
top." .
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