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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1992)
Huskers Go For Gold_ Courtesy of UNL Photographic Services Husker senior distance runner Fran ten Bensel (front) and senior middle distance runner Lisa Graham (back). Nebraska athletes hope New Orleans leads to Spain By Jill O'Brien Staff reporter _ This week, while the Midwest experi ences the trials of summer storms and heal, some University of Ncbraska-Lin coln track and field athletes arc experiencing the storms and heat of the Olympic trials in New Orleans. In preparation for the Summer Olympics at Barcelona, Spain, U.S. trials began June 19 and will continue through June 28. Gary Pepin, head coach of track and field, said several Husker athletes in track and field met the qualify ing standard to enter the Olympic trials and were flown to New Orleans by the U.S. Olympic committee to compete in this week’s trials. Assistant Coach Steve Rainbolt, who coaches multi-events and women's sprints and hurdles, went to New Orleans with the Husker athletes. * Rainbolt said there is not as much team spirit among the athletes this year as he has seen in the past. The athletes were very tense, he said, more so than in other Olympic trials he had attended. Rainbolt said the controversy surrounding sprinter Butch Reynolds, the suspended world * * 4 record holder, could be ihe source of some of the strain. Athletes walk around, watching and wait ing, just “taking it all in,” Rainbolt said. On Tuesday though, the International Ama teur Athletic Federation, the world governing body for track and field, waived its “contami nation rule” to allow runners to compete against Reynolds. Pepin said out of the top eight qualifying athletes, three will make the Olympic team. Students who don’t advance to the next round shouldn’t be discouraged. “It’s a significant accomplish,’ Pepin said, “just to make it to the trials. “It is very, very difficult for a collegiate to make the U.S. Olympic team, for a lot of reasons,” Pepin said. Pepin said one of the reasons it is difficult is that collegians have already gone through a |ong season—a long season that isn ’ t necessar ily conducive to an athlete who wants to make the Olympic team. The students arc really at a disadvantage, Pepin said. “Not only do they have to go through that whole season, but they also had school and/or work to contend with,” Pepin said. For non-collegians, their daily lives are cen tered on preparing for the trails and games, but for students, life is centered on school. “Academics first, and then track and field,” Pepin said. But the Husker athletes arc doing well, in any case, Pepin said, although it is too early to anticipate any results. •Kevin Coleman, a junior majoring in health, physical education and recreation, will be throw ing the shot put on Friday. •Ken Waller, a senior in economics, already ran two rounds of the 400-melcr, Rainbolt said. The first round of the 400-meter was post poned several times while Reynolds brought his case to court in an effort to get clearance to compete. •Rick Schwieger, a UNL senior in speech communication, will compete in the decathlon. Schwieger earned All-America honors in the decathlon for the second-consecutive season at the NCAA outdoor meet in 1991. •Lisa Graham, a senior in elementary edu cation/early childhood education, ran the 1500 meter on Wednesday. •Fran ten Bensel, a senior in advertising, finished seventh in the women’s 3000-meter run and was named the top collegian. “(She was) a red-shirted collegiate,” Pepin said, “which means she didn’t compete for the University of Nebraska outdoors this year." Ten Bensel is also scheduled to run in the 1500-meter. •Shanelle Porter, UNL sophomore general studies major, ran in the 400-meter dash. Porter ran in three rounds, Pepin said, but didn’t make it in the final round. •Cris Hall, a junior in pre-physical therapy, finished 10th in the heptathlon and was named the number one collegian. Hall will also be competing in the high jump. •Susan Hedrick Rehm, a senior in health, physical education and recreation, ran one round in the 400 intermediate hurdles, but failed to advance, Pepin said. •Kwani Stewart, a sophomore in pre-medi . #1 cine, is scheduled to run the 100-mcter hurdle this week. •Denise Lucas, a senior in human develop ment, ran the 100-mcter dash, but failed to advance. Lucas will compete later in the 200 meter dash. Kathy Travis, Kim Walker and Andy Meyer, also in track and field, met the qualifying standards, but did not go to the trials. A number of former UNL athletes are also competing in the trials. They include Linetta Wilson, who ran two rounds of the 400-meter hurdles; Stephanie Thomas, who took time off from the Army to compete in the 100-meter hurdle; and Harald Graham, who ran in the 3000-meter steeplechase, but did not advance. A number of former UNL foreign students are also participating in the trials. Stephen Golding and Merlene Ouey will be in the Jamaica trials. . “(Ouey) is probably the number one ranked sprinter in the world,” Pepin said. Other UNL foreign competitors include: Dieudonnc Kwizera, for Central Africa; Karen Kruger, Jacques van Rensburg, Jean Verster and Craig Aiken for South Africa; Roddy James and Craig Duncan for Scotland; Tamas Molnar and Nora Rockenbauer for Hungary; Patricia Nadler and previous Olympian winner Denise Theimard for Switzerland; Yvonne van der Kolk for the Netherlands; Mark Jackson for Canada; Laura Wight for England and Prema Govindan for Singapore. Ximena Restrepo will be in the Columbian trials. Pepin said Restrepos’s husband, Grant Weil, will be competing in the shot pul for Chile.
