I rankings, 11 NCAA Gold Medals and 11 individual Big Eight
Titles.
Hartung started competing in gymnastics when he was six
years old. When he was ? ung, he set two goals for himself,
making the Olympic team and getting a college degree. In
1983, he graduated from UNL with a degree in business
administration. He made the U.S,Olympic team in 1980, but
that year the United States boycotted the Olympics so he
waited until 1984.
This fall he started working on his masters degree. As far
as his job is concerned. Hartung said he would like to see
more fan support for Nebraska's minor sports like gymnastics
and swimming.
“When I was competing for Nebraska the reason we drew
the big crowds was because there were several Nebraskans on
the team, Hartung said. “Now there are no native Nebraskans
on the team and so we don’t get any people coming out to
watch the meets, even though they’ve finished second three
years in a row.”
Hartung said his body feels much better now that he’s not
competitive in gymnastics.
“When you train seven days a week for almost 18 years it
starts to take a toll on your body,” Hartung said. “I now feel a
lot better and I can concentrate all my energy towards my job
and coaching gymnastics.”
If he returns to gymnastics Hartung knows he would be
■ competitive. But for now, he’s satisfied with coaching, he
calH
He fulfilled a life-long dream when he competed in 1984.
he said. That squelched his desire to compete in 1988.
f f por me. I guess the main reason why I retired was the
f 1988 Olympic games were not a dream of mine. ‘84
* was," Hartung said.
“I didn’t have the capacity to look past ‘84 because it was
sort of like my life.
“Looking back at it all. yea sure I could have kept training
for ‘88. However. I had done gymnastics at a higher level
longer than anybody. In fact, I don’t really know anyone that's
competed in gymnastics for 20 years."
Hartung said he'll never forget the 1984 Olympic games.
Even if he did become a member of the 1988 team and they
won the gold medal, it wouldn’t be the same, he said.
Even though the Olympic dream is nothing but a memory
for Hartung, the desire to compete in the Olympics is still
there for former Nebraska gymnast Phil Cahoy.
Cahoy, who first came to UNL in 1979. made the 1980
Olympic team but didn’t compete because of the boycott.
When 1984 came around, he was unable to try out for the
U.S team because of a shoulder injury.
Now. wniie training lour times a week lor tne iyow
Olympic team trails. Cahoy is in his second year of
medical school at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Cahoy says training for the Olympics helps take his mind
off the pressures of medical school.
“Working out helps me to get rid of my frustrations," Cahoy
said. “I tried to quit after starting medical school but I went
back two weeks later because I couldn’t handle getting rid of
those pressures.
“Not working out just drove me crazy because I had been
doing it for so long."
Cahoy said he has always been fascinated with medicine.
Eventually he expects to be an orthopedic surgeon.
At the age of 26. critics might say Cahoy is too old to
compete in gymnastics, but Cahoy said his body feels good.
“I guess if I was training every day my body would feel it,
but I try not to push myself and if my body hurts I take it
easy," Cahoy said. “I don’t look at myself as being too old to
compete in gymnastics because the gentleman who won the
gold medal at the 1984 Olympic games was 28.”
Between training for the 1988 Olympics and going to
medical school, Cahoy said he has little free time. In medical
school, he said, a person can’t blow off his studies. His
homework assignments are sometimes overwhelming.
But five years at UNL gave him good study habits, he said.
If he makes the 1988 Olympic team, he would be gi\ t*n
a month to train with the team.
“By the time the Olympics come around I should be
able to get some time off," Cahoy said. “But first, I have to
make the team, which will be very hard because I’m not work
ing out seven days a week for five hours."
But 10 years as a gymnast has given Cahoy the discipline
to get through medical school.
“To be a successful gymnast you have to work to get to that
goal," he said. “In medical school it’s the same way, you have
to do the work and you have to budget your time."
In 1980. when he made the Olympic team. Cahoy said he
wasn’t upset that the competition was boycotted because he
didn’t think the U.S. team was prepared for competition.
But disappointment followed with the shoulder injury that
‘It doesn't matter if you were an All-Ameri
can when you were in college because the
coaches that pick the players to play on
their teams don t care about that. What
they want are the best players because
professionalfootball is a business. ’
forced him to sit out in 1984.
“In 1984, I was disappointed that I couldn’t even train, it
was very hard for me to concentrate on other things,” Cahoy
said. “When my shoulder finally did heal I decided to start
training again, and if I stayed in gymnastics until 1988,
great."
In 1985, Cahoy returned to competition at the World
Championships as a member of the United States Team. But
medical school was in the back of his mind. That summer
Cahoy competed in his last competition, the Goodwill Games
in Moscow.
Cahoy said he doesn’t know if he is going to make the
Olympic team. All he can do is continue to train.
"The competition and the pressure to make the team will
be intense," Cahoy said. “But I’ve been in those pressure situ
ations before and I feel I'm in pretty good shape so I have a
shot.”
For Brian Carr, coaching basketball is something that
he would like to do for the rest of his life.
The former Husker basketball player, who led Ne
braska to the semifinals of the National Invitational Basket
ball tournament last year, is now an assistant boys’ basket
ball coach at Northeast Lincoln High School.
Coaching allows him to stay involved with basketball.
“Coaching is something I have always wanted to do be
cause I love the sport of basketball." Carr said. “The program
here at Northeast is good. Rick gives me a lot of freedom to
teach the fundamentals.
“Plus, the rest of the coaching staff respects me which
takes a lot of pressure off me."
Carr said he never considered playing professional basket
ball because the amount of pressure involved. He has been
contacted by the International Basketball League, which is
for players 6-4 and under, but. he doesn’t know if he wants to
give up his coaching job, he said.
“Playing basketball is something that isn’t really that
important to me." Carr said. “I want to go on to bigger and
better things, like coaching. I feel that I can get a lot more
satisfaction. It’s what I really want to do."
He was hired because Northeast coaches understood
his interest in the job and knew of his success while
playing for Nebraska, he said.
Coaching was an adjustment for Carr.
“It took me a while to get used to the kids and it was the
same way for them also," Carr said. “The kids want me to play
with them all the time and at first when I did. it was hard for
me not to go all out.
“It also took a while for the kids to get used to me being a
coach, not Brian Carr the basketball player from the Univer
sity of Nebraska."
Disciplining players for things they did wrong was his
biggest challenge, he said. At first they didn’t take him seri
ously.
The coaches at Northeast appear to like his input
because they know it’s going to help the team. Carr said. His
greatest satisfaction is being able to watch students improve,
he said.
“It’s fun to watch the kids play and see the things that you
have helped them to improve on," Carr said. “Coaching is a
learning experience for me also, before I was just playing
basketball, now I have to coach it."
Carr said he thinks he has come a long way since he first
came to Nebraska. Playing helped him to grow as a person
and to communicate with people better.
“I’ve paid my dues, I had a lot of fun playing basketball but
I don’t miss it at all." Carr said. “I’m not making any long
term goals. I’m just taking things on a day to day basis.
“I grew so much as a person while playing at Nebraska.
Now. I can relate to people. I’m not the shy quiet kid from
Indiana anymore."
- by Rich Cooper
