U gymnast may have
lympics in his future
3y Trevor Parks
Staff Reporter_
Nebraska junior gymnast Richard
Grace almost didn’t become a
Ilomhusker.
Two years later, he’s glad he did.
Grace
Grace original
ly wanted to go to
Nebraska, but a
scholarship wasn’t
open at the time. So
he gave an oral com
mitment to receive
a scholarship at the
University of Okla
homa.
Then the Ne
braska coaches
called urace to ten nun a scnoiarsmp
had opened up when another recruit
:hanged his mind on signing day.
“At first, I said no,” Grace said.
‘But after talking to my old coach and
ny parents, I said I’ll take it.”
Since then, Grace has been one of
Nebraska’s most consistent gymnasts.
Until last weekend, he had not
nissed a meet in his career.
Of course, it didn’t help that the
neet he missed was the U.S. Winter
:Up Challenge in Colorado Springs,
Colo., which was a qualifying meet
'or the 1994 Goodwill games in St.
5etersburg, Russia.
“It’s a bummer,” Grace said. “But
I’d rather skip the meet so I can heal
and do good in the NCAAs.”
Nebraska men’s gymnastics coach
- rancis Allen said Grace’s future suc
;css might not be limited to the NCAA
neet. If Grace — who will return to
he lineup this weekend when the
buskers face Minnesota in Minneap
olis—keeps working hard, he’ll have
m excellent chance of making the
1996 Olympic team, Allen said.
“He needs to improve his impres
sion, like looking a little straightcr,”
Mien said. “Just all kinds of little
things.”
Grace agreed that he needed to
keep working hard if he wanted to
make the Olympic team.
“I have the skills; I just need to start
defining them,” Grace said. “My pre
sentation is kind of sloppy, and I need
to focus more on my form.”
Grace, who is only 5 feet tall, more
than makes up for his size on the mat,
Allen said.
“Although Rich is a little short, he
makes up for that with his aggressive
ness and good work habits,” Allen
said.
Grace said he tried to use his speed
to make up for his lack of height.
“On the pommel horse, I don’t
have the extension, so I try to do
everything quicker,” Grace said.
“Also, my speed and power on the
floor exercise makes it easy.”
That helped Grace win last sum
mer’s Olympic Festival.
“I thought it was going to be a fun
meet,” Grace said. “I just hit all my
routines and ended up winning the
title.”
That helped Grace last year at the
1993 National Championships. Grace
scored a 9.40 on the floor exercise and
won the national championship in
that event. He beat out Oklahoma’s
Daniel Stover, who received a 9.30 in
the routine before Grace.
“He was nearly flawless,” Grace
said. “I was very surprised that I won.”
Last year, Grace helped his team
finish second at the national champi
onships in Albuquerque, N.M., be
hind Stanford for the second straight
year.
Grace said he would gladly give up
any individual honors if the Huskers
could win the national championship
this year.
“I’m sick of finishing second to
them,” he said. “The seniors have
worked hard for three years, and I
want them to win it.”
Allen
Continued from Page 9
ire going to look at the cuts and get out
>efore they go into effect.”
Allen said 16 schools, including
Nebraska, had agreed to compete in
in unsanctioned national meet lfasite
:ould be provided.
Following the NCAA Convention,
Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Byrne
lent a letter to the NCAA requesting
)ermission to hold a meet in Lincoln
umilar to the championships.but not
sanctioned by the NCAA.
“I asked them if we could host a
neet 1 ike the national championships,
>aid for by the universities,” Byrne
laid.
“We offered Lincoln as a semiper
manent site. But that wasn’t consid
ered. The NCAA didn’t consider it a
true national championship unless at
least 40 schools were involved.”
tS Allen was not satisfied with the
NCAA’s response.
“That just shows that they don’t
want to have anything to do with it,”
Allen said. “It all goes back to gender
equity. Actually, it’s not really even
gender equity — it’s money.”
In order to compensate for the dis
parity between the total number of
men’s and women’s scholarships, the
men’s gymnastics program is allowed
only 6.1 scholarships. Ten scholar
ships are provided for the women’s
team.
“The women’s program here is
great,” Allen said, “but the equality
part of the total scholarships available
is the problem. Other schools in the
country just arc not in the same situa
tion as Nebraska.
“We would love to keep the pro
gram going; it’s just that not very
many other schools can afford it.”
Part of the problem, Allen said, lies
in the voting procedure at the NCAA
convention.
“The way I understand it, 700
schools have a say in this,” he said.
“Well, if only 36 schools have men’s
teams, how do you think the vote is
going to turn out? ”
Husker Red's Poll
men
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