Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1988)
Gymnasts seek spot in NCAA tourney By Lori Griffin Staff Reporter Adrenaline will be pumping when the Ne braska women’s gymnastics team competes in the Midwest Regional Saturday night in Nor man, Okla. Nebraska women’s gymnastics coach Rick Walton, whose squad will enter the meet seeded second behind No. 1-ranked Utah, said the Comhuskers will receive a stiff challenge in the meet. Joining Nebraska and Utah at the competi tion will be Arizona, Arizona State, Oklahoma and Houston Baptist. The winner of each of the five regions receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships April 22-23 in Salt Lake City, while the remaining seven spots will be filled by squads receiving at-large berths. Walton said Nebraska’s losses to Utah, Arizona and Arizona State earlier this season will make no difference in the regional compe tition. The meet begins at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center. “This is going to be a good competition,” Walton said. “Anybody who hits their routines can win. We need consistent performances because only the best teams should be at the NCAA tournament.” Walton said he expects Nebraska to do well even though it has a strong chance of earning an at-large berth if it doesn’t win the regional competition. At-large berths arc distributed according to team scoring averages, and Nebraska’s 188.51 average is second to Utah’s 190.50 in the Midwest Region. Walton said preparations have not changed for the regional competition. He said Nebraska is ready for the meet because it is rested and has momentum after winning the Big Eight cham pionship earlier this season in Ames, Iowa. Walton said he is looking forward to com peting in the Midwest Regional because the Huskers are in a position to do well. He said Nebraska, which posted a 186.1-184.7 road victory against Oklahoma earlier this season, has traditionally done well in Norman. Walton said he is pleased that Nebraska is seeded second entering the regional competi tion. He said the Huskers, ranked No. 7 with a 12-8 record, are a good team that will have an impact at the regional and national competi tions. Walton said the only team member who will be competing without tournament experience is freshman Lisa McCrady. He said Nebraska will be led by sophomore Michele Bryant and juniors Crystal Savage and Jcaneane Smith, who have all scored more than 38.0 in the all around competition this season. Walton said Nebraska docs not have to get motivated for the competition. “This is something they have worked for and trained for since August, and they know how important it is,” Walton said. Walton said the Midwest Region is difficult and could produce half of the field for the NCAA Championships. “I think this region could produce as many as five teams at the NCAA Championships,” Walton said. Husker bowler has chance to pioneer . in ‘unnoticed’ sport at national meet By Steve Sipple Senior Reporter Nebraska bowler Mike Shady has a chance to be a pioneer in a sport that he said has gone unnoticed long enough. Shady, a junior from Ripon, Wis., will try to become the first collegiate bowler to participate on two national championship teams when the Com huskers travel to Denver for the na tional meet April 14-17. Shady said the distinction give the Huskers more exposure. “You hear a lot about the football team and how much they practice all the time,” Shady said. “I’m out there every day putting in three hours. We’re just starling to get some press and we’re ranked fifth nationally, but I think eventually recognition will come.” Shady bowled for the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse when it won the national title in 1985 and then trans ferred to Nebraska in 1986. Nebraska qualified for the national meet by finishing first in the 18-tcam sectional meet March 11-14 in Ros elle, 111. The Huskers defeated sec ond-place Illinois State by 550 pins. The lop two teams in each of the 11 sectionals qualify for nationals. Shady led the Huskers in Roselle with 219.99 average per game. Shady, who earned All-America honors as a sophomore, said the easy sectional win served as redemption for last season when Nebraska fin ished third and failed to qualify for the nationals. “It really did,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure after what happened last year, but our coach (Bill Straub) got us mentally prepared to not beat ourselves.” Now Shady said Nebraska will turn its attention to the national meet. He said a national title would reward Nebraska for a season of hard work. “It would just mean that all the work would have paid off,” Shady said. “That’s exactly what you bowl for — to get to the nationals and win a gold medal. It’s the ultimate in collegiate bowling.” Shady said the Huskcrs arc ready. “I think the team is at its peak,” he said. “That’s pretty good heading into nationals.” Shady said Nebraska’s main com petition will come from Wichita Stale, which is ranked No. 1 in the current Bowling Writers Association of America Top 10. But he said Ne braska will be confident because it split with the Shockers in the teams’ two meetings this year. Shady said he averaged between 215 and 220 throughout the season, and had a single-game best of299. He said he has bowled the equivalent of baseball’s no-hiltcr — a perfect 300 — twice in his career, but never in college. j His first perfect game came when w he was 15 and his second came three years later, he said. A third 300 is overdue, he said. “I guess I’ve been in a kind of a drought,” he said. Shady is a right-hander who throws a 16-pound ball that breaks from the right side of the lane to the left. He said he was using his style, called a “hook,” for Wisconsin-La Crossc in 1985 when he met Nebraska coach Bill Straubat the national meet. Wisconsin-LaCrosse is a Division III school, but there are no classifica tions in collegiate bowling. Straub, who is traveling on the Professional Bowlers’ Tour, was a big reason he came to Nebraska, Shady said. “He showed me what he could do ■ on the lanes, and I was really im- P pressed,” he said. I Shady said Straub has built a top- H notch program that will only get bet- B ter. “We’ve built a program that’s really took off,” Shady said. “Junior bowlers throughout the state have really began to lake notice. And we’re getting letters from bowlers all over the nation. L “I think it’s only going to get big ger.” _A_I Eric Gregory/Dally Nebraskan Shady Tennis teams face Colorado, Wichita State this weekend By Nick Hodge Staff Reporter A contrast in the opponents’ level of competition is likely to produce different results for the Nebraska men’s and women’s tennis teams today and Saturday. The Nebraska men’s team will face Wichita State at 1 p.m. today at the East Campus Courts, and the men’s and women’s squads meet Colorado Saturday at 10 a. m. Nebraskacoach Kerry McDermott said he expects the 10-4 Comhusker men to defeat Wichita State and Colo rado. But, he said, the Colorado women’s squad will be too strong for Nebraska to handle. Wichita State and the Husker men’s team both faced Minnesota earlier this season in the Califomia Irvine Marriott Classic in Irvine, Calif. Nebraska dropped a 5-3 deci sion to the Golden Gophers, and the Shockers also lost McDermott said the Wichita Stale match is important because the Shockers are in Nebraska’s regions. He said that means Nebraska is in a must-win situation. “They’re a good team,” McDcr mou said. “I expect us to beat them, but they generally win their confer ence every year. “We have more depth, but we have to make sure our guys are ready.” McDermott said Nebraska is look ing at Big Eight opponent Colorado more than Wichita State because conference results are more impor tant at this point in the season. “We must be mentally ready,” McDermott said. “We have to bear down and concentrate on them. They can play tough and could upset us if we take them lightly.” McDermott said Colorado and Wichita State are similar to Iowa State, which Nebraska defeated 7-2 last Friday in Lincoln. “They’re (Colorado) down a liule from last year’s team,” McDermott said, “Colorado has a new coach who can motivate his players.” McDermott expects Nebraska’s men to beat Colorado and pick up their second conference win. “Colorado has some people who can play,” McDermott said. “If we play well, we should beat them soundly. We won last year 7-2, so there could be some revenge factor to keep in mind.” The Nebraska women’s team, 3-6, will face a strong opponent in Colo rado, McDermott said. He said the Buffaloes are the favorites to capture this year’s conference crown. “Our women will have a tougher time than the men,” McDermott said. McDermott said Nebraska’s women are heading into the Colorado match in a positive way after defeat ing Iowa Stale 6-3. “They (Colorado) have a lot more experience than us,” McDermott said, “but we’ll give them a run for the money. We’ll make them work for everything, since we’re going in with some confidence." Coaches hoping tor good attendance at weekend meet By Kyle Schurman Suff Reporter To many fans, the outdoor track season isn’t as important as the indoor season. That’s why Nebraska track coaches hope Comhusker fans will attend the First annual Nebraska Inter collegiate meet Saturday at 10 a.m. at Ed Weir Track. “In past years the track season at Nebraska seemed to end when the outdoor began,” Husker assistant coach Mark Kostek said. “We don’t want that. Track and Field is an out door competition, and we feel like there needs to be more emphasis placed on the outdoor season. Kostek said one way to emphasize the outdoor season is to have home track meets. Nebraska had no home meets last year, but has four sched uled for this season. Another reason Nebraska wants more home meets, Kostek said, is of the new surfaceat Ed Weir Track. The track was resurfaced last summer. “We felt like the University of Nebraska was kind enough to let us resurface the track, so we need to hold meets on it,” Kostek said. “We need to develop a good outdoor schedule.” Kostek said the Nebraska Intercol legiate meet is a good starting point for developing a strong schedule. He said every college and university in Nebraska has been invited to the meet. “Every college in Nebraska will be represented,” he said. “We’ll have a full turnout of schools, and that's what we were hoping for when we conceived this meet. Chadron State, Concordia, Doane, Hastings, Kearney State, Midland Lutheran, Nebraska Wesleyan and Wayne State will join Nebraska at the meet. Kostek said the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Creighton don’t sponsor track, but UNO will send some unattached athletes to compete. It should be a really well-con tested meet,” Kostek said. “The state have some really good ath No team scores will be kept during the meet, so “coaches don’t feel like they have to enter athletes in a large number of events and try to score points,” Kostek said. Nebraska sent some of its top ath letes to the Texas Relays meet today and Saturday in Austin, Texas, but Kostek said the Huskers who compete at the Intercollegiate meet should do well even though the state colleges will provide tough competition. “For the athlete that’s on the Uni versity of Nebraska team that's not maybe a top-line athlete, it will be a tightly contested meet,’* Kostek said. Kostek said the Intercollegiate meet will help Nebraska prepare for an important quadrangular in Eu gene, Ore. on April 16. Louisiana State, Oregon and Washington State will join the Huskers at that meet Kostek said the state colleges are ready for the Intercollegiate meet “I thought we had a real good response,” he said. “All the coaches are pretty excited about coming. It should be a well-contested meet on a nice surface."
