Sports
KSU forward sinks free throws, Huskers
By Jeff A pel
Senior Editor
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas
Stale forward Charles Bledsoe has
lived in the shadow of his old junior
college teammate since he became a
Wildcat one year ago. _
But Bledsoe, 1
who teamed with
forward Mitch
Richmond at
Mobcrly (Mo.)
Junior College
before joining the
Wildcats, created
his own identity
Saturday by hit
ting two clutch
free throws to lead Kansas State to a
65-63 victory against Nebraska at
Ahearn Fieldhouse.
Kansas State coach Lon Kruger
said Bledsoe wanted to shoot the two
free throws with two seconds remain
ing. He said it helped the 6-foot-7
senior’s confidence that he sank 8 of
13 free throws before his game-win
ning attempts.
Kruger said he wasn’t worried
about Bledsoe’s free throws even
though the Wildcats converted 24 of
38 attempts in the game.
“It was a pretty bad day at the
line,” Kruger said. “It’s ironic. We
had a pretty lough day, and Charles
steps up there and saves us.”
Bledsoe said he disposed of the
butterflies that resulted from Kansas
State’s poor free-throw shooting by
turning to Kruger and his teammates
for confidence. He said he didn’t
mind being placed at the free-throw
line even though he entered the game
as a 44.2 percent free-throw shooter.
“I hdd no choice,” Bledsoe said. “I
had to go to the line.”
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said
Bledsoe shouldn’t have had the op
portunity to shoot the free throws. He
said the Comhuskers would have had
a chance to win the game in overtime
if Nebraska center Pete Manning
hadn’t fouled Bledsoe.
But, Nee said, hccouldn't fault the
performance of the Huskcrs, who
dropped to 12-10 overall and 3-3 in
the Big Eight.
“I thought Nebraska played a
great game,” Nee said. “I’m very
happy with the w ay our team played.
I thought we were ready to play and
that we had done a good job of scout
ing them.”
Husker guard Eric Johnson said
the loss was disappointing because
Nebraska had taken a six-point lead
with 5:55 remaining. He said the
Wildcats got back into the game by
using two three-point shots by
Richmond that were the result of
breakdowns in Nebraska’s defense.
Johnson was impressed by
Richmond, who tallied eight of his
team-high 16 points in the game s
final six minutes.
“He’s definitely a tough player.
He’s a pressure player,” Johnson
said. “In the second half, it was an
open ballgame, and Richmond got
hot.”
Richmond said his late perform
ance ended a frustrating day that saw
the 6-5 senior convert 5 of 10 shots
from the field and 3 of 8 from the free
throw line. He said his poor perform
ance from the line caused him to turn
to Bledsoe for the game-winning
shots.
“1 missed my free throws so C har
les could have a chance to be the
hero,” Richmond said.
Kruger said Richmond’s offen
sive frustrations were the result of
Nebraska’s zone and man-to-man
defenses. He said the Husker defense
denied Richmond the ball.
“They did a good job on Mitch,
Kruger said. “They took him out of
his rhythm.”
Kansas Slate took a 13-6 lead
when Richmond scored on a Iced
from Bledsoe. Nebraska tied the
score at 22 when Manning sank two
free throws, bui the Wildcats used
four points by forward Fred McCoy
and a three-point shot by guard
William Scott to lake a 37-33
halftime lead.
Kansas State extended its lead to
41-33 with 17:19 remaining when
Bledsoe scored after rebounding his
own missed shot, but Nebraska used
six points by forward Jeff Rekeweg
and two free throws by guard Henry
T. Buchanan to tic the score at 49.
Nebraska then built a 57-51 lead,
but Kansas State used Richmond’s
clutch performance and Bledsoe's
late free throws to post the two-point
victory. The win raised the Wildcat’s
record to 14-4 overall and 6-0 in the
Big Eight. Kansas Slate is in sole .
possessionol firslplacein theconfer
cnce.
Buchanan, who missed a potential
game-winning shot from the top of
the key with three seconds remain
ing, said he couldn’t blame the loss
on the game’s officials, even though
Kansas State shot 38 free throws and
the Huskers shot 15.
“We got the breaks we needed,”
Buchanan said. “It jusldidn’t happen
at the end like it was supposed to. We
got our chance — it just didn’t hap
pen this time.”
Nebraska’s next game is Tuesday,
when the Huskers face Oklahoma at
the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The
game is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
Ivy’s 22 points help end NU losing streak at Ahearn
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter _
M ANH ATT AN, Kan. — Ii took a combina
tion of the young and the old for the Nebraska
women’s basketball team to break a 12-ycar
losing streak at Ahcam Fieldhouse.
Senior Maurtice Ivy scored 22 points, in
cluding 12 in the second half, and freshman
Ann Halsne added 14 to lead the Cornhuskers
to a 66-60 win against Kansas Stale Saturday.
Nebraska coach Angela Beck said Ivy’s
second-half performance enabled the Huskers
to capture the victory.
“We ran Ivy on the base line — we kept
sneaking her back there — and she got her
dribble-drive going,” Beck said. “That was the
key.”
Eight of Ivy’s second-half points came in
side. She said the Lady Cats’ defense allowed
Nebraska to rely on its inside game.
“They picked us up in a man-to-man defense
and I’ve got a pretty good first step,” Ivy said.
“I just went strong to the basket. I was out doing
my job.”
Beck said Halsnc played well in her first
start as a Husker.
“Halsnc’s got a lot of things to learn," Beck
said. “She came from six-on-six (high school
basketball) and she’s never played defense in
her life. She’s learning and aggressive, and she
was a key reboundcr for us in the game. I
thought she did an excellent job of rebounding
and hitting her free throws down the stretch. I
think she’s a winner.
“She makes some mistakes, but she does
some nice things.”
Halsnc, a 6-foot-1 forward from Spencer,
Iowa, hit 6 of 8 free throws and grabbed six
rebounds. She said Nebraska wanted to work
the ball into the middle against the Lady Cats.
“We were a lot more patient today than wc
have been in the past,” Halsnc said. “We
wanted to work it into the post.”
Kansas State jumped out to a 23-18 lead with
8:18 left in the first half. But the Huskers took
a 29-27 lead with4:23 remaining in the first half
when junior center Kim Harris hit a 15-foot
jump shot.
Nebraska took a four-point lead when Ivy hit
a 12-foot jump shot and sank two free throws.
But the Lady Cats reeled off six unanswered
points to take a 35-33 halftime lead.
Harris then tied the game with a 5-foot shot
to start the second half, but Kansas Slate’s
Nadira Hazim hit a lay-up 21 seconds later that
gave the Lady Cats their last lead of the game.
Beck said Nebraska’s defense was loo much
for the Lady Cats to overcome.
“Although we kept a close score in the first
half, we wore them down with our man-to
man,’’ Beck said. “I thought they got a little bit
tired, and we planned to switch to a 3-2 (zone)
in the second half. I thought some of their guns
gota little tired and we limited them to very few
points in the second half.”
Halsnc agreed.
“They were a little tired in the first half,”
Halsnc said. “When we switched to a zone, we
kept them off guard.”
But Kansas State coach Matilda Mossman
said it wasn’t the Husker defense that shutdown
the Lady Cals.
“I think it all boils down to our inability to
execute on offense,” Mossman said. “We’re
struggling offensively, but at the same time I
think we held a very fine team to 66 points.”
The Lady Cats were led by Janet Madsen,
who scored 14 points. Kansas State connected
on 40.9 percent of its shots from the field,
compared to Nebraska’s 45.5 percent.
“We’ve just got to have somebody step up
and score,” Mossman said. “We’re just not very
consistent. We just got impatient. We look bad
shots.”
Beck said that because of the defense,
Nebraska won its first and only game ever at
Ahearn. Kansas State will move to its new
arena after this season.
“This is the last time we’ll ever play here,
and that was their motivation before,” Beck
said. “There’s no mystical spell in this arena.”
Ivy said she was glad the Huskers won in
Manhattan before her career ended.
“It’s about time,” Ivy said. “The senior year
is a special occasion, and all the seniors said at
the beginning of the year we wanted to win
every away game. Kansas State has a strong
program, but our experience took over. A ftcr 12
years, it feels good to beat them here.”
Track teams working for the weekend
By Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporter
When the scoreboard scrolled
“Welcome to the Frank Sevignc
Huskcr Invitational” during the
Nebraska Open at the Bob Dcvaney
Sports Center Saturday, it seemed to
be reading the minds of the Nebraska
track team members.
The scoreboard was preparing for
next weekend’s meet — much like
the Cornhuskers were. The Sevignc
Huskcr Invitational, scheduled for
Friday and Saturday at the spoils
center, will include top athletes from
more than 50 college teams from all
over the country.
Eleven schools attended the Ne
braska Open, which was sponsored
by Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Nebraska was the only Division I
school at the meet.
Nebraska track coach Gary Pepin
said several Huskcr athletes were
held out of Saturday’s meet so they
could rest for the upcoming Husker
Invitational and Big Eight Champi
onships.
“We held out those athletes that
wc fell didn’t need a meet this week
because they had a really hard week
of training,” Pepin said. “This is a
good meet because it kind of helps us
prepare for the two meets coming
up.”
Team scores were not kept at the
Nebraska Open.
Nebraska colleges at the meet
included Hastings, Wesleyan,
Doane, Kearney State and Concor
dia. Small schools from Kansas and
Missouri also attended the meet.
“For us, it’s just kind of a low-key
meet and kind of a fun meet,” Pepin
said. “There’s no team points or
anything like that. It’s a chance to
have a meet without a lot of pressure.
Also, it’s a home meet, so wc don’t
have to travel.”
Four Husker athletes won events
on Saturday.
Kim Guthrie won the 55-meter
hurdles in 8.40 seconds and the long
jump with a mark of 19 feet, 6 3/4
inches. Toyia Barnes won the shot
put competition with a throw of 48-7,
and Tammy Thurman won the high
jump with a leap of 5-10. Susan
Hedrick won the 600 in 1:25.10.
Many former and current Ne
braska athletes won events while
competing unattached.
Nebraska student assistant coach
Mark Colligan won the shot pul with
a throw of 61-1/2. He defeated cur
rent Huskcrs Dave Brown and Rex
Gerding, who threw 57-7 1/2 and 55
5 1/2.
Glen Loontjcr, another Nebraska
assistant coach, won the pole vault.
Terry Goods, Anthony Small, Mar
cia Tate and Jean Vcrster, all former
Huskers, also won events.
Nebraska’s James Blackledge
won the high jump with a leap of 7-1.
Harald Graham finished second in
the mile at 4:17.00, and Lisa Darley
was second in the 1000 in 3:09.01.
Wesleyan track coach Ted Bull
ing said he was happy with the way
Saturday’s meet went.
“We really had some good per
formances,” Bulling said. “It’s good
to see some different schools here.”
Wesleyan’s Dave Dellcfscn set
the only sports center record, win
ning the 55 hurdles in 7.44. Bulling
said the time is the fastest in Division
III this year.
Dave Hansen/Dally Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Tom Banks rounds a turn in the mile run.
Nebraska coaches assess need, danger of pole vaulting
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter_
Now that an Omaha student has
died from injuries suffered in a pole
vaulting accident and Iowa has
banned the event from all track
meets, coaches at Saturday’s Ne
braska Open at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center were assessing the
possibility of the event being discon
tinued in Nebraska.
But a consensus of the coaches
revealed that schools in Nebraska
that have dropped the pole vault did
so because of expenses rather than
safety reasons.
“It is expensive to have the pole
vault, and that’s whv some schools
have dropped it,’ said Glenn
Loontjer, a Nebraska assistant track
coach who is in charge of pole vaul
ters. “If Nebraska high schools were
to drop the program, we would look
more to out-of-state recruits. I am
sure Iowa State has been affected
with recruiting because of the state
dropping the program.”
Dale Bradley, an assistant track
coach at Nebraska Wesleyan Univer
sity, and John Knight, the track coach
at Concordia, agreed with Loontjcr.
Bradley said a pole vault mat costs
about $8,000, standards $ 1,500 each
and poles about $225 apiece. He said
that because of expenses like these,
school systems are unable to justify
keeping the event.
Knight said it’s cheaper for
schools to drop the event rather than
make a commitment to keep it. Costs
are a “limp excuse” for administra
tors to ban the event, he said, because
See POLE VAULT on 10
