Tuesday, September 30, 1986 Daiiy Nebraskan Page 7
No matter where. Kathmann has fun
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By Chuck Green
Sports Editor
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Andrea HoyDaily Nebraskan
Husker tennis player Joe Kathmann serves during practice
Monday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Editor's note: This is the 12th
in a series of stories featuring
foreign students who are ath
letes at Nebraska.
For Joe Kathmann, fun is the name
of the game.
Kathmann, a sophomore international
business major from Vechta, West
Germany, and a member of Nebraska's
men's tennis team, doesn't only have
fun on the courts. He tries to work fun
into every aspect of his lifestyle.
Of course, fun on the tennis court is
the most important thing to him.
"I always want to have fun playing
the game," Kathmann said. "It's always
nice to improve your game, but as long
as I feel happy on the court, that's all I
want."
Kathmann, 22, said he never
planned to go to school in the United
States. After spending a mandatory
two-year stint in the Luftwaffe, the
West German Air Force, Kathmann
came to the United States to visit
friends of his family in Omaha. That
visit in May 1985 changed Kathmann's
life.
"I always wanted to go to America,"
he said. "I wanted to get to know the
country, the people, the culture. After I
went to Omaha for the summer, they
(his friends in Omaha) asked if I would
stay and go to school in Lincoln. I
thought, 'why not?' "
Kathmann spoke with Nebraska's
foreign student advisor and made
arrangements to attend the university
in fall 1985. Kathmann also met with
Cornhusker tennis coach Kerry McDer
mott. "I met Kerry in Omaha a few months
before, when I played in the Nebraska
Open," Kathmann said. "He saw me
play and said that he could use me on
the team."
Kathmann said he thinks tennis
competition in the United States is
tougher than it is in Germany. He said
this is because of the early preparation
American tennis players receive.
"Everybody here "plays tennis at an
early age," he said. "There are courts
all over the country here. Also, America
has high school programs, which we
don't have in Germany, and college
programs, which we also don't have."
One German player, Boris Becker, is
helping to popularize the sport in Ger
many, Kathmann said. Becker is Kath
mann's favorite player because of his
edge on the court and the way he han
dles himself during competition.
"He behaves better than (John)
McEnroe," Kathmann said.
Kathmann said he feels that his
forehand is the best aspect of his game,
while ground strokes and quickness
are the things he'd most like to improve
on. He also said he'd like to improve his
consistency and his mental concen
tration. Kathmann said he has had no major
problems adapting to life in the United
States because "the cultures are pretty
much the same." Even so, Kathmann
said, driving habits here aren't the
same as those in Germany.
Last December, Kathmann was on
his way to Omaha after his last fall
exam. He was driving on Interstate 80
at about 85 mph, he said, when a car
began moving closer and closer to him
from behind.
"I figured the guy wanted to go fas
ter, so I went faster, too," he said.
It wasn't a smart choice.
"All of a sudden, I saw flashing red
lights behind me," Kathmann said, "it
was a cop."
Not wanting an expensive ticket for
speeding, Kathmann had to think quick.
"When he got to my window, I began
speaking German to him," Kathmann
said. "I asked him (in German) if he
spoke German. He didn't. Then I pointed
to my tennis bag (which was in the
front passenger seat) and said 'airport
.... home.' "
The patrolman, not knowing what tq
do, tried to make Kathmann under
stand what was going on.
After a few minutes, Kathmann gave
the patrolman his German driver's
license, German passport, German I.D.
card and his international driver's
license.
"After that, the cop went back to his
car and sat there for 15 minutes, prob
ably trying to figure out what I had
given him," Kathmann said.
Finally, the officer came back and
wrote Kathmann a warning. Along with
the warning, he tried to give Kathmann
one final word of advice.
"He was motioning to me and saying,
really slow, 'Please drive slower!' in
English," Kathmann said.
After dodging one bullet, Kathmann
said he has decided to drive a little
slower when there might be state
patrolmen around.
After graduation, Kathmann said he
hopes to go to Spain or Mexico to work
on his third language, Spanish. His real
goal, however, is to work for a company
and then start his own business.
"I want to make my first million
dollars before I turn 40," Kathmann
said.
Whether he does or not, he'll have
fun trying.
Cross-country teams win at invite
Saturday was a good day for both the
men's and women's cross-country teams.
The women captured the Illini Invi
tational Championship for the third
straight year, and the men's team won
it for the second.
The women out-distanced runner-up
Iowa by 15 points, and third-place Flor
ida by 16. Twelve teams competed in
the tournament.
"It was an important meet for us,
and I'm really, really happy," Coach Jay
Dirksen said. "As a team we were really
strong, and top five finishers were only
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34 seconds apart, making it a pretty
tight group."
The Huskers were led by senior
Laura Wight, who finished seventh.
Mary Amen placed ninth, five seconds
behind her at 1 1th was Jill Noel.
"The competition individually was
outstanding. Some of the better distant
runners at this level were there. So we
found out we're a pretty good team,"
Dirksen said.
He added that the coaches' poll
comes out sometime this week, and the
women should be ranked fairly high.
On the men's side, Dirksen was
somewhat surprised at the finish of his
team.
"They did a good job, and I was really
elated. I wasn't really shocked because
I knew they were capable," he said.
Nebraska led the nine-team field,
beating runner-up Indiana by two. Illi
nois finished third, 17 points back
"Illinois was probably the top team
there, but they held out three of their
top six runners (due to) injury pur
poses," Dirksen said.
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