Tuesday, February 17, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
Page 5
J5j
Women gymnasts defeat Ambnam;
prepare for
By Rich Cooper
Staff Reporter
Auburn women's gymnastics coach
Robert Dillard said he doesn't like los
ing, especially to former assistant
coaches.
That was the case, though, Sunday
night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center
as Nebraska defeated Dillard's team
183.40 to 178.80.
Nebraska coach Rick Walton was an
assistant coach for Dillard during the
1980-81 season at Jacksonville State
before moving on to coach at Georgia.
While at Georgia, Walton defeated Dil
lard twice. Sunday's victory was Wal
ton's third in a row.
"Ever since Rick left me and went to
Georgia, I haven't been able to beat
him," Dillard said. "I don't know if I
Huskers land Central star Flowers
By The Associated Press
OMAHA Omaha Central High
School running back Leodis Flowers
signed a letter of intent Monday to
attend Nebraska.
With Flowers' commitment, Nebraska
has obtained the signatures of 22 foot
KU gives
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter "
In their final tuneup before post
season competition the Nebraska men's
and women's swim teams posted victo
ries over Kansas Saturday at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center. :,..,,;;:.,:
The men won by a 69-44 margin, and
the women posted a 60-53 victory.
Nebraska men's coach Cal Bentz
said he was pleased with the victory,
but added that his team will have to
continue to work hard in preparation
for the Big Eight Conference meet,
which will be March 5 through 7 in
Lincoln.
"It was a good meet and we were
pleased to do well, Bentz said. "We've
got a lot of things we've got to focus
on."
Bentz said he was particularly pleased
with the swimming of freshman Jaco
Kruger, sophomore Mike Irvin and jun
ior Ed Jowdy.
Tob wrestler still not satisfied, wants
By Steve Sipple
Staff Reporter
Mike Traynor, Nebraska's top 190
pound wrestler, said he isn't satisfied
with his season yet.
This is probably bad news for oppo
nents he'll face on the rest of the Corn
huskers' schedule, including the Big
Eight Conference tournament.
To be satisfied, Traynor said he
wants to win in the Huskers' last three
duals, to place in the top two in the Big
Eight and to win a couple of matches at
nationals.
Nebraska has duals with North
Dakota, Wyoming and Drake before the
conference tournament in Stillwater,
Okla., March 7, Traynor says he expects
three dual victories heading into the
tournament, where he'll probably be
the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. The top four
finishers automatically qualify for the
national tournament at the University
of Maryland, March 19 through 21.
If Traynor, a redshirt freshman with
an 18-15 record, reaches his goals, he
will have had a year that would likely
satisfy most upperclassmen. For a
freshman, reaching these goals would
be exceptional. But Traynor downplays
his achievements.
"I've been up and down," he said. "I
haven't had that good a season. Hope
fully I'll do good in the Big Eight."
With three more dual victories and
wins in the conference and national
rematclk with Sooneir
like that too much. Everybody seems to
think that I taught him how to coach,
but that's not true. I just gave him an
opportunity to start coaching, and he's
come a long way since those days at
Jacksonville."
The Cornhuskers opened up a big
lead in the fifth rotation by scoring a
46.9 on the vault while Auburn scored a
44.15 on the uneven bars. Jeaneane
Smith tied the Nebraska record by
scoring a 9.6 on the vault. Smith fin
ished second behind teammate Crystal
Savage in the all-around with a 37.40.
Savage scored a personal best of 37.50.
Still, he said, the score of 183 gives
Nebraska the fifth-highest scoring aver
age in the country and the third
highest average in the Midwest regional
behind No. 2-ranked Arizona and No. 1
Utah.
Walton said he didn't understand
ball recruits this month.
The 5-11, 188-pound back chose
Nebraska over Oklahoma and Iowa.
Flowers gained 1,203 yards in seven
games his senior year. He missed two
games because of injury, but rebounded
to rush for 326 yards in his final high-
swimmers
"I think Jaco Kruger swam well,"
Bentz said. "He had a good 1,650 (-yard
freestyle), a good 400 (-yard) IM, and a
good 500 (-yard) free. Mike (Irvin) was
good and Ed Jowdy swam well."
Kruger finished second in both the
1,650 freestyle and the 500 freestyle
and placed fourth in the 400 individual
medley. Irvin won the 400 IM, and
Jowdy finished second in the 200-yard
backstroke and teamed with Sean
Frampton, Doug Hubner and Dan
Novinski to win the 400-yard medley
relay.
The divers also had strong perfor
mances, Bentz said.
"The divers must have done really
well, even without Eric Ognibene," he
said.
Ognibene, an NCAA qualifier in the
one- and three-meter diving events, was
competing in the America's Cup II Div
ing Championships in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla.
In his absence, junior Wes Zimmer
man picked up the slack and won both
tourneys, Traynor will have achieved
marks that few freshmen manage at
Nebraska: a winning record of more
than 50 percent and more than 20 vic
tories. By comparison, Nebraska's senior
134-pounder, Gil Sanchez, who has
consistently been one of the top-ranked
wrestlers in his class, won 15 matches
as a freshman.
"Anybody who goes over .500 will be
an All-American twice," coach Tim
Neumann said. "He will be dominant as
a junior and senior."
But Traynor has taken his lumps this
year, which could explain his dissatis
faction. He attributes many of his
losses to inexperience, as he has
wrestled primarily juniors and seniors
the entire year. With more experience,
Traynor expects more success.
"I've lost a lot of close matches
because I just wasn't ready," he said.
"A lot of it's mental. The older you get
the stronger and mentally tougher you
get.
"You've got to stick with it. Pretty
soon instead of losing close matches
you'll win them."
As an example, he mentioned last
weekend's loss to Northern Iowa's Jeff
Weatherman, who pinned Traynor in.,
2:22. Weatherman is a fifth-year senior.
Neumann thinks the tables will be
turned in matches like last weekend's
as Traynor gains experience.
"He is wrestling mostly juniors and
seniors," Neumann said. "He'll be more
why his team had problems on the bal
ance beam and uneven bars.
"After the vault," we were on a 186
(point) pace," he said. "But it seemed
like everything seemed to fall apart on
the beam and bars. Even though we
came away with a win tonight, I'm
unhappy we didn't score higher, be
cause it's not how many wins you get,
it's what your scoring average is that
gets you into the NCAA finals."
Walton said that Nebraska will be
tested during the next couple of weeks
by tougher competition. The Huskers
will travel to Tulsa next weekend to
face Oklahoma in a dual meet.
Nebraska defeated the Sooners
184.90 to 182.20 in the Heartland Invi
tational Feb. 7.
Nebraska's next home appearance
after the Oklahoma dual will be on
March 6 against Iowa State.
school game against Council Bluffs
Thomas Jefferson.
Flowers gained 3,119 yards in his
prep career, scoring 39 touchdowns.
Nineteen high-school players and
two junior-college players already have
signed letters of intent to attend
Nebraska.
tuneup
events.
Nebraska also received first-place
finishes from Pat Klaren in the 500
yard freestyle, Tom Stus in the 200-yard
butterfly and Hubner in the 100-yard
freestyle.
The Cornhuskers dominated the 50
yard freestyle. Tony Poleo finished
first, Novinski second, and Marty Amsler
third.
Kansas coach Gary Kempf said he
was impressed with Nebraska the No.
16-ranked team in the country, and he
said he knows his men's team will have
to swim well to defeat the Huskers in
the Big Eight meet.
"We have to come in here and swim
better than we ever have in our life," he
said.
Kempf said that even though Ne
braska will be the favorite, his team
will swim hard and push Nebraska.
"We're coming here to make it a
close race," Kempf said. "We're going
to do everything we can do to make
them better."
dominant than he has been dominated.
"He'll be as good or better than any
body he has wrestled."
These high hopes are what ex-coach
Bob Fehrs and Neumann had in mind
when they recruited Traynor out of
Ellsworth High in Ellsworth, Wis. There
he compiled a 61-3-0 record, including
a state championship and a runner-up
finish. He was one of the most highly
recruited 190-poundcrs in the nation
his senior year, Neumann said. Louisi
ana State, Michigan and Minnesota
also recruited him.
In Traynor, Fehrs and Neumann were
impressed with the physical strength
and exceptional technique he used to
dominate opponents. Neumann knows
firsthand of Traynor's strength. He
wrestles him daily in practice.
"He's one of the strongest individu
als I've ever wrestled," Neumann said.
His dominance in high school may
be one reason for Traynor's dissatisfac
tion now, Neumann said.
"He's a competitor," Neumann said.
"He came out of high school with an 'I
can kick anybody's butt' attitude. If he
was satisfied I'd be worried. It's good
he's unsatisfied. He'll get better."
With improvement, Neumann said,
he feels Traynor has the physical tools
to be an All-American in the future. For
now, Traynor has his sights set on the
remainder of the schedule and the Big
Eight tournament. He wants satisfaction.
Traynor's main competition in the
Drake trips up NU
By Mark Darowitsch
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska women's tennis
team's spring home opener was
spoiled by Drake over the weekend
as the Bulldogs defeated the Corn
huskers 6-3.
Drake captured five of six singles
matches and one doubles match.
The Maskers' lone singles win
was by Cari Gr:e, v;!.r !cf:irod
Jennifer Paslcy 6-1, G 0 in Die No. 4
singles match.
Nebraska rebounded after the
singles matches to tike two cf three
doubles matches. Doneta Ihlr.aa
and Vickie Martin defeated Iehd
McClelland and Giselo Eauin 3
6, 6-1 and 6-0. Jenny Dic'-ich and
Anno Stevens defeated Jenifer
Pasley ar.d Sara Arnold 7 6, 3-6 and
6-2.
Nebraska coach Ktthy Kr.'.Hns
sc'.d she v;zs disccir.i.'d ty the
I "'"4 fa I-'Va t;--"A fx a T'-.-'-r-j
;:!r.c:;t d:iz: led then L.tL'l.
"We drcjod five of the s.ix jin
gles matches and that was the
match right there," Hawkins said.
SwimmeFS
By Jeff Apel
Staff Reporter
Attention immediately turned to the
upcoming Big Eight Conference cham
pionships Saturday after the Nebraska
women's swimming team's 60-53 vic
tory against Kansas.
Nebraska coach Ray Huppert said
that although he was glad to see the
Cornhuskers defeat archrival Kansas,
he was concerned because he doesn't
know what impact the victory will have
on Nebraska's preparations for the Big
Eight championships.
The Big Eight championships will be
March 4 through 7 at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
Huppert said his greatest fear is that
Nebraska's victory will have such an
emotional impact on the 4-2 Jayhawks
that Kansas will be more determined
than ever to win this year's Big Eight
title.
Huppert also said that he has to
make certain the victory doesn't go to
the Huskers' heads.
"A win can make a team cocky, but
I'll see to it that we don't become
cocky," he said. "We've got to make
to win last
Big Eight will likely come from Iowa
State's No. 2-ranked Doug Voelkers.
Voelkers will be the No. 1 seed and
Traynor will have to beat him for the
championship. But he thinks a victory
Doug CarrollDaily Nebraskan
Nebraska's ISO-pounder Mike Traynor works on moves
against teammate Sonny Manley during practice Monday
afternoon.
"I thought we would play Drake
much tougher than that. But Drake
played very well. They came in ready
to play from game one.
"I though we definitely could
(beat Drake). One of the doubles I
thought we should have won, and I
thought we could have won two or
three singles matches."
After losing to Drake, the Huskers
defeated Tulsa 8-1 to raise their
dual record to 4-2. Nebraska won
five of the six single matches. The
Huskers swept all three doubles
matches.
"1 was surprised in the set scores,"
Hawkins said. "I thought we could
beat them 8-1 or 9-0. In the individ
ual matches, we went through thera
very quickly."
Haw kins said that she was pleased
with the Diedrich and Stephens'
doubles play. They won both cf their
matches.
"They played fairly well together,"
Hawkins said. "They are a new com
bination, tut they communicated
well together."
"Overall, they all played well in
two out of the three sets," she said.
set record
sure we spend the next couple of weeks
training so we are bound and deter
mined to win."
Huppert said the win over Kansas
was special because it gave Nebraska
its 1 1th win of the season, a new school
record. The old record of 10 wins was
held by last year's team.
"I'm very happy for the team," Hup
pert said. "Each team is unique in its
own way, but this team is unique in its
itself because of (the record)."
Huppert said he was particularly
pleased with the performances of Erin
Hurley and Lee Pennefather against
the Jayhawks.
Pennefather finished first in the 200
yard backstroke and Hurley overcame
the sickness that has plagued her all
season and won the 200-yard breast
stroke, Huppert said.
"Erin came through with a beautiful
performance," he said. "That was a key
race."
Kansas coach Gary Kempf said de
spite the loss he was pleased with what
the Jayhawks did.
"We have some weak spots," Kempf
said, "but our biggest thing is just a
continued rest factor, so we pick up our
speed."
three du
.s
is possible.
"We'll be working hard the next two
or three weeks in practice and if I'm in
good condition, I can beat him," he
said.
