daily nebrasken
Wednesday, march 16, 1977
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By Rob Dsny
Four Instate female athletes have sign
ed letters cf latent to attend UNL, the
Womens Athletic Dept. announced Mon
day. Nancy Kt.il, RcbLi Hruby, Cindy
Tatum and Donna Fox have all returned
signed letters of intent to attend UNL
on trsck scholarships.
Kind!, from listings St. Cecilia, h
let the Liue 1 lawks to two straight Qass C
state titles Li trsck.
During her high school career Kindig
has gained the all-class gold medal in the
80-yard hurdles twice, plus she has been a
member of the gold medal winning 440
yard relay team for two years.
She also anchored the gold medal win
ning 880-yafd relay team in 1975,
Kindig, who also played volleyball and
basketball for St. Cecilia, has won the
Qass C long jump two years and also won
the 220-yard dash last year.
She gained national attention in 1975
winning the pentathalon in the USA
USSR 18 and under track meet in Lincoln.
She flnished third in the meet held in Rus
sia last year,
Kindig also was recruited by Dig 8 Con
ference member Iowa State University.
"I Lked Iowa State and they've got a
lot going for them, but I just finally decid
ed to stay in Nebraska," she said.
"Cindy latum is going to Nebraska and
Sondra Obermeier is already there. I know
them and went all through school with
them and we just thought it would be neat
to be on the same team," Kindig said.
Tatum is a sprinter from North flatte.
She gained the all-class gold medals in both
the 100- and 220-yard dashes her sopho
more and junior years. She holds the state
record in the 100-yard dash, 10.9, and in
the 220, with the 24,9 timing.
Tatum anchored her team's 880-yard
relay team to the class A gold in 1975 and
the all-class gold in 1976. .
Robin Hruby, from Lincoln High
School, has the state record in the discus.
Her 1976 state meet gold medal toss of
144 ft. broke the record previously held by
UNL track team member Pam Koontz.
' Hruby said she chose UNL because of
coach Carol Frost. Frost was an Olympic
competitor in 1968.
lira by also plans to try out for the
basketball team, while Tatum said she is
going to try out for the volleyball team.
Donna Fox of Eassett is the other
signer. She won the all-class 880-yard,
run and the mile-run, last year with a
time of 5:15.5.
Gymnastics coach Judy Schaik said she
is confident on landing Beth Brown of
Omaha Northwest. Brown was the all
around champion in this year's state meet.
Schaik said she plans to attend the
Wisconsin State University women's gym
nastics meet this weekend to look at Nancy
Waalkes. Waalkes was a teammate of pre
sent Husker gymnast Crissy Robertson at
Brookfield High School.
Basketball and softball coach George
Nicodemus said he has committed one of
his two present basketball scholarships,
but he would not reveal the name .
"I have to talk to some of the girls yet.
But it's possible there might be some girls
not coming out for the team next year.
Well just have to wait and see," he said.
Nicodemus sent out five scholarships for
softball and one has been returned, he said.
Again, he did not disclose the name.
Swimming and diving coach Ray Hup
pert said he has had no response yet from
the three letters he sent out. However,
Huppert said he is confident of landing at
least two of the three he is seeking.
Inexpsrisnce no handicap
By Mike McCarthy
Junior Jeff Schmahl is a late comer into
tennis, but the Grand Island native has
shaken the inexperience to become the
Huskers' number two player.
'1 tried out for the high school team
when I was a sophomore and made the
team," Schmahl said. "Up to that time, 1
had never picked up a racquet.
1 wasn't big enough to play football
and cross-country was too much work,
so my friend and I tried out."
Schmahl added that tennis at his high
school never was a major sport.
Grand Island had a terrible, rotten
team," he added. 4My sophomore year
we were 1-9 and went 4-5 my junior year."
The 4-5 record was the best in 10 years
at Grand Island.
But the program turned arouad
Schmahl 's senior year, when the school
finished second at the state tournaments,
and Schmahl made it to the semi-finals.
Late start
Schmahl added his late start wasn't
unusual.
"It's not like in California where you
start playing at 10, and always have some
one there to correct your mistakes. We
taught ourselves out of tennis magazines,"
he said.
Once out oi high school, Schmahl said
the Husker coaches invited him to try out
for the team. They said if he could be one
of the top six players, scholarship money
would be available, he added.
His freshman year, Schmahl was the
Huskers' fifth man, and was rated third last
year.
The Huskers' number one player this
year is Phil Woog, a Los Angeles native.
"I never put it out of my mind that I
cant be number one," Schmahl said,
4 'and I dont think I could ever be number
one."
"It is easy to tell who's better over the
long run. Sure you might challenge some
one for their spot and win, but the coach
es know who's really better."
Schmahl said this year's Husker squad is
the best since he has been here.
Schmahl said the three freshmen on last
year's six-man squad have matured and are
playing well this year.
"Well surprise people," Schmahl added.
"If the individuals put it together, well
be tough."
Schmahl said he wants to place high
among the Big 8 second-ranked players.
"I know I can compete at any level," he
added. "No one is going to blow me off
the court."
Schmahl and the other Huskers start
their outdoor season after Spring break.
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Jeff Schmahl, the number-two-ranked Husker tennis player, practices on the courts
at Woods Paik.
Big 8 gymnastics titles on the line for UNL, Gerard
By Jim Kay
When the UNL gymnastics team travels to Lawrence,
Kan., Thursday, junior Larry Gerard will have a little
more at stake than the average gymnast.
The Huskers will be on the University of Kansas cam
pus to defend their Big 8 Conference championship while
Gerard will be there to defend the all-around title he won
at last year's meet.
The pressures of defending the all-around title from
challengers like the University of Oklahoma's Bart Con
nor are there, Gerard said.
"Connor will be tough but I feel I can beat him,"
Gerard said. "Who ever hits all 12 sets (events) and is
consistent will win."
Gerard said the pressure of carrying the Huskers
scoring load also was evident this season.
I felt the pressure a lot of times," he said. "When
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my turn came to do a routine in an event where I cant
miss, the guys would come up and say 'come on Gerard,
come on Gerard' one after another. It's nice to have team
support but that can either psych you up or psych you
out."
Team is improving
The gymnasts as a team are improving consistently
in intrasquad meets, he said.
"We're the team to beat. We really haven't had a good
meet yet, but everyone is hitting well in practice. We Ye
not out to beat any one team but to score well. It will be
a total team effort."
Gerard won the high bar event enroute to the all
around victory at last year's championship. He also placed
third in the still rings, fifth in the vault and sixth on the
parallel bars. His winning all-around total of 105.45
points was almost two full points ahead of second place
finisher Gene Mackie of UNL. .
Gerard said the season as a whole has not been a
disappointment to him, but added that he did have some
disappointing moments.
"It hasn't been a disappointment because my training
and workouts have been the best in my life," Gerard said.
J'm doing much harder tricks this year.
"There was a meet early in the year that I lost by
three-tenths of a point. And I wanted to defend my title
at the Midwest Chicago meet which I didnVThose were
disappointments."
Disappointments foigottea
Gerard said he has forgotten those early disappoint
ments and now is concentrating on winning the Big 8
and national all-around titles.
"I want to win Big 8 and nationals," Gerard said, "and
111 try to do my besU If I hit top five A nationals 111
be happy because then 111 be able to compete in the Uni
versity Games."
Gerard, who has competed on the international level
in China, said the University Games are an optbnals only
competition in Sofia, Yugoslavia, this summer.
"I miss competing on the international level. It a dif
ferent than competing for ycur school but I do my best
possible in both. It's more of a team thing at school but
it's for the whole country with the USA. on your chest."
The United States CoHeate Sports Council wEl
choose the five gymnasts to compete ia the University
Games based on seasonal and national meet performances.