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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1989)
Big-8 track meet moved to Nebraska By Darran Fowler Senior Reporter___ Three weeks of preparation have not hin dered the Nebraska track coaching staff as it prepares to stage the Big Eight meet Nebraska assistant coach and meet coordi nator Mark Kostek said the Comhuskers will successfully coordinate the meet even though they were given short notice. The location of the meet, which will be staged Friday through Sunday, was changed from Norman, Okla., to Nebraska’s Ed Weir Stadium after Oklahoma officials feared the renovation of their track would not be com pleted in time. “We’re doing in three weeks what should take a year to complete,’’ Kostek said. “One thing we’ve been very fortunate in is that we have gotten great support within the university. We’ve got this huge task ahead of us and everyone is asking us, 'What can we do to help?’ “With the support we have we’re gonna pull off a great meet. That kind of support makes my job a lot easier, otherwise it would be a big headache. I’m just fortunate to be in the position that lam.’’ Kostck said Nebraska track office secretary Linda Leupold will have the “headache” job. He said Leupold will have difficulty because the Big Eight office will not release the meet’s entries until Friday morning. “Linda is under a tremendous amount of stress,” Kostck said. “They have put her under a lot of stress because she has to get all that information in and get it in accurately.” Kostek said Leupold is a capable performer. “The Big Eight has asked to hire her to do all the meets,” he said. “That’s how highly she’s regarded.” Sites for the outdoor meet arc determined by a rotation system among the conference’s eight schools. Nebraska was expected to hold the meet in 1991, but now has switched with Okla homa. Oklahoma track coach J.D. Martin said he first wanted to trade dates with Oklahoma State, which is the site of next year’s meet. He said he wants to have the meet on the Sooncrs’ refurbished John Jacobs Field next season. “We’re fortunate that Nebraska is equipped,” Martin said, “and it’s probably the best of all the schools to put together the meet on the spur of the moment. “We would still like to have it next year if Oklahoma State would switch with us, because we’d like to have it on our new facilities.’’ Martin said he was disappointed that the meet had to be staged elsewhere. “We wanted to have it even though we’re not very good right now,’’ he said. “1 think everyone would like to have it, but things just didn’t work out.” John Jacobs Field will still be the site of the Olympic Festival this summer, Martin said “We’ve relocated events and it will be bigger and better,’’ he said. “It will be a totally new track from the giound up.” Martin said the Sooners’ $614,000 renova tion project still may be ready by this weekend, but officials did not want to take that chance. ‘ ‘They said it would be ready by the time the meet started but there was no guarantee and we can’t count on that,” he said. “We couldn’t wait until the last day with something like the Big Eight track meet. It may be ready by that time, but we had to make a decision.” Marlin said if contractors could have started on time, the track would have been finished in September. He said funding delayed the pro ject’s start until just before the winter season. Those circumstances have forced the Soon ers to train indoors and at various high schools, Martin said. “It’s not been a good situation,” he said. Kostek said running the meet is easy. He said the problems lie in the arrangements be forehand. Kostek said it was difficult to find hotel rooms for all the teams because Nebraska’s graduation ceremonies are also going to be on Saturday. Those ceremonies will take place at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. “It has been a scramble,” Kostek said. “We’re gonna use every last second that we can to see that this meet goes off without a hitch.” He said having the meet at home has its advantages and disadvantages. ‘ ‘The advantage is that hopefully we’ll have some fan support that is biased to Nebraska,” Kostek said. “The disadvantage is that all the other coaches arc going to be very involved with the running of the meet. “Our athletes are slighted for the prepara tion of this meet. They are not going to get the 100 percent attention that they deserve. Prepa ration of the athlete is difficult.” Campus rec officials consider changing dunking rules By Jeff Apel Senior Editor A survey will play a key role in determining whether dunking will be allowed in all Nebraska intramural basketball games next year. Stan Campbell, the director of Campus Recreation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said his of fice’s advisory council will send a dunking survey to peer institutions over the summer. He said the survey will ask schools if they allow dunk ing, and if it is permitted, the types of problems that are incurred. Campbell said the biggest risks involved with dunking arc injuries and costs. He said a glass backboard and a rim cost approximately $900 to replace. ‘‘That doesn’t even count installa tion,” Campbell said. Campbell said the 10-mcmbcr advisory council wants to allow dunking because of the effect it has on players’ attitudes. He said some players arc upset when they dunk throughout their high school careers, then find out they can’t dunk in colle giate intramurals. The Office of Campus Recrea tion’s current policy states that if someone dunks, the game will be stopped and that person’s team has to forfeit. Campbell said the advisory coun cil wants to change that policy. He said the board is considering several options in the event that a backboard or rim is damaged. “We haven’t decided if we would collect from the individual,’’ Campbell said, “or if wc would incur the costs ourselves.’’ Campbell said that the last time a backboard was shattered, the Office of Campus Recreation billed the stu dent. He said the student paid $525. “It was a very expensive lesson,” Campbell said. Campbell said the new basketball courts included in Phase II of the student recreation center will have break-away rims. Phase II of the rec reation center, which includes rac quetball courts and a renovation of the swimming pool in the NU Coli seum, is scheduled to be completed by the start of the 1989-90 academic year. Campbell said the courts in the Military and Naval Science Building also have break-away rims. He said the only areas that don’t have break away rims arc die courts in the Coli seum and the courts in Mabel Lee Hall. Campbell said break-away rims could be installed in the Coliseum if Phase III of the renovation plan is approved by the Nebraska Legisla ture. That phase, which includes a new center for healthy lifestyles, is scheduled to begin in January 1990. Sipple: Baltimore’s Olson has signs of greatness Rookie Baltimore pitcher Gregg Olson has a big-time fastball, and a curvcball that’s baffled some of baseball’s best hitters. The Orioles’ No. 1 draft pick last year, Olson took a 3-0 record and 2.84 earned run average into Sun day’s game against Seattle. Olson, an Omaha Northwest product, is show ing signs of greatness. He’s22, and he has struck out 14 hitters in 19 innings. For those who saw the big, burly right-hander pitch in high school, his major league success might not be too surprising. Olson could have brought Oakland’s Mark McGwire to his knees with his wicked curve as a 16-year-old, too. OK, maybe not, but so it seemed. Olson skipped puberty. He was always too big, and he was throwing 90 miles per hour in junior high. In high school, when he was pitching in ballparks in North Platte, Hastings and Columbus, he may as well have been pitching in Yankee Stadium. He had ‘ ‘ major leagues’ ’ written all over him. That doesn’t mean he was likable. See OLSON on 12 Campus recreation seeks suggestions The Office of Campus Recreation is seeking input on its televised coverage of a variety of sporting events. Craig Christensen, the relations director at the Office of Campus Recreation, said people who enjoy watching the weekly show should provide feedback so additional equipment may be purchased. He said the equipment is necessary if the show is going to improve in quality. The Office of Campus Recreation can be reached by calling 472 3467. Letters may be addressed to 1740 Vine St., Lincoln, 68588. (Assistant basketball coach to leave Steve High, who served as an assistant coach for the Nebraska women’s basketball team for the past three years, was named the new coach at Pittsburg (Kan.) University. The Gorillas are a member of the National Association of Intercol legiate Athletics. Bs make Big-8 team aska softball team were named to this l-team honors were third baseman Ruth Ida. Outfielders Jill and Joy Rishel and vie, first baseman Deanna Mays and ud honorable-mention honors. Allen Schaben/Daily Nebraskan Jeff Rogers, a contract employee of MUSCO, makes final adjustments before putting up a set of lights at Buck Beltzer Field. Comhusker baseball team’s season expected to ‘brighten up’ this weekend By Jerry Guenther Senior Reporter One bright spot for the Nebraska baseball team could be in place this weekend when lights arc installed at Buck Beltzer Field. John Amend, assistant director of the physical plant, said that with cooperative weather and some luck, the lights will be up and ready to use when the Comhuskcrs open their fi nal regularly scheduled series against Iowa State on Friday. Amend said eight poles, which range from 90 to 120 feet in length, began arriving last weekend. “We’d like to have them up within seven days,’’ Amend said. “The sub-contractor has been work ing 12-to-16-hour days installing them.’* Amend said two of the poles will be located next to the grandstand. Five additional poles will be located around the chain-link fence that sur rounds the infield and one pole will be located next to Cook Pavilion. None of the poles will be located in the outfield, Amend said, because the Nebraska football team uses that area for practice in the fall. Amend said there will be about 250 lights attached to the eight poles. That will be bright enough ‘Ho broad cast night games on color televi sion,” he said. The lights arc manufactured by Musco Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa -- the same company that sets up the temporary lights used for night foot ball games at Memorial Stadium. The total cost of the project was $298|950t The lights, which were scheJulcd to be in place April 7, were delayed by some planning changes. Amend said the original design was donated from a private firm and had to be adjusted by the physical plant and Musco Lighting. Though the planning caused a delay, Amend said, the wait was beneficial. ‘‘I think it’s going to be the best design that we could have hoped for,” Amend said. Nebraska baseball coach John Sanders said he hopes the lights will be ready Friday, and that no official dedication has been planned. Sanders said night baseball should allow more people to attend games because they won’t have to miss work or skip class to attend.