NdSaskan
Friday, April 1 1988
Nee picks OU to be NCAA champions
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
A prescason consensus of the Big Eight
basketball coaches revealed that this was the
premier year for the conference.
Now, those predictions have turned into
reality as two Big Eight teams — Kansas and
Oklahoma — are included among the teams
competing in this year’s Final Four at Kemper
Arena in Kansas City, Mo. The Jayhawks, who
dropped a 70-68 decision to Nebraska earlier
this season, will face Duke Saturday at 4:30
p.m., and the Sooners play No. 1-ranked Ari
zona at 7 p.m.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said he isn’t
surprised by the accomplishments of Kansas or
Oklahoma. He said this year was the premier
season for the Big Eight because of players 1 ike
the Jayhawks’ Danny Manning, Iowa State’s
Jeff Grayer, the Sooners’ Harvey Grant and
Colorado’s Scott Wilke.
“The coaches at the prescason press confer
ence were singing the song about the Big
Eight,” Nee said. “From lop to bottom, this
conference has never been deeper or more
powerful than this year.”
Nee said the benefits of having two Big
Eight teams in the Final Four will aid each
conference school. The Big Eight will split
almost S3.75 million in NCAA Tournament
revenues from Kansas’ and Oklahoma’s par
ticipation.
“I think it’s very super and very exciting,” he
said. “It s great for the other Big Eight schools.
Now, recruiting should be easier because the
talent will overflow and trickle down to the
other teams.”
Nee said the winner of the Oklahoma-Ari
zona contest will win this year’s national cham
pionship game Monday night. He said this
year’s title game will be similar to last season’s,
when Indiana forward Keith Smart hit an 18
foot jump shot at the buzzer to give the Hoosiers
a 74-73 win against Syracuse.
Nee disagrees with the skeptics who think
Kansas should not be in the Final Four. He said
the Jayhawks, who defeated Xavier, Murray
State, Vanderbilt and Kansas State to earn a
Final Four berth, arc a great team that deserves
to be there.
“You’ve got to beat them all if you want to
be the national champs,” Nee said. “Every team
in the Final Four is a great team.”
Nee said the Kansas-Duke matchup should
be a close game. He said Manning, a 6-foot-11
senior and a consensus All-America selection
this season, and Kansas coach Larry Brown
helped the Jayhawks overcome a midseason
slump and earn a Final Four bid.
“Danny Manning maligned sports writers
and had a great end of the year,” Nee said. “He
was double-teamed and he was still able to
show he was the country’s best player. Also,
Larry Brown did a great job of coaching them
through the season.”
Ncc said Duke should defeat Kansas and the
Sooncrs will defeat Arizona. He predicted that
Oklahoma will win the national championship
by defeating Duke 85-80.
Softball coach hopes 1st home game proves high rank
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter_
Two similar teams will face each
other when the Nebraska softball
team opens its home season tomorrow
against Eastern Illinois.
Nebraska coach Ron Wolforth
said Eastern Illinois is like the Corn
huskers because it possesses strong
pitching supported by a good .scrappy
defense. He said those factors will
stiffen the Huskcrs’ challenge when
they face Eastern Illinois in a double
header at 2 p.m. at the Nebraska Soft
ball Complex.
“I don T care what team they are, if
they play good defense and have good
pitching, they’re going to be in the
I
ballgame,” Wolforih said.
Eastern Illinois coach Janet Mar
quis said she is equally worried about
the matchup. She said Nebraska is a
solid team with a good mix of power
and speed.
“We need to keep them off the
bases so they can’t use their speed,”
Marquis said. “We’regoing to play as
tough as we can, and we may be able
to win on our defense.”
Marquis said Eastern Illinois’ 11-6
record is misleading because all of the
Panthers’ games so far this season
were played on the road in a two-week
period.
Marquis said Eastern Illinois is led
by senior pitcher Zam Mogill, a two
time all-Gateway Conference sclec
i
Eric Gregory/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Kim Guthrie competes in the long jump
earlier this season.
tion who enters Saturday’s competi
tion with a 10-3 record and a .79
earned run average. Marquis said
Mogill’s contribution is important
because senior Sara Karcher, an all
Gateway Conference selection last
year, is 1-3 with a 1.22 ERA.
Wolforth said he is looking for
ward to the addition of freshman Ann
Halsne and sophomore Deb Hoffman
to the Huskers’ lineup. Halsne, a
shortstop and third baseman, and
Hoffman joined the team Tuesday
after finishing their basketball sea
son.
Marquis said Eastern Illinois is led
offensively by senior Angel Lendvay,
a three-time all-Gateway Conference
selection who has hit two home runs
this season. She said Lendvay is sup
ported by freshman Carrie Voisin,
who is hitting .288.
Marquis and Wolforth said they
are looking at Saturday’s matchup as
an opportunity to increase their rat
ings. The Huskers are tied with Flor
ida State at No. 13, while the un
ranked Panthers lost three games to
the Seminoles earlier this season in
Tallahassee, Fla.
Wolforth said he knows Eastern
Illinois has nothing to lose. He said he
expects the Panthers to give a good
effort against Nebraska.
“Our basic thing is to attack and be
real aggressive on offense,” Wolforth
said. “If we hit the ball we will win.”
Wolforth said it is important for
Nebraska to win both games of the
double header. He said if the Huskers
get swept or if they split with Eastern
Illinois, it would leave a bad mark on
Nebraska’s national ranking.
Wolforth said the Huskers have
been the target of a lot of criticism for
their 17-8 record. He said the record is
disappointing to him because he ex
pected the Huskers to be 21 -4, but he
hopes to start a string of wins Satur
day.
“We’re looking to put our game
together this weekend,” Wolforth
said. “We’re looking to string to
gether some wins. We would like five
or six wins but want at least four
See WOLFORTH on 9
• t . -i
Huskers hoping tor ninth straight title
By Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporter
Nebraska will mix balance with
momentum while trying to sweep the
Big Eight outdoor track champion
ships for the second straight year.
Nebraska coach Gary Pepin said
the Comhuskers will ride the momen
tum they built after winning the Big
Eight indoor championships earlier
this season. He said Nebraska should
be able to keep that momentum going
because it is very balanced.
“Those people who did well in
doors should do well outdoors,” Pepin
said. “I’m more concerned with
where our weak events are than our
strongest events.”
The Husker women have won the
indoor and outdoor titles t he last eight
years. The men won the indoor and
outdoor titles in 1987, making Ne
braska the first team in Big Eight
history to sweep all four conference
titles in the same season.
Pepin said sweeping the four lilies
this season is a goal for Nebraska. He
said it is too early to know if the
Huskers can win the outdoor titles and
reach that goal, but Nebraska should
do well at the Big Eight champion
ships May 13-15 in Ames, Iowa.
“We don’t have any real holes,”
Pepin said. “Our men’s and women’s
teams will certainly be some of the
better ones, but it’s so early in the
season it’s hard to tell. Oklahoma
should have a great outdoor team,
too.”
The Nebraska men won four
events at last year’s outdoor confer
ence meet, but return no Big Eight
champions. The Husker women won
six conference events in 1987 and all
six defending champions return.
Pepin said the Kansas Relays April
22-23 in Lawrence, Kan., and the
Drake Relays April 29-30 in Dcs
Moines, Iowa, will be the top meets
before the Big Eight championships.
He said a quadrangular April 16 at
Eugene, Ore., against Louisiana
Slate, Oregon and Washington Slate
will also be an important meet. That
the NCAA outdoor championships
will be in Eugene from June 1-4 is
“helpful” for Nebraska, he said.
“But meets in Eugene arc great,”
Pepin said. “They get crowds of 8,000
to 10,000. It’s like a small version of
a Nebraska football game. The fans
out there arc really super.”
Nebraska will open its outdoor
season Saturday at the Ed Weir Track
against Kansas Slate and South Da
kota.
Pepin said he wants to have a suc
cessful outdoor season.
‘‘If we could win both conference
meets, qualify people for nationals
and do as well outdoors in the cham
pionships as we did indoors, we
should have a successful season,”
Pepin said.
The Nebraska schedule:
April 2 — Kansas State, South
Dakota at Lincoln; 6-7 — Texas
Relays Dccathlon/Hcptathlon at
Austin, Texas; 8-9—Texas Relays at
Austin; 9 — Nebraska Intercollegiate
at Lincoln; 16 — Louisiana State,
Oregon, Washington State aiEugcne,
Ore.; 22-23 — Kansas Relays at
Lawrence; 29-30 — Drake Relays at
Des Moines, Iowa; May 6-7 —
Howard Wood-Dakota Relays at
Sioux Falls, S.D.; 13-15 — Big Eight
Championships at Ames, Iowa; 18 —
Nebraska Twilight at Lincoln; 25 —
Nebraska Twilight at Lincoln; June
1-4 — NCAA Championships at
Eugene, Ore.
triangular meet will preview mg 5
By Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporter
Nebraska will get a preview of the
Big Eight championships when it
opens its outdoor season Saturday
against Kansas State and South Da
kota.
Nebraska assistant coach Mark
Kostek, who watched Kansas Stale
finished second to Nebraska in the •
indoor and outdoor competitions last
year, said the Wildcats have the
needed talent to do well at this
season’s Big Eight championships.
“We feel like Kansas State is one
of the teams that could challenge for
the title again this year,” Kostek said.
“We should be able to get a good feel
for what will happen at the Big Eight
meet.”
Kostek said the Cornhuskers want
to have a good meet Saturday to begin
the outdoor season on a positive note
and to continue riding the momentum
they built during the indoor season,
when they won the men and women’s
Big Eight titles.
“Outdoor is a whole new season,”
Kostek said. “We were very pleased
with the indoor campaign and hope
we can keep the momentum going.
We’ve got the ball rolling, now we
have to keep it rolling.”
Kostek said the Huskcrs have in
creased the intensity of their work
outs since the end of the indoor season
and may not be ready to give peak
performances Saturday.
But, Kostek said, Nebraska should
suli do well in the meet, especially in
the field events. He said the distance
events would be the most closely
contested.
“The distance events are where
Kansas State and South Dakota have
put their emphasis, so they’ll be
strong there,” he said. “It should be a
really well-rounded meet competi
tive-wise.”
Kostek said most of Nebraska’s
athletes will compete Saturday, but
Kansas Slate’s Kenny Harrison, the
defending Big Eight outdoor triple
and long-jump champion, will not
because of a prior commitment.
He said Saturday’s meet will help
Nebraska prepare for the Nebraska
Intercollegiate meet next Saturday in
Lincoln. The intercollegiate meet is
for athletes from all Nebraska col
leges.
“The Nebraska Intercollegiate
should be a real good meet,” Kostek
said. “We’re going to have two real
good home meets for our kids.”
Kostek said it’s difficult to know
how well the Huskcrs will perform in
Saturday’s meet because it is the first
outdoor meet of the year.
“We’re just trying to kick off our |
outdoor season with a good meet,”
Kostek said.
The field events at Ed Weir Track
begin at 11 a.m., and the running ,
events start at 12:30 p.m.