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Tennis teams’ 5th-place finish ends season
By Jeff Singer
Staff Reporter
Five was the lucky number over
the weekend for the Nebraska men’s
and women’s tennis teams.
Both Comhusker squads entered
the Big Eight Tennis Championships
in Kansas City, Mo., as the fifth seed,
and each left the tourney with a fifth
place finish following Sunday’s vic
tories in the consolation brackets.
On the men’s side, the Huskcrs
defeated Iowa State 6-2 Sunday to
earn a fifth-place finish in the confer
ence. The victory over the Cyclones
came after a first-round 5-1 loss to
Colorado on Friday and a bye on
Saturday that put Nebraska in the
fifth-place match.
Ncbraskacoach Kerry McDermott
said the Huskers’ end result was ex
pected.
“Our realistic goal was to finish
among the top five teams in the con
ference, and I think a fifth-place fin
ish was up to our ability,” McDermott
said.
Nebraska No. 2 singles player
Joseph Rahrpc said Sunday’s victory _
helped make the most out of a fair
season.
“We’re not happy and we’re not
disappointed; fifth place is an aver
age year and helps pave the way for
next year,” Rahmc said. “It was good
to end on a winning note, and I’d
rather end on a good note than have a
good season and lose at the end.”
Rahmc played his first matches of
the season at No. 2 singles this week
end after playing at No. 1 all year. He
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Kiley Timperley/DN
Nebraska’s Zarina Galvan returns a volley in a meet earlier this season against Oklahoma.
Gymnastics team s confidence
mounts going into next season
By Nick Hytrek
Senior Editor
Ifyoulikcdthc 1992 NCAAmcn’s
gymnastics championship, just wail
until 1993.
Over the weekend, the national
scoring record fell by the wayside at
the Bob Devancy Sports Center and
fans witnessed a team race that went
down to the last routine.
Stanford won the team title with
an NCAA-record score of 289.575.
Nebraska was second with a school
record 288.95 — a score that also
broke the national scoring record.
A couple Comhusker gymnasts said
next year’s meet should be much the
same.
“We’re going to be a belter team,
but Stanford’s also going to be a good
team,” Dennis Harrison said. “So I
think it’s going to be the same thing
as this year — an incredible battle
between Nebraska and Stanford.”
Sumner Darling offered a similar
prediction.
“Stanford’s going to be real tough
next year,” he said. “It might be the
same kind of dual next year that it was
this year.”
Nebraska appears to have the
advantage heading into next season.
- 44
We’re going to be so
deep next year. We’re
going to have eight *
guys who can score 57
in the all-around.
Burkett Powell
Nil mens gymnast
-99 -
The Huskcr lineup consists of five
sophomores, two freshmen and two
juniors. And Jason Christie, one of
the top high school gymnasts in the
country, already has committed to
Nebraska. Stanford loses two gym
nasts.
“We’d better be better or we ought
to get a new coach,” Coach Francis
Allen said with a laugh. ‘‘When you
have a young, talented team, another
year always helps. But when you have
a young, aggressive, talented team, it
helps — and we have that.”
Gymnast Burkett Powell said the
Huskers couldn’t help but get better.
“We’re going to be better next
year, no doubt about it,” he said.
“Wc’rc going to be so deep next year.
Wc’rc going to have eight guys who
can score 57 in the all-around.
“We’ve just got to find a lineup
that can max out our score and I think
we’ll be all right.”
Darling said next season’s success
depended on improvement.
“Looking at our sophomores this
year,” he said, “we really improved a
lot over last year. And if we can keep
on improving into our junior year I
think we’re going to be real tough to
beat.”
Nebraska also will benefit from
previous NCAA experience, Allen
said.
“There arc a lot of schools that
have had good, young teams that didn’t
really mature that well,” he said. “But
this team will mature. They matured
from last year. They matured this
whole year. They matured up to and
through this championship, and I think
what they’ve learned from here is
going to be hard to take away from
them.”
Che Bowers summed it up in one
sentence.
“I’d say wc’rc going to be awe
some next year,” he said.
NU’s Mitchell one of few Big Eight
players taken in draft’s early rounds
From the Associated Press and Staff Re
ports __
Big Eight coaches weren’t kid
ding when they said that most of
the league’s good players were non
seniors.
In the opening five rounds Sun
day of the NFL draft, only three
Big Eight players were taken.
Nebraska light end Johnny Mitch
ell — who elected to come out
early after completing his sopho
more season — was the only Big
Eight player taken in the first two
rounds.
This draft has been a sharp con
trast to most years when Big Eight
athletes have received many promi
nent selections. In 1991, nine Big
Eight players were taken in the
first four rounds, including four in
the first round.
Mitchell, a 6-2,258-poundcr and
First-team All-Big Eight selection,
was taken by the New York Jets as
the fifteenth selection in the first
round.
Two Big Eight seniors were taken
in the third round. Joel Steed, a
Colorado defensive lineman, was
taken by Pittsburgh as the 67th
player overall. Five picks later, New
Orleans went for Nebraska comcr
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Nebraska gymnast Sumner Darling competes on the paral
lel bars last weekend at the NCAA championships In the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
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