Thursday, October 31, 1985
Daily Nebraskan
Page 13
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MU cr
By Rich Cooper
Staff Reporter
Until last year, the Big Eight Cham
pionships had been the last meet of the
year for the Nebraska women's cross
country team.
Last year, the Cornhusker women
finished fifth at the conference meet but
still qualified for the NCAA Champion
ships. But this year the Huskers are ranked
fifth in the nation and coaches polled
throughout the conference agree they
are the favorites to win the Big Eight
title this weekend in Columbia, Mo.
Nebraska cross country coach Jay
Dirksen said his team's chances are as
good as anybody's to win the champ
ionship. "We have a good shot of winning the
meet," Dirksen said. "But, we still have
to worry about seven other teams. This
meet is going to be a real dogfight."
Dirksen said the Big Eight is the
toughest in the nation. Four teams are
ranked in the top 20.
He said any of the top five teams
could win the meet. Iowa State, which
is ranked third in the nation; Kansas
State is seventh and Missouri is 14th.
Oklahoma State is ranked in the top 10
in the Midwest
Dirksen said in order for his team to
win, all five runners are going to have to
run their best races of the season.
"None of our girls have run their best
races yet," Dirksen said. "This meet
will hopefully be the best race for our
KSU's Hundlev savs this vear's
goal is to 'just improve'
By Chuck Green
Staff Reporter
The goals of Kansas State safety Bar
ton Hundley epitomize the goals of the
entire Wildcat team this season.
The 5-11, 187-pound senior said his
primary objective this season is to "just
improve" enough to compete in the Big
Eight.
"You always want to improve on
technique," Hundley said. "I'd just like
to give 100 percent and play good foot
ball each week."
Hundley, an all-Big Eight defensive
back in 1984, appears to be one of the
few bright spots on Kansas State's 1-6
team.
"I think I've played very average
football this year," Hundley said. "I've
had a couple good games, but I've had a
few bad games, too. Our entire defense
has DlavpH fairlv
there's always plenty of room for
improvement."
Hundley, a three-year letterman from
Clay Center, Kan., was not a highly
recruited player, mainly because of his
wee
I'm not aware of the reasons, but I'm
getting varied reactions to mv weekly
predictions.
j Some people, few though they be,
jPraise me for going out on a limb each
jweek to predict the ruthless game of
college football.
Jeff Apel
i The mninit., 1 I
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pner tell me unique things about the
My
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f mmn, or they come right out and
pticize it.
I have decided to do something
about it.
I have taken the most unusual
SS C1ILTO
team because we are going to need that
to win.
Dirksen said his team's best aspect
is the runners' equal talent. He said
every week the team has had a different
leading finisher.
The biggest surprise, Dirksen said,
has been the performance of Sammie
Resh, a freshman from Shelton. In high
school, Resh won the Class C state
individual championship and also won
the 1,600 and the 3,200 meter runs all
four years she ran in high school.
Dirksen said a key to the Huskers
winning the championship will be how
Resh performs in the meet. He also said
the team whose fifth runner finishes
first will probably win the meet.
Dirksen said the toughest teams will
be Iowa State and Kansas State. Iowa
State defeated Nebraska by only one
point earlier this season. Nebraska has
only run once against Kansas State this
season. They nipped the Wildcats by
less than five points.
Here is a rundown of the rest of the
teams in the conference in order of
finish predicted by the coaches.
The Cyclones have a lot to prove this
year after slipping to fourth place in
the conference last year, Coach Ron
Renko said. They return five runners
from last year.
Renko said his runners were disap
pointed they didn't go to nationals last
year and that has made them work
harder this year.
Bonnie Sons is the top runner for the
Cyclones. Renko said she ran her best
size. He said this played a major role in
his decision to attend Kansas State.
"I was only 5-11, 160 coming out of
high school," he said. "No major col
lege recruited me, other than Kansas
State. All of my offers came from
smaller schools and junior colleges in
Kansas. I nearly went to Dodge City
(Kansas) Junior College, but then
Kansas State asked me to walk-on for
them."
Hundley walked on in 1981, the same
year Coach Jim Dickey redshirted 10
Wildcat lettermen, including eight
starters.
"I had the opportunity to play right
away," Hundley said, "so I grabbed it
while it was there."
Hundley saw playing time in Kansas
State's last seven games that season.
But that was only the beginning.
Last season as a junior, Hundley tal
lied 133 tackles, including 22 against
Oklahoma State, and broke up seven
passes for good measure. When he
wasn't chasing the ball, he was carry
ing it on punt returns, averaging 6.7
yards per return.
Despite the Wildcats' disappointing
criticism I had this week and tied it in
with this week's guest predictor.
The criticism which won, lids down,
was "this column is nothing but a
bunch of trash." .
With this in mind, I welcome Gordon
Petrie to this week's column as guest
predictor.
Petrie, a faithful employee of Mid
west Refuse service for 10 years, was
more than willing to help when I told
him I would leave a few bucks under
the can next time he picked up my
trash. , , . .
Before Gordon and I get into the
predicting, I'll tell you that in last
week's (garbage) I posted a 4-1 record
missing only on SMU's 44-14 rout of
TCX3S
I also picked up my second win of
the year against a guest predictor, as
iry team
race when she finished second overall
at the Wisconsin Invitational Oct. 19.
Renko said his squad is strong all
the way down to its seventh runner. He
said freshman Tami Colby from Boone,
Iowa, has been running strong.
"The key to winning this meet will
be consistent running by all our runners
one through seven," Renko said. "We
have a gameplan going into this meet.
Every runner's going to run a certain
race."
The Wildcats could surprise a lot of
people, Coach Steve Miller said. The'
Wildcats have three runners who have
competed at the national level. He said
the team is very young. It has two jun
iors, two sophomores and one freshman.
Miller said Allison Deckert, Anne
Stadler and Jacque Struckhoff all will
have to run well if they are to win their
second Big Eight title in three years.
The Cowgirls are the Rodney Danger
fields of the conference, Coach Dick
Weis said. They are not ranked nation
ally, but they should be, he said.
The Cowgirls have given the top
teams in the conference tough races
this season, he said.
The top runner for the Cowgirls is
All-American Christine McMiken, the
world record holder in the 5,000 meters.
She set the record at the Big Eight
Championships last year in Lincoln.
Weis said McMiken has broken every
cross-country course record she has
run on this season. He said she is the
pre-meet favorite to win the individual
title.
his playing
season records since his stay there,
Hundley said has had no second thoughts
about his decision to attend Kansas
State.
"I've never changed my mind about
Kansas State," he said. "Of course, I
wish we could have done better. This
season has been really tough. We needed
a win quite a bit, and we got it last
week against Missouri. I think this
program is not too far from turning
around, maybe not to contend for the
Big Eight title, but at least to be a
halfway decent team. We really have
good facilities here, and all the coaches
do the best they can. I'm happy to be
here."
Though Hundley said he feels he's
played "fairly well" so far this season,
he's said he's "still undecided" about
some of the talk from his coaches about
All-American honors in 1985.
"I don't know," he said. "If I play
hard, it'll take care of itself. That goes
for the NFL, too. If the opportunity
comes, I'd love to play there, but I
guess I'll just have to take things as
they come. Right now, I'm just worried
about finishing the season."
ributionto
Pete Rose posted a dismal 2-3 record
against me.
For the year, I'm 79-20, for a winning
percentage of 73.
Auburn 27, Florida 16 at Au
burn, Ala.
Gordon said he liked Florida by a
24-14 margin but I'm taking Auburn in
this one. The Tigers have shown that
they are extremely explosive on offense,
and, although Florida has a respectable
defense, I don't think they will be able
to shut down Bo Jackson and company.
Nebraska 52, Kansas State 6
at Manhattan, Kan.
Gordon and I agree that this game is
definitely the trashiest of the week.
Kansas State has shown nothing except
the loss of Jim Dickey all season.
Nebraska has continued to make
amends for its season opening loss to
1l SLiTE.
Weis said Veronica Habcrl, Laura
Davis and Geradine Achinson will help
the Cowgirls finish strongly at the
meet.
The defending Big Eight Champion's
hopes of successfully defending the
title went down the drain when Andrea
Fischer had knee surgery this fall. The
Tigers were also hurt by graduation
when Sabrina Darnhoefer, the two-time
Big Eight champion, graduated last
year.
Tiger coach Lou Duesing said his
team is good enough to be ranked 14th
in the country but it's really hurting
without Fischer. Leading the Tigers
into the championships will be junior
Jill Kingsbury and Cyd Thomas. Dues
ing said his team has been running well
this season but not good enough to win
the title again. He said the Tigers will
be lucky to finish in the top four.
The Buffaloes Big Eight Champion
ship hopes ended when their top runner,
sophomore Michelle Bews came down
with a virus that develops under the
knee cap and causes swelling.
Colorado coach Jerry Quiller said
the virus is very painful and it is doubt
ful Bews will run.
With the loss of Bews, Quiller said he
is hoping his team can finish in sixth
place. He said the meet will give his
runners the experience so that next
year they can aim for the title. Without
Bews, the Buffaloes lost a possible 30
points which any team can't afford, he
said.
Quiller said he thinks the favorite to
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Hundley
the trash
Florida State by pounding its opponents.
Gordon must have been thinking along
the same lines; he picked Nebraska by
a 35-10 score.
Iowa 20, Ohio State 1 5 at Iowa
City, Iowa.
Gordon picked Iowa by a 1 4-7 margin
and I have to agree with him. Iowa has
shown that it is truly worthy of its No.
1 ranking while Ohio State still refuses
to say that Keith Byars is playing with a
broken foot.
Miami, Florida 31, Florida
State 20 at Miami, Fla.
Two weeks ago, Jimmy Johnson blew
away archrival Barry Switzer and the
Oklahoma Sooners, and I think he will
continue that torrid pace by defeating
Florida State. Gordon agrees with me,
picking Miami by a 21-7 margin.
Colorado 21, Oklahoma State
win the meet is Iowa State because
they have better depth than any team
in the Big Eight, but the title race
should be close, he said.
The Sooners don't have enough depth
to win the title but they could mess up
things for the top three teams, Dirksen
said.
The Sooners have two runners who
have been running very well this sea
son, he said. Dirksen said Tove Lutdal,
a sophomore from Brenham, Texas has
a good chance to finish second behind
McMiken. Last year the Sooners fin
ished eighth in the conference meet.
This year they will climb up to seventh
because of Lutdal and freshman Bonnie
Littlejohn, who has been a big surprise,
Dirksen said.
The Jayhawks will go nowhere but to
the Big Eight cellar, Dirksen said. They
have the youngest team in the confer
ence with four sophomores and all the
rest freshmen.
Dirksen said lack of experience will
hurt the Jayhawks.
Nebraska women's cross country
runner Jill Noel said her team knows
what it has to do to win its first Big
Eight Championship. She said everyone
is going to have to run their own race.
She said the team is not afraid of any
of the top teams in the top of the
conference.
"We are as ready as we are going to
be for this meet," she said. "If every
body is consistent and runs tough, then
we should win."
Photo courtesy KSU Sports Info.
can
20 at Boulder, Colo.
Gordon picked Oklahoma State by a
21-14 margin, but I think Colorado will
win this one. The Buffaloes impressed
me in their 17-7 loss to Nebraska last
week while Oklahoma State looked bad
in its victory over Kansas.
Other scores: Michigan 31, Illinois
7 (Todd von Kampen's pick); Michigan
State 20, USC 17; Penn State 31, Boston
College 14; Oklahoma 34, Kansas 21;
Notre Dame 20, Navy 17; Georgia Tech
35, Duke 10; West Virginia 26, Virginia
12; Iowa State 20, Missouri 17; Min
nesota 30, Michigan State 10; Temple
45, Delaware 10; Tennessee 24, Rutgers
14; Washington 30, Stanford 6; LSU 21,
Mississippi 3; Georgia 10, Tulane 9;
SMU 41, Texas A&M 12; BYU 20, Wyom
ing 17 and Air Force 34, San Diego
State 9.