[Track teams in top position
3y Trevor Kants
Staff Reporter_____
This weekend, the Nebraska men’s
ind women’s track and field teams
iot only have the burden of playing
lost to one of the nation’s best meets,
jut also must defend their No. 1 dual
rankings.
TheHuskermen
vaulted in front of
Big Ten champi
on Illinois to the
top spot a week
after placing sec
ond to 10-timc
NCAA indoor
champion Arkan
sas.
. The women
"eP,n were a unanimous
selection after beating Arkansas and
the then-top-ranked dual team, Illi
nois.
Coach Gary Pepin said the No. 1
rankings were rewarding.
“It’s great for the kids and good for
our program,” Pepin said.
Pepin said having the type of com
petition the Huskers would face at the
Frank Sevigne Invitational would give
his teams an advantage at the Big
Eight and NCAA Championships.
“You have to have meets like this,”
Pepin said. “You get tested and that’s
good, so when you get in a big meet it’s
not a shock to the system.”
Nebraska assistant track and field
coach Mark Kostek said 26 of the 51
schools competing in the meet were
NCAA Division I schools. Also, 956
athletes are scheduled to compete.
Kostek said some of the major
schools competing were UCLA, Geor
gia, UTEP, BYU and South Carolina.
He also said many other major colleg
es would have athletes at the meet.
Kostek said the Frank Sevigne
Husker Invitational came at the right
time for the schools.
“This meet is exactly one month
from the NCAA Championships,”
Kostek said. “So, the athletes are start
ing to hit their peak performance
stage.”
At last year’s meet, 57 NCAA qual
ifying marks were set.
Pepin said this year’s meet should
produce similar marks.
“I’m looking for that,” Pepin said.
“The purpose for this meet is to pro
vide a high level of competition.”
Field events for the 20th annual
meet will be held at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center at 4:45 p.m. Friday. The
running events begin at 5 p.m. On
Saturday, the finals for the throwing
events start at 11 a.m., and the run
ning events start at 1 p.m.
Olympic experience lifts freshman
By Tony West
Staff Reporter
When Canadian sprinter Mark
Graham visited Nebraska one year
ago for a recruiting trip, he said he
liked what he saw.
“The support here in Lincoln is
incredible,” Graham said.
Now that Graham is a freshman
sprinter for Nebraska, the track and
field supporters have a chance to ap
preciate what they see from him.
Graham, from Hamilton, Ontario,
already has international experience.
He ran a leg in the 4-by-400 meter
relay for the Canadian team in the
1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The team
went to the semifinal and finished
11th overall.
Graham said the experience pro
vided him with more than just the
satisfaction of running for his country
in the Olympics.
“That was a turnaround point for
me as well as a highlight,” he said.
Nebraska track and field coach Gary
Pepin said he liked what he had seen
out of Graham since the turnaround.
- tt
/ think he’s going to end up being one of the
finest 400-meter runners we’ve ever had.
— Pepin
NU men’s track and field coach
-99 ~
Graham has provisionally quali
fied for the indoor national champion
ships in the 400-metcr dash with a
time of 47.69 seconds at the Sooner
Indoor meet on Jan. 29.
“He’s a really quality athlete,’’Pepin
said. “I think he’s going to end up
being one of the finest 400-meter run
ners we’ve ever had. I think he’s going
to make a significant contribution to
our team.”
However, Graham said he wanted
to focus on his short-term personal
goals for now.
Graham said he wanted to run a
consistent 45 seconds in the 400-meter
dash this season. Despite not having
an idea where that will place him, he
said he would be content with just
making that goal.
“You go crazy if you don’t set
goals,” he said. “And just as long as I
run within myself and my goals, I’ll be
happy.”
But Graham also knows there will
be obstacles. He is suffering plantar
fascitis, an injury in the arch of his
foot, from running the tight comers of
the indoor track. He is also recovering
from an carly-season lower hamstring
injury.
Despite the injuries, Graham said,
he has an edge on some other runners.
“Being a freshman is an advantage
I have,” he said. “I am running very
unpressured.”
Huskers set to compete in Minnesota
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska men’s gymnastics
team, which has competed only once
since Jan. 4, jumps back into action
Saturday in Minnesota.
The 3-0 Cornhuskers, who arc
ranked second in the nation behind
Ohio State, will participate in a trian
gular meet with UCLA and Minneso
ta. The meet in Minneapolis begins at
2 p.m. on Saturday.
Husker coach Francis Allen said
Nebraska, which will compete in sev
NU off to Kansas
for double dual
From Staff Reports
The Cornhuskers will compete in a
double swimming and diving dual
against the Kansas men’s and wom
en’s teams this weekend in Lawrence,
Kan.
On the men’s side, the 21 st-ranked
Huskers will battle the 13th-ranked
Jayhawks. The Husker women, who
arc also No. 21, will go against the
17th-ranked Kansas women.
Despite Kansas’ known strengths,
Nebraska swimming and diving coach
Cal Bentz said he feels confident in
his team’s chances.
Both the Husker and Jayhawk men
arc 2-0 in the Big Eight. The Husker
women have won their last four dual
meets and are 6-1 in dual competition
this season.
cn meets in tnc next seven wccks, is
eager to return to action.
“We arc glad to get going,” Allen
said. “We really haven’t done too
much for the last few weeks, so the
guys are looking forward to getting
out there.”
M innesota’s season was put on hold
last weekend when its top gymnast,
Kerry Huston, broke two vertebrae in
his back, possibly causing paralysis.
“He was probably their best gym
nast,” Allen said, “so that really hurts
their team. UCLA is good, but we
think we will win the meet. We’re not
afraid of anybody.”
L>cspiic me long layon. Alien saia,
the Huskers still are not completely
healthy. Junior Richard Grace, who
severely sprained his ankle on Nov. 26
at the Rocky Mountain Open, has not
fully recovered, but Allen said Grace
would participate.
“He’ll go as much as he can,” Allen
said. “We’ll let him do the events that
he feels he can handle. But I don’t
think he can go in the all-around.”
Following Saturday’s meet, the
Huskers will travel to Norman, Okla.,
to take on Iowa State and Oklahoma
on Feb. 19.
NU hopes to improve to 7-0
From Staff Reports__
The Nebraska women’s gym
nastics team can improve to 7-0
tonight with a win over Iowa State
in Lincoln.
The Huskers play host to the
Cyclones, 1-3, at 7:30 p.m. in the
Bob Devancy Sports Center.
Nebraska, who is ranked 12th in
the nation, improved to 6-0 last
weekend by winning a quadrangu
lar meet in Norman, Okla.
Their team score of 192.05 was
the highest total of the season and
10th highest score in school histo
ry.
Husker coach Dan Kendig said
he was impressed with the perfor
mance, but still sees room for im
provement.
“The girls are a little more fo
cused now,” he said. “In some ways
last week was our best meet of the
season, but we still have some areas
we can show improvement.”
Kcndig said the Huskers have
reached mid-season form on the
vault and the uneven bars, but have
some work to do on the balance
beam and floor exercise,
“We just need to polish those
events a little bit,” he said. “If we
can do that, I think we can be in
good shape.”
Nebraska will need to be in good
shape for next weekend’s meet. On
Feb. 19, they travel to Salt Lake
City to take on Utah, who finished
third at nationals last year, and
Arizona, who finished sixth at the
same meet.
Wyoming
Continued from Page 10
“Gonyo and Baer have been iron
men this year,” he said. “They’ve kept
us floating.”
Nebraska, coming off two straight
losses to Minnesota and Iowa State,
fell from No. 6 to No. 8 in the rankings.
Minnesota is ranked No. 1 in the
nation after wins over Iowa and Ne
braska.
But Neumann said he was not dis
pleased with the way his team wres
tled last week.
“We’re never happy when we lose,”
he said. “Against M innesota, we wres
tled pretty dam good, and I knew if we
didn’t wrestle well against Iowa State,
it’d go right down to heavyweight.”
Wins and losses are of no concern
to Neumann at this point. Instead,
preparing for the post-season is a con
cern.
“I don’t care necessarily about wins
and losses,” Neumann said. “If we
win all 10 weights against Wyoming
and wrestle poorly, I am not going to
be happy.
“They’ve got to be at their peak.
We’re stepping it up a level. You’ll
see the team that you saw at National
Duals.”
NEBRASKA
Women's Gymnastics
Catch the UNL Women Gymnasts in action as
they host the Iowa State Cyclones.
FRIDAY
Feb. 11
7:30 p.m.
Bob Devaney
Sports Center
General Admission
$2 - adults
Free - children 12 & under
Free - full time UNL students with
photo I.D.
NEBRASKA
Track & Field
Catch the UNL Track & Field Team in action
against some of the best athletes in the nation
at the 1994 Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.
FRIDAY
Feb. 11
5 p.m.
SATURDAY
Feb. 12
11 a.m. M
WMm
Bob Devaney Sports Center
Indoor Track
Admission
$5 - reserved
$3 - general
For ticket i
Invitational Corporate
jfigl
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