Nebraskan
Tuasday, April 20,1M3
_ ________
Track athletes find success over weekend
By Chris Hain
Staff Reporter_
In two meets last weekend, the
Nebraska men’s and women’s track
teams went on a mission.
For two Comhusker athletes, those
missions were particularly success
ful.
The Huskers split into two squads;
one went to the Mount SAC relays in
Walnut, Calif., and the other traveled
to the Kansas Relays in Lawrence,
Kan. By doing so, the teams hoped to
improve many of their performances
Huskers
take third
in tennis
standings
Regular season
ends with wins
By Beau Finley
Staff Reporter
With the stage set, the Nebraska
men’s tennis team is hoping that its
next performance will help steal the
national spotlight.
The Comhuskers completed their
regular season this weekend by dc
fcating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State
in separate duals to clinch third place
in the Big Eight standings. The duals
were both played in Oklahoma.
Coupled with the solid team finish,
three Huskers earned regular-scason
champion honors. Matthias Mueller
garnered the title at No. 1 singles, Jan
Andersen captured the no. 3 singles
title, and Mueller and Anthony
Kotarac, ranked 19lh in the nation,
look die No. 1 doubles crown.
Coach Kerry McDermott said he
was proud of the performances and
was especially pleased with the play
of freshman Andersen.
“He’s very good and has a lot of
room to improve,” McDermott said.
“He’ll definitely be our No. 1 player
next year.”
Andersen proved that by winning
both his singles and doubles matches
in the Huskers’ 4-3 victory over the
Sooncrs on Sunday. Andersen also
won both of his matches in the win
over Oklahoma State.
Even with Andersen’s heroics, the
Oklahoma match stood lied at 3-3
with only Andy Davis left on the
court Just as he had done three weeks
earlier against Drake, Davis defeated
Phillip Farmer 7-6,7-6 to break the tie
and give the Huskers the victory.
See TENNIS on 9
and reach NCAA qualifying marks.
Husker coach Gary Pepin said he
was pleased with his team’s perfor
mance over the weekend.
“We’re making progress in most
events, and that’s the important thing,”
he said.
The highlight of the Mount SAC
relays was Robert Thomas’ school
record long jump of 26 feet 9 inches.
It was the fifth time Thomas broke
either a long jump or triple jump
school record this year.
Thomas was the only event winner
for the Huskers at the Mount SAC
We’re making progress
in most events and
that’s the important
thing.
—Pepin
NU track coach
relays.
“Robert Thomas had one of the
best jumps in the country,” Pepin
said.
Among other athletes competing
at Mount SAC, Pepin said, senior
Fran ten Bensel had one of the best
3,000-meter times turned in by a col
legian this year but could not pull out
the win. Distance counterpart David
Iteffa was slowed after being involved
in a burning accident the night before.
At the Kansas Relays, bad weather
hindered many of the events, but not
Krista Mader in the women’s shot put.
“It was great to see Krista Mader,
on her last throw, win the shot at
Kansas,” Pepin said.
Mader, a junior, threw 48 feet 2
inches.
ine Husker track team will be
splitting up again this weekend, send
ing part of the team to the Drake
Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and part
to the Nebraska Wesleyan Invita
tional.
The Drake Relays will attracts,000
high school and collegiate athletes
from across the country. Former
Olympian Gwen Torrence will par
ticipate in an exhibition race.
Pepin said the meet was a spec
tacle.
“It’s one of the great collegiate
meets in the country,” he said. ‘‘Teams
come from all over.”
Micneiie rauiman/un
Nebraska linebacker Trev Alberts grabs the jersey of offensive tackle Lance Lundberg during a scrimmage at Memorial
Stadium Saturday.
All-American hopeful feels heat
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter
*•
The pressure of trying to live up
to All-American expectations —
Trev Alberts knows all about it.
Nebraska’s starting right out
side linebacker will be trying to
fulfill the All-American talk when
he starts his senior season in the
fall, but the hype has already be
gun.
“1 don’t think there’s any ques
tion,” said Nebraska defensive co
ordinator Charlie McBride. “I think
Trev Alberts is an All-American
type player, and I would be disap
pointed if he wasn’t an All-Ameri
can next year.”
Alberts and the Comhuskers arc
finishing up the last week of their
spring season, which will be capped
by Saturday’s annual Red-White
game at Memorial Stadium.
Alberts, who is a contender not
only for All-American honors but
also for the Butkus Award, said
with all the attention he has been
getting this spring, he appreciated
Travis Hill a lot more.
Hill earned All-American hon
ors as outside linebacker last sea
son for the 9-3 Huskers, but now
Alberts said he must assume Hill’s
leadership role.
“If there’s anything I can say is
I miss Travis a lot,” Alberts said.
“He look a lot of pressure off me;
now it’s kind of a different story
and I feel a lot more pressure.”
Last scasop, Alberts helped put
ihe pressure on opposing offenses.
The native of Cedar Falls, Iowa,
earned first-team All-Big Eightand
second-team All-American honors
in 1992 with 73 tackles, which
ranked third best on the team, to
accompany his 3.5 sacks. He also
lopped Nebraska wilh 12 tackles in
the Huskers’ Orange Bowl loss to
Florida State.
Last season’s numbers have put
Alberts on nearly all of the pre
season All-American lists, but he
said he was more interested in the
team’s accomplishments than his
own.
“I'm not really focusing on try
ing to be an All-American or a
Butkus winner or anything like
that,’’ Alberts said. “I can honestly
say if those things come, obviously
See ALBERTS on 9
Memories of Nebraska
athletics will always be special
I’m not sure when it all started.
Maybe I was bom with it, or maybe
it was a learned trait. But getting all
caught up in the Huskcr hoopla al
ways has been a part of me.
My first real memory is probably a
common one.
It was the 1984 Orange Bowl.
When the Huskcrs came a two-point
conversion away from winning a Na
tional Championship. I didn’t go to
school the next day, I felt too sick.
Instead, I laid in bed and dreamed
about what could have been if only
Jeff Smith had caught that pass.
Ever since that day, I have been
obsessed with the Huskcrs. I collected
autographs, memorized statistics and
studied the depth charts.
I’m planning on graduating here in
a couple weeks, and I still haven’t
outgrown the phase.
I came to this university in 1989,
hoping for excitement and victories
out of my beloved Huskcrs.
I got them both.
Oh sure, we never won the big one
during my four years at UNL, but my
life would have been somewhat empty
without the sports.
Without the nervous jitters before
the Colorado football games, and with
out some of the last-second heroics on
the basketball court, college just
wouldn’t have been the same.
As a freshman, I would listen
closely as the professors did roll call,
just to see if there were any famous
athletes in my class that I should feel
privileged to be near. Whenever there
was, I’d call home and share the good
news with my brother.
As a sophomore, I got all hyped up
for the Colorado game. I bought a
Huskcr version of the Terrible Towel,
and brought it to class with me all day
Friday. I also bought a t-shirt that said
“No Fifth Downs at Nebraska’’ and
proudly wore it all day.
As a junior, I would doodle in my
Susie r
Arth •—
notebook during class trying to devise
new plays for Tom Osborne or a new
starting lineup for Danny Noe.
As a senior, I kissed the turf on
Memorial Stadium after the Huskers
beat Colorado. I still have an orange
peel lucked away in my scrapbook to
remind me of all the fun.
During the past four years, there
have been so many great sports mo
ments. It is probably unwise to remi
nisce for too long, but some of the
memories will always remain.
One of the worst memories goes
back to the 1991 football season, when
Nebraska traveled to Colorado to play
the Buffaloes. The Huskers had lost to
Colorado the year before, and I was
certain Nebraska would win this lime.
But Husker kicker Byron Bennett
missed a ficld goal in the final seconds
of the game, and the Huskers left
Boulder with a 19-19 tie.
Former Husker tight end Johnny
Mitchell will always come to mind
when I think about my years in col
lege. His talent amazed me, and I was
heartbroken when he announced he
was leaving Nebraska for the NFL.
Other vivid football memories were
provided this last season. Freshman
quarterback Tommie Frazier had taken
control of the Husker offense, and the
Huskers were rolling. They soundly
beat both Colorado and Kansas, and
Frazier looked like our long-lost star.
But tragedy hit both at Ames, Iowa
and in the Orange Bowl, and the H usk
ers lost 27-13 to Florida State.
Good times sprouted from the Bob
Dcvancy Sports Center over the past
four years, loo.
All the wins over Kansas were
great, but Jamar Johnson’s last-sec
ond three pointer in overtime two
years ago had to be the greatest.
Terrance Badgctt’s steal and jam this
year ranks a close second.
„ The excitement bpilt up during the
off-season last year, when Nebraska
got its best ever recruiting class. With
die talent Danny Nee snagged last
year, the basketball team wdl be in
good hands for years to come.
Soallhough I will leave UNL with
out a bowl victory or an NCAA tour
nament win, the sports will be my best
memories.
I have a feeling my Husker phase
will continue on long past my May 8
graduation.
And when it will all end, I have no
idea.
Arth is a senior news-editorial major and
a Dally Nebraskan senior reporter. _