Maturity may help inexperienced Huskers
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
With the loss of Nebraska’s top
two strong safeties, theComhuskers’
secondary may
seem vulnerable.
But Nebraska
secondary coach
George Darlington
said the loss of
Brian Washington
and Jeff Tomjack,
who both used up
their eligibility
last season, isn’t as Fryar
devastating as it appears. He said
Reggie Cooper, a freshman from
Slidell, La., who recorded seven tack
les and broke up three passes last
season, will help fill the void left by
Washington and Tomjack.
“Reggie was a freshman on the
varsity last year and he played behind
Washington and Tomjack,” Darling
ton said. “So playing won’t be foreign
to him.”
Nebraska comerback Lorenzo
Hicks said Cooper, who is backed up
by juniors Wendell Wooten and Scott
Vampola, is adjusting well to being
the No. 1 strong safety.
“He’s a very mature guy for his
years,” Hicks said. “He’s learning,
playing well and fitting in. He’s big,
last, strong, and he likes to hit.”
Darlington said the remaining
positions in the secondary also appear
to be solid as they each return experi
enced players.
Darlington said two-year letter
man Mark Blazek returns to his start
ing free safety position, but will miss
most of the spring because of a ham
string injury. He said Tim Jackson, a
transfer from Coffey villc (Kan.) Jun
ior College who began his collegiate
career at Kansas State, has been fill
ing in for Blazek.
Darlington said the free safety has
the most to prove of any positions in
the defensive backfield.
“It’s the position where we have
some of the less experienced play
ers,” Darlington said. “With Mark
Blazek missing most of the spring
practice, it will give the other guys
some work.”
Darlington said Nebraska will
have ample depth at the comcrback
position this season. He said the ab
sence of Charles Fryar, who was
being held out of spring practice
because of academic or disciplinary
reasons but has since returned, al
lowed Tahaun Lewis, John Custard,
Jon Crippen and Cartier Walker to
gain valuable playing experience.
Darlington said Lewis, Custard,
Crippen and Walker will see plenty of
playing time this fall.
“We could put three or four return
ing starters back there,” Darlington
said.
Hicks said the Huskers’ experi
ence will show up once the season
starts.
“Overall, I think we have a lot of
maturity,” Hicks said. “I’m not going
to say a lot of experience because we
don’t have a lot of guys who played a
whole iot. But we have a lot of older
guys back there.
“Therefore, I think we’ll benefit a
lot because of the mature attitude. We
have a lot of mature talent instead of
a lot of young guys out of high school
trying to fit in. We’ll have the men
instead of boys back there.”
Track teams finish second in Oregon Invite
By Kyle Schurman
Stiff Reporter
A second-place finish by the Ne
braska men’s and women’s track
teams at the Pepsi Track Invitational
Saturday in Eugene, Ore., didn’t dis
appoint Comhusker coach Gary
Pepin.
Pepin said the Nebraska men’s
performance was impressive because
the other three teams at the meet were
very talented. Oregon won the men’s
portion of the meet with 191 points,
followed by the Huskcrs with 185,
Louisiana State with 157 Washington
Slate with 113.
Oregon also won the women’s
portion of the meet by tallying 170
points. Nebraska finished second
with 157 points, and LSU and Wash
ington State finished third and fourth
with 151 and 105 points.
Pepin said the strength of the meet
was demonstrated by Oregon and
Washington State’s second- and
third-place finishes in the men’s por
tion of the Pacific Ten Conference
outdoor championships last season.
He said the Pac Ten is one of the
strongest conferences in collegiate
track.
“(Oregon has) traditionally beei
one of the top 10 teams in dual meet
in the U.S. since 1970,” Pepin said
“Several times they’ve been dua
meet champions.”
‘That meet was
really helpful for
our coaching staff
and the kids. It was
probably one of
the best meets
we’ve been in
since I’ve been
here’ —Pepin
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sm Wmm
Pepin said Marc Rexroad, Joe
Kirby and Bob Jclks led the Nebraska
men. Kirby set a school record while
winning the 5,000-meter run in 1A
minutes, 13 seconds. Rexroad, a Lin
coln East graduate, moved to second
on the Nebraska all-time outdooi
high-jump list with a leap of 7-feet-2
1/4, and Jelks ran the 200 in 21.07
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moving him to fourth on the all-time
1 list
> “We had good competitive efforts
• up and down the line,” Pepin said.
I Pepin said the Nebraska men were
at a disadvantage because most of
? them had competed in only one out
door meet before Saturday. He said
the Huskers were also at a disadvan
tage because they had no one to
compete in the hammer throw, an
event which “is very popular in the
West.”
“We were at a disadvantage in the
hammer throw,” Pepin said. “We
automatically lost points there right
off the bat.”
Pepin said the Oregon women
were also very talented because they
finished ninth at last season’s NCAA
outdoor championships.
But he said Nebraska didn’t per
form well at the meet.
Juliet Prow.se was the lone Huskcr
to qualify for the NCAA Champion
ships. Prowse ran a 9:21.67 in the
3,(XX). Tammy Thurman jumped 6-2
to set a sc hool record i n the h ig h j ump.
Pepin said Michelle Milling, who
won the 400, and Jean Monter, who
was second in the discus and shot put,
also performed well for Nebraska.
Pepin said the Husker women need
to improve in the long jump, triple
jump and the 100 hurdles.
Nearly 5,000 fans attended the
invitational, Pepin said. He said the
fans created a great meet for Nebraska
to participate in.
“That meet was really helpful for
our coaching staff and the kids,"
Pepin said. “It was probably one of the
best meets we’ve been in since I’ve
been here. The spectators were great
and it was a great meet on a great
surface.”
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