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frldsy, rr.irch 18, 1977
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By JLn Ksy
You an aU it whatever you like.
The whob ball of wax. All tha es til one basket.
Gating down to the bottom line. What it comes down to
Is tb completion of six months of competition for tha
UNL gyrruuctics team at the tig 8 Conference champion
ship rr.cet In Lawrence, Kan. today and Saturday.
Ths defending champion Huskers will be in i three-way
lull for retention of tha Big 8 crown with tha University
of Oklahoma (OU) end Iowa Stats University (ISU),
according to UNL coach Francis Allen.
"The threa of us era so does," Allen said, "It's really
going to ba exciting. We could just as easily ba third as we
could ba first. Two gcof-ups and we will be third. That's
how closa it will be. We're going to win by performance."
Allen ssid he was cr.ccursd by tha team's perfor
mance in intrasquad meets during tha past week.
This is tha most top caliber meet I've ever been in
volved with and whoever comes out of this mess on top
willprobably win nationals,"
Ilia team compulsories will ba tha key to tha ESg 8
meet this year, Allen said.
"It will be wn or lost in the compulsories this year
too," ha said. i:We blew Iowa State out by six points in
compulsories last year and they knew right then they
couldnt catch us. That was the highlight of my coaching
career, when we went into optionals ahead by six. It's
always a thrill to beat Iowa State."
Assistant coach Jim Howard said tha parallel bars
would ba a pivotal event for the Huskers in Lawrence.
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Pfcoio by Td Kirk
Hunker Gymnast Larry Gerard wO lead the UNL gymnastics team in defense of its Dig 8 Conference title this
weekend. Gerard, shown performing on the still rfcjs, is the defending C!g 8 all-around champion.
"It's been our weakest event all year," Howard said,
so we've really been working hard on it, We Ye going to
have to hit on tha side horse and parallel bars. That's what
makes our team score,"
Side horsa specialist Stave Todd, a junior from Lincoln,
said ha was looking to tccra well fa his event for tha
team's sake.
Team perfsnr.ir.ca
"I'll perform first for tha team," Todd said. "I'm not
to the point where I can score well for myself. My best
chance to reach nationals is through tha team anyway.
Allen said tha still rings was one area where the
Huskers might prove stronger than ISU or OU. Senior
rings specialist Kurt Mackie said UNL was psyched for tha
meet.
"We spent all week psyching up and getting ready,"
Mackie said. "There's a common enthusiasm building. We
peaked out Sunday at the intrasquad meet and now we're
just laying low and getting hyper. Well pop-up again Fri
day and Saturday."
The still rings competitors for UNL were becoming
more consistent, according to Mackie.
"Larry Gerard and I are already there," Mackie said.
"If we can get that consistency out of the other two
(Kevin Dunkley and Mark Williams) we could score 36 at
. Big 8."
Assistant coach Jon Blocker said another area UNL
could score well was in the vaulting event.
"We can usually count on Duane West, Larry Gerard or
Gary Jeurink for a 9.1 vault or higher," Blocker said.
"And if Richard Brindisi hits we could score a 9.4 or 9.5."
Team win
Brindisi, a freshman from Westminister, Colo., said he
was looking forward to a team victory is much as an indi
vidual win.
"Gymnastics is an individual sport," Brindisi said, "but
it's nice to win as a team." I dont think about a score be
fore the vault, I just do my trick."
Allen labeled the high bar as UNL's most consistent
event with Gerard the defending Big 8 champ. .
"We could score 35.5 on the Ugh bar," Allen said,
"and that's national championship caliber. At his current
rate of Improvement, Kirk Fridrich will be challenging on
the high bar in another year. He scored the highest in
nationals last year of any freshman."
Threat
The Huskers greatest threat in the floor exercise event
comes from senior Duane West, who finished second in
that event at the Big 8 meet last year.
The two-day meet will be divided into three sessions
with the team competition getting underway with the
compulsories at 1 p.m. today. Optional routines will begin
at noon, Saturday . The team champion and and all-around
winner will be decided at this time. Other individual
championships will be determined at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Allen said he believed UNL would have its best per
formance of the year at the Big 8 meet.
"We trained so hard all year," Allen said. "It makes the
season long when you push so hard but we're finally
getting some consistency.
"I have a theory that you can always do better," Allen
said. "I think you can always do better on a personal
level. There is no such thing as reaching the ultimate."
Left fielder: team mentally ready for Baylor doubleheaders
By Kevin Schnepf
Husker freshman baseball player Joe Sherger, who was
drafted in the 18th round last year by the Minnesota
Twins, said the UNL baseball squad is excited about its
upcoming games in Texas.
"You can always say you can win," he said, "but all
the players can feel it. Tne older fellows feel this is the
best attitude in recent years."
The Huskers open their season March 21 with a
doubleheader against Baylor University at Waco, Texas.
UNL has another doubleheader March 22 against Baylor.
Sherger, a left fielder from Billings, Mont., said the
team is mentally ready.
"The biggest asset of this team is that everybody is
always helping each other out," he said. "It's not like
back home because there's no family backing."
Sherger said he was going to attend a junior college
until he spoke to UNL assistant John Sanders. "
"I was hanging in the air about what to do then," he
said. "Sanders knows his stuff, so I came here."
Sanders was the head coach of Arizona Western College
when he talked to Sherger about Nebraska.
Texas Saturday ' v
The Huskers will be leaving Saturday morning for
Texas.
UNL head coach Tonv Shame said Nebraska's recent
. - -
pleasant weather has helped the Huskers.
"We're in better shape than previous years because of
the good weather we've had," Sharpe said. "V.Vve had
quite a few squad game and the hitters have had a
chance to adjust"
However, Sharpe said, the Huskers are net quite equal
to Baylor.
"By the tene we play them (Baylor)" he said, "they'll
have played 20 games. They're a strong contender for the
Southwest Conference."
Eaylor is currency 13-5 for the season.
Sharpe tzil the UNL pitching is the r.:;'or concern.
"The key for this season is the your.g pitchers to come
tlcng," he scid. "Krk Eymar.n is our orJy senior pitcher."
Lettennea
Eyrrsrja was 3-3 last year a::d l:d the pitching staff in
strikeouts with 53. He had a 2.30 earned run average.
Other letterman pitchers are juniors Jerry Yingling and
Steve Nagel and sophomore Jeff Costeilo.
The Husker infield includes first baseman Larry
Winum, who had a .307 batting average last year, second,
baseman' Jeff King, third baseman Doug Miller and catcher
Jon Henne.
Senior outfielder Paul Hass, an all-Big 8 Conference
honorable mention selection last year, is the Huskers' only
returning starter in the outfield.
Two-time second team all-Big 8 performer Steve
McManaman will return as the Huskers designated hitter.
After the Baylor series, the Huskers will play Austin
College in a doubleheader March 23; Southwest Minnesota
State and Dallas University at Dallas March 24; a double
header in Dallas against Baptist College March 25; and a
doubleheader against Dallas University on March 26.
This year, for the first time in the Big 8, the league will
be split into two divisions. -
UNL, Missouri, Iowa State and Kansas comprise one
division and Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and
Colorado are in the other division.
At the end of the conference season, the top two teams
from each division will advance to the second annual
double elimination Big 8 postseason playoff May 20
through 24 in Oklahoma City, Okla. '
Memorial Stad
sum should hav
new sooi
eboard by virst kickoff
By Mike McCarthy
Those high-in-tjie-sky fans in Memorial Stadium's north
end should have company next fall when the Husker
gridders begin pounding the new AstroTurf.
Anew scoreboard, valued at $100,000, will be support
ed from braces on the top row of the north stadium if
all goes well, according to Dick Bennett, UNL director of
special business services.
Bennett said the scoreboard will be paid for by adver
tiser. Open bidding March 29 will determine what adver
tiser's name will appear on the scoreboard and how much
the advertiser will have to pay to get it th:re.
Bennett added that the NU Board of Regenti stO must
approve the bids and construction.
Bennett refused to say how much he expect the bids
to be.
The bids wl not pay for the scoreboard in one year.
This i a 10-year project."
Bennett ssid the board' letter wO stand 24 inches
hih. The center will be dear so lighted pictures can
I) 5 jfXi life. r--v J y ! t2
"It won't have fireworks like the Astrodome score
board," he said, "but it will have 50 to 100 preset mas
sages that are already diagramed."
Besides the preset pictures, the scoreboard operator
also can use the board's teletype to make his own mes
sages.
Bids also will include several new scoreboards for the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, Bennett added.
"The primary emphasis for advertising money at UNO
is to buy new scoreboards, but at UNL itVto get a new
scoreboard and to provide revenue for a general cash
fund."
Bennett added that the fate cf the existing northeast
scoreboard istnii on the new expansion cf 8 00
siats and its design. The old northwest scoreboard would
stay for fans who cant see the new scoreboard, he tzii.
"I think the idsa of adverting is potantiaTy attrac
tive forbu:iness."
Bennett said the university w23 Install the scoreboard
as soon as possible if it receives recent approval.
However, Bennett said he doubts it would be ready for
the annual Ecd-V.Ute football g:-.e early n Msy.