Nelmskan
Monday, June 13,1988
Swimmer hopes his dreams come true
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
For Nebraska swimmer Peter Williams, the
“Olympic Dream” is just that — a dream.
Williams, who unofficially set a world rec
ord in the 50-meter freestyle during an open
meet in Indianapolis, Ind. April 12, will not be
allowed to participate in the summer Olympics
because he’s from South Africa.
The Olympics begin Sept. 17 in Seoul, South
Korea.
Athletes from South Africa have been
banned from Olympic competition since 1960
because of the South African government’s
policy of apartheid, which is the racial segrega
tion and discrimination of blacks.
Since 1976, the International Amateur Ath
letic Federation (IAAF) has also banned South
Africans from competing in other international
sporting events.
“I’m hoping that one day I can get a chance
to swim against the best competition in the
world,” Williams said. “That would be a dream
come true. It honestly keeps me going, because
I would love to swim against the best.”
Williams, a sophomore from Port Elizabeth,
South Africa, said he had never thought about
competing in the Olympics until last year..
“It’s disappointing, but it’s something I’ve
never thought of before,” Williams said. “It’s
still pretty much a new concept for me. I’m kind
of surprised how disappointed I am now,
though. When I sec the Olympic previews on
television, I start thinking about it. But since I
can’t swim in the Olympics, I just focus my
goals on other things.”
Although Williams was not highly recruited
out of high school, his time of :22.18 in Indian
apolis beat the old mark of :22.33, which was
held by Tom Jager.
With a world record credited to his name,
Williams said, he’s upset wilh the Olympic
committee for not allowing him to swim against
the rest of the world’s best swimmers.
“It’s unfair that the Olympics is known
world wide for letting people compete in many
events on an equal basis, but they’re letting
politics interfere with South Africans’ rights to
compete,” Williams said.
“The Olympics arc to bring the best people
together and let them compete,” he said, “but
we (South Africans) are used to not going. It’s
been this way for almost 30 years. If we were
allowed to go, a lot of South Africans would
make a good showing. We wouldn’t have as
many winners as the United States, but one or
two would probably win medals.”
While most of the world’s top swimmers
will be in training for the Olympics this sum
mer, Williams said, he will be taking it easy.
“We just don’t have the training facilities
(in South Africa) that the swimmers have
here,” Williams said. “The area I’m from is the
smallest, swimming wise. I might lift weights
if I can find someone who will tell me how to
do it properly. But if not, I’ll just be taking a
holiday I’m use to long lay-offs.”
Butch Iroland/Dally Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Lori Sippel winds up for a pitch during a College World Series regional game
against Creighton.
Disappointment lessened
by World Series display
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
A trip to the women’s College
World Series helped ease some disap
pointmentsof Nebraska’s spring soft
ball season.
Comhusker coach Ron Wolforth
said the regular season was disap
pointing because Nebraska fell from a
preseason No. 2 ranking to as low as
No. 19.
But, Wolforth said, he was pleased
the Huskers, 39-20, rebounded from a
slow start and finished seventh in the
final season polls and in a tie for fifth
place with Texas A&M at the College
World Series.
Struggling at times this season
taught Nebraska’s team a valuable
lesson, Wolforth said.
“For the past four or five years at
Nebraska, success has always been a
given,” Wolforth said. “This year, the
team had to earn every game. Our
players learned that great talent
doesn’t always mean a great year, and
that you always have to work hard.”
Wolforth was especially happy
with the way the Huskers responded
at the Big Eight Tournament. He said
the highlight of the season was when
Nebraska beat Oklahoma State two
out of three games in Oklahoma City
to win the conference championship.
“I don’t think we played any better
than the three straight games we
played against Oklahoma State,”
Wolforth said. “They were ranked
No. 2 and had won 22 straight games.
Very few people thought we had an
opportunity to go down to Oklahoma
City and do it to them. We just sucked
it up when we had to.”
Nebraska hosted the NCAA Cen
tral Softball Rcgionais and defeated
Creighton twice to cam a return trip to
the College World Series.
At the College World Series May
25-28 in Sunnyvale, Calif., Nebraska
lost to California Poly-Pomona 3-0,
but then defeated Adelphi 5-1. Fresno
Stale eliminated Nebraska from the
tournament with a 1-0 win in the
Huskers’ third game.
Wolforth said the performance of
See SOFTBALL on 11
Coach pleased with track performances
Tim Hartmann
Senior Editor
In the opinion of Nebraska track
coach Gary Pepin, Sharon Powell’s
performance at the NCAA Outdoor
Track and Field Championships
placed her with some pretty impres
sive company.
Powell won the 800-meter run,
finished fourth in the 400-meter dash
and ran with the 1,600-meter relay
team, which finished fourth. The
Nebraska women scored 34 points to
finish fifth at the June 1-4 meet in
Eugene, Ore.
Louisiana State won the women’s
half of the meet, while UCLA was the
men 's champion. The Nebraska men
did not score at the meet.
Pepin was pleased with the overall
showing the women’s team made, but
especially with that of Powell.
“Sharon Powell had a magnificent
meet,’’ he said. “That was one of the
finest meets a female athlete at Ne
braska has had at a national meet. It
ranks up there with meets that (former
All-America performers) Merlcne
Ottey and Rhonda Blanford have
had.”
Powell, a senior from Clarendon,
Jamaica, teamed with Karen Kruger,
Michelle Milling and Linetta Wilson
to turn in a 3:31.44 liming in the 1,600
relay, which was the second fastest
time in school history and was good
enough to earn All-America honors.
Powell also captured All-America
honors in the 400 and the 800.
In addition, Wilson finished sec
ond in the 400 hurdles, Tammy Thur
man was fifth in the high jump and
Kruger placed seventh in the long
jump.
“That was a really good meet for
us,” Pepin said. “That was our sec
ond-highest finish ever outdoors. We
were the highest ranking school in the
Midwest.”
Pepin said Nebraska and Oregon,
which finished third, were the only
two non-Sun Belt schools that per
formed well at the meet.
The men’s showing was disap
pointing, Pepin said, because he had
hoped to qualify more than three ath
letes for the meet. The only Husker
men to qualify were Dave Brown in
the shot put. Dale Burrage in the 400
meter hurdles and James Morris in the
long jump and triple jump.
Pepin said Bobby Jelks and Joe
Kirby just missed qualifying, Regis
Humphrey was slowed by injuries and
Robert Gonzales was academically
ineligible for the meet
Burrage and Morris were also
slowed by injuries, Pepin said, which
hurt their progress throughout the
season. Burrage had a hamstring in
jury and Morris hurt his hip. The
injuries hurt the men’s team this year,
Pepin said, and allowed them to hold
the men to a third place finish in the
Big Eight this season.
“I think we wouldhavedone better
in the outdoor season if wedidn’thave
so many injuries,” he said. “It’s kind
of like going to battle and trying to
fight without all your troops.”
Pepin is optimistic about next
year’s men’s and women’s teams, iShe
said.
‘‘We have had a real good recru it
ing year for the women,” he said. “For
the men, we haven’t signed a larg*e
number, but the guys we’ve signetjl
are real good.”
The men’s team will receive a
strong boost with the addition of
African Dudionne Kwizera, Pepin
said. Kwizera, who will be a sopho
more, sat out this season because he
failed to meet the academic guide
lines set by the NCAA’s Proposition
48.
“He runs everything from the 400
to the mile,” Pepin said, “and he runs
it fast”