Sports
NCAAs are reward for NU tracksters
By Sara Bauder
Staff Reporter
For the 15 Nebraska athletes who
qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track
and Field Championships, today and
Saturday arc the rewards of a sea
son’s work.
All-America honors and national
championships will be on the line
when the first Cornhusker to com
pete, Ethel Edwards, runs in a quali
fying heal of the 55-meter dash at 11
a.m. in Indianapolis.
Nebraska coach Gary Pepin said
he really docs not know what to ex
pect at the meet.
“For the field events and the
straight-away races, you can look at
the rankings and get a pretty good
idea of where you stand,’ ’ Pepin said.
‘ But for races around the oval, rank
ings don’t mean much because of all
the different-sized tracks the times
have been taken on.”
Pepin said some tracks are more
suited to fast times in races with turns
in them. He said the track at Indian
apolis is the fastest one he has seen in
the United States.
The Huskers have been hurt by
injuries to three athletes who quali
fied for the national meet.
All-America sprinter Ximcna
Restrepo, who had qualified in the
200 and 400 dashes, did not go to
Indianapolis because of a hamstring
injury.
Dieudonne Kwizera, an All-Amer
ica selection to ihe 800 run, will miss
the meet because of a hamstring in
jury suffered at the Big Eight meet
two weeks ago.
Pepin said Tamas Molnar made
the trip but has been bothered by a
sore quadricep. Molnar qualified for
the championship meet in the 200 and
400 dashes and as a member of the
1,600 relay. He will compete in the
200 and the relay.
Kevin Coleman, a sophomore from
Elgin, 111., will compete in the shot
put Saturday. Coleman won the Big
Eight indoor shot put championship
with a throw of 59-fect-3 1/2.
The men’s 1,600 relay team of
Mark Jackson, Bobby Jelks, Ken
Waller, Molnar and alternate Jerry
Marsee will run a qualifying heat at
9:10 a.m. today. The relay won the
Husker Invitational championship in
3:08.77 minutes, a school record.
Jacques van Rensburg will com
pete in the mile run. The senior from
Bloemfontein, South Africa, set a
provisional qualifying time of 4:03.56
at a triangular meet with Arkansas
and Drake. Because not enough ath
letes reached the NCAA’s automatic
qualifying time in the mile, van
Rensburg qualified for the national
meet.
Stephen Golding, a sophomore from
St. Catherine, Jamaica, qualified to
compete in the 55-meter hurdles with
a time of 7.26 seconds last week.
On the women’s side, Sammie
Gdowski qualified to run the mile and
the 3,000- and 5,000 meter runs. She
will run the 5,000.
Meredy Porter, a junior from
Bellevue, will compete in the high
jump Saturday. She has won five of
her last six high jump competitions.
Yvonne van der Kolk qualified in
the mile and the 800-meter run. She
will run the mile.
A junior from Dallas, Kim Walker
set a provisional mark in the 200
meter dash and will run a qualifying
heat today.
Fran tenBensel and Lisa Darley
will run the 800 this afternoon.
Postive attitude,
tricky pitch crucial
to Nebraska win
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
Nebraska pitcher Mike Zajeski
played the role of a deceiver during
the Comhuskers’ 4-2 win against
Wichita State on Thursday night.
Zajeski said he kept the top-ranked
Shockers in check at Buck Beltzer
Field by relying on his slider. He said
his slider is a tricky pitch because it is
not much slower than his fastball.
“I throw my fastball in the mid
80s,” Zajeski said, ‘‘and my slider is
in the low 80s. Most people throw it a
lot slower than that.”
Zajeski said his up-tempo slider is
effective because it does not give
bailers enough time to distinguish
between it and a fastball. He said the
end result is usually strikeouts, nine
of which he picked up against Wic
hita State.
“I think all nine of my strikeouts
were on sliders,” Zajeski said. ‘ ‘They
touched my slider once. That’s it.”
Zaieski said he wasn’t ovcrlv sur
prised by Nebraska’s victory even
though the Huskcrs were coming off
a dismal 1-6 road trip to Hawaii. He
said Nebraska recovered from its
Hawaiian catastrophe by thinking
positively.
Zajeski said Nebraska, 9-6, did not
have any trouble preparing itself for
8-1 Wichita State.
“We were very much up for this
game,” he said. “Realistically we
couldn’t be down. You have to be up
when you’re playing the No. 1 team.”
Zajeski and Nebraska baseball
coach John Sanders said the win was
a big one because it elevated the
Huskers to another level. They said
Nebraska can use the win as a turning
point in the season.
“This is a step that says, ‘Hey,
let’s take it up another level,’” Sand
ers said.
Sanders said the win also improved
his post-game taste buds.
“The pizza will taste a lot better,
he said. “It’s the same pizza but a
different game. And that pizza will
taste a lot better.”
Nebraska jumped out to a 2-0 lead
against Wichita State in the bottom of
the second inning when shortstop Bill
Vosik hit a single that scored Bobby
Benjamin and Kevin French.
Wichita Stale lied the score 2-2 in
the top of the third inning when des
ignated hitter Scot MeCloughandrcw
a walk and scored on a home run by
Jim Audley.
Nebraska then took the lead for
good in the bottom of the inning when
Eddie Anderson hit his first home run
of the season, and added an insurance
run in the fifth when Anderson reached
on an error, stole second and scored
on a pair of sacrifices.
There were some tight moments in
the contest, as Wichita Stale coach
Gene Stephenson was ejected for
arguing a pair of calls. Both benches
also emptied when Wichita State
second baseman P.J. Forbes turned
toward the mound after striking out to
end the fifth inning.
Zajeski said Forbes approached
the mound because the Shocker player
was frustrated. He said that was obvi
ous because Forbes kept calling
Nebraska players names.
Zajeski said he is glad his team
mates stepped in when Forbes began
to approach him.
“I would have gotten thrown out
in the sixth inning if they wouldn’t
have,” he said, “and that’s not what
I wanted to do.”
Nebraska’s next game is Sunday,
when the Huskers face St. Cloud Stale,
a Division II school from St. Cloud,
Minn., in a doubleheader at Buck
Beltzer Field. The action begins at 1
p.m.
Nee can see no
weaknesses in
No. 1 Oklahoma
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
Nebraska men’s basketball
coach Danny Nee has an answer
for anyone arguing that the Big
Eight isn’t strong.
They’re wrong.
Nee said the Big Eight has
proven it is for real by dominat
ing the upper ranks of the na
tional polls this season. Three
teams — Oklahoma, Missouri
and Kansas — have taken turns
being ranked No. 1, and Mis
souri and Kansas held the lop
two spots for four weeks.
Nee said his team will be put
up against that competitiveness
when it faces Oklahoma - the
nation’s current No. 1-ranked
team — tonight in the opening
round of the Big Eight tourna
ment. The game begins at 6:10
p.m. at Kemper Arena in Kan
sas City, Mo.
In other first-round match
ups, fourth-seeded Kansas State
will face fifth-seeded Oklahoma
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Missouri will square off against
eighth-seeded Colorado at 2:20
p.m. and third-seeded Kansas
will meet sixth-seeded Iowa State
at 8:20 p.m.
The tournament’s semifinal
round will be held on Saturday
at 1:10 and 3:20 p.m., with the
championship set for 3:10 p.m.
Sunday. The winner of the cham
pionship game will receive an
automatic berth in the 64-team
NCAA tournament.
The entire tournament will
be televised by Raycom (chan
nels 10-11). The Nebraska
Oklahoma game will be shown
beginning at 7 p.m. The first 50
minutes of the game will not be
shown, as the 10-11 newscast
and Wheel of Fortune will be
telecast at that time.
Nee said Nebraska is look
ing forward to its game against
Oklahoma because it represents
an opportunity. He said the
opportunity comes in the form
of facing the No. 1 -ranked team
in the country for the third time
this season.
Nebraska faced then No. 1
ranked Kansas on Jan. 8, and
dropped a 98-93 decision. The
Huskers also squared off against
10, and suffered a 107-85 loss.
Nee said he can’t believe
Nebraska, now 10-17 overall and
3-11 in the Big Eight, will face
its third No. 1-ranked team of
the season tonight.
“It’s unbelievable,’ ’ he said.
“It just gives credit to the qual
ity of the Big Eight.’’
Nee said that quality extends
to Oklahoma, which enters the
contest with 234 and 11 -3 marics.
“In my own head I don’t sec
any weaknesses in Oklahoma,’’
See NEE on 8
-DawidHanaen/DaHyNSSkaS
Nil’s Mike Za jeski pitched nine strikeouts in seven innings of play against No. 1 Wichita State
on Thursday evening at Buck Beltzer Field.
Gopher coach reluctant to measure matchup
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
The standard will not be used as a
measuring stick when the Nebraska
men’s gymnastics team faces Minne
sota.
Minnesota men’s gymnastics coach
Fred Rocthlisbcrger said he won’t
measure his team’s progress by how
well it does against Nebraska because
the Gophers are coming off an emo
tional victory in the Big 10 meet. He
said it wouldn’t be fair to judge his
team Saturday because he isn’t ex
pecting any earth-shattering perform -
ances.
Rocthlisbcrger will find out how
Minnesota responds from capturing
its 18th Big 10 title when the second
ranked Gophers face top-ranked
Nebraska at Williams Arena in Min
neapolis. The meet begins at 7 p.m.
Roethlisberger said he has great
respect for Nebraska.
"They’re the standard in men’s
gymnastics. They have been for the
last 10 years or so,’’ Rocthlisberger
said. ‘‘But I’m very reluctant to
measure anything by what my team
does this weekend because you just
can’t get psyched up two weeks in a
row.”
Rocthlisberger said Minnesota’s
victory in the Big 10 championships
was an emotional one. The Gophers
won the title by overcoming a slow
start en route to tallying a 282.60
mark.
Rocthlisberger said Nebraska has
an advantage entering the meet be
cause the Comhuskers were idle last
weekend, and competed in the Big
Eight triangular the week before. He
said the Big Eight invitedoesn’tcome
close to the Big 10 championships.
Nebraska won the Big Eight trian
gular Feb. 25 by tallying 281.60 points.
Oklahoma was second with 276.90,
while Iowa State was third with 265.45.
“The Big 10 is not like the Big
Eight,” Roclhlisbcrger said. “We’ve
got seven teams, and four of them
consistently qualify for the NCAA’s.
“It’s pretty tough.”
Roelhlisberger said it also is going
to be lough for his team to match up
with Nebraska. He said the Gophers
particularly will have trouble match
ing up with Patrick Kirksey, who is
the defending NCAA champion in
the all-around.
“Patrick Kirksey is a great gym
nast,” Roclhlisbcrger said. “That’s
what makes them so hard to match up
with.
“I think we’ll have to match up in
average with their lower guys.”
Nebraska men’s gym nasties coach
Francis Allen said that matchup may
not be as difficult as Roelhlisberger
thinks. He said Minnesota is a great
team.
“Minnesota is as good a team as
we will face,” Allen said.
Allen is basing his assessment on
the season-long statistics compiled
by both teams. An examination of the
stats reveals that Nebraska averages
282.52 points per meet, while Minne
sota averages 281.67.
In the individual events, Nebraska
has totaled higher scoring averages in
the floor exercise, rings, vault and
horizontal bar, with Minnesota hold
ing an advantage in the pommel horse
and parallel bars.
Allen said Nebraska will not have
any problems preparing for the Go
phers. He said the Huskers proved
they were capable of getting fired up
when they won the UCLA invita
tional Feb. 10.
Nebraska won that invite by post
ing a season-high team score of
283.075.
“We’ll be fired up for Minne
sota,” Allen said. ‘ ‘This team has the
ability to rise to the occasion, which
happened at UCLA.”