Nebraskan
Wednesday, April 13,1994
Sports
Page
9
Huskers ’ Brohawn
back in the saddle
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
Nebraska’s Troy Brohawn stood
on the pitcher’s mound at BuckBcltzcr
Field for the first time this season
Friday night against Oral Roberts.
I--~aszzr—| Before the sea
son, me Aii
Amcrican left
hander from
Woolford, Md.,
expected to make
his home debut
under the gray sky
of a February day.
|___^—I instead ot on a
Brohawn cool, dark April
night.
Brohawn, who went 13-0 last sea
son, also expected to have eight or
nine wins and a batting average better
than .300.
But this season has not gone as
planned for Brohawn.
Instead of leading the Huskers on
the field, Brohawn has been rehabili
tating the left foot he broke in the
season opener on Feb. 18.
He earned his first win Friday and
will go for his second today in the first
game of a doubleheadcr against Kan
sas State in Manhattan, Kan.
“It was real tough to just sit and
watch,” Brohawn said, “especially
when we weren’t playing well and
guys were down. I just wanted to be out
Baseball team
to play today
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska baseball team’s
scheduled game with Kansas
State in Manhattan, Kan., was
postponed Tuesday because of
bad weather.
The 19-16Cornhuskcrs, win
ners of seven of their last eight
games, will play a doubleheader
starting at noon today.
The Huskcrs will be trying to
improve on their 3-7 record in
the Big Eight. The Wildcats arc
11-23 overall and 2-9 in the
conference.
there playing and helping us win.”
Brohawn returned to the lineup on
April 1 — a week earlier than his
doctor suggested—as the designated
hitter against Oklahoma State.
Brohawn played with a screw in his
foot, a steel plate and a cushion in his
shoe. He also had a protective coating
of athletic tape around his foot.
“1 was nowhere near 100 percent,”
Brohawn said. “1 would say 1 was at
See BROHAWN on 10
Jon Waller/DN
Nebraska freshman tennis player April Yarmus has attained an 18-8 record this
season.
Match of emotions
Athlete confronts mother’s cancer off court
Upset gives tennis team
hope for weekend matches
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
Nebraska tennis player April
Yarmus fights two battles whenev
er she steps on the court.
She first tries to remember how
she’s going to play her opponents.
She then tries to forget the thing
that has made this season more
difficult than any other — her
mom’s bone cancer.
“When I goon the court, I just try
to clear my mind of everything,”
Yarmus said. “If 1 worry, then I get
in trouble.”
Yarmus, a freshman from Mesa,
Ariz.. has had plenty to worry abou t
this year.
On her first day in Lincoln in
August, she found out her mom,
Karen, had bone cancer.
“It was really hard for me be
cause I couldn’t be there for her,”
Yarmus said. “We arc very close
because I am the youngest and have
always been my mom’s shadow.”
Yarmus has worked hard this
season to escape from the shadow
of her mom’s debilitating disease.
While thoughts of her mom’s
illness hang over her head, Yarmus
has fought to an 18-8 record at No.
3 singles for the Huskers.
And on Sunday, she scored the
-44
My mom’s illness has made me look at
things differently. / realize how fortunate I
am to be able to play sports or even just to
walk.
— Yarmus
UNL tennis player
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska men’s tennis team
may have been given a new life Satur
day after beating Wichita State, the
No. 2 team in the region.
“| After upsetting
the Shockers, Ne
braska lost to
Kansas 7-0 Sun
day and beat M is
souri 7-0 Mon
day.
IButCornhusker
coach Kerry
McDermott said
McDermott the 4-3 victory
over the Shockers was just what Ne
braska needed.
“This gives us a little hope," he
said. “It gives as some confidence. We
felt like we were capable of playing
with the top two or three seeds in the
region.”
McDermott said the 6-13 Huskers
may be on the rebound in what has
been an up-and-down year.
“We’re not very consistent as a
team,” he said. “Against Wichita State,
we got that consistency and we got the
win. It seemed like everything worked
out real well for us.”
Nebraska’s consistency was enough
to shock Wichita State. McDermott
said No. 1 singles player Fredrik
Ricsbeck, No. 2 singles player Andy
Davis and No. 4 Henrik Andcrsson
played well despite losing. Omar
Acevedo won at No. 3 singles. Brad
Bernthal won at No. 5 singles. And at
No. 6 singles, Adrian Maizcy won.
Nebraska’s No. 1 doubles team of
Maizcy and Davis, and the No. 2
doubles team of Bemthal and Riesbcck,
upset the Shockers’ No. 1 and No. 2
doubles teams.
“They probably took us 1 ightly and
we surprised them,” McDermott said.
“I just felt like we were more ready to
play.”
McDermott said the Huskers need
ed to be ready again this weekend.
Nebraska’s seed in the Big Eight
tournament may hinge on this week
end’s contests against Colorado on
Saturday and Iowa State on Sunday in
Ames, Iowa.
“We feel 1 ike this weekend could be
anyone’s match,” McDermott said.
“We’d like to come out 2-0, but if we
come away 1-1, I’ll be pleased. We
really have to get one if we want to
finish where we expect in the Big
Eight.”
biggest upset of her young career by
beating Kansas’ Kim Rogers, the
54th-rankcd player in the nation.
“I never expected to be at this
point this soon because 1 didn’t
think I was that good.” Yarmus
said. “When I first came here, 1
looked at everyone and said, ‘God.
I can never play like that.’
I really didn’t expect to beat
(Rogers). I thought I was going to
get my butt kicked.’’
Yarmus said she called her mom.
Karen, to share the good news. She
said her mom was even more excit
ed than she was.
“When 1 told her 1 beat Kim
Rogers, she got so excited she didn ’ t
even know what to say,” Yarmus
said. “She gets so excited when I
tell her how I did.’’
Yarmus said she did whatever
she could to keep her mom’s mind
off the pain.
??
After finding out about the can
cer in August, April said she grabbed
her first chance to go home to sec
her mom.
“She has always been really ac
tive, but when I went home the first
time, she had been through chemo
therapy,” April said. “She had lost
her hair and was really pale and
weak.
“She had also lost a lot of weight
and she was hooked up to tubes. It
was really hard to sec her like that.”
Yannus said she was not devas
tated by her mother’s condition
because her mother had to battle
cancer before.
Karen Yarmus was first diag
nosed with cancer nine years ago
and doctors gave her just six months
to live.
See YARMUS on 10
Academic awards showcase cream ofNUathletic crop
Past, present and future legends
were all represented at Sunday
evening’s Nebraska Student-Athlete
Academic Awards Banquet in the East
Campus Union.
The banquet, which was held to
honor the 152 athletes earning a 3.0
grade point average or better, sup
plied much more than a room full of
brainy jocks.
The keynote speaker. Gale Sayers,
received a standing ovation afier tell
ing the crowd that the real heroes of
today are found outside of the playing
Helds.
Sayers, the youngest player ever to
be inducted into the National Football
League’s Hall of Fame, was intro
duced by coaching legend Bob
Devaney.
In a night filled with lame jokes
from many different speakers,
Devaney made the audience erupt in
genuine laughter, proving he hasn’t
lost any spunk.
“It’s extremely nice to be here to
night,” Devaney said. “Of course. I’m
getting to the point where it’s nice to
be anywhere.’’
He continued by saying what an
honor it was to be in the same room
with the “greatest backs” — Sayers
and 1972 Heisman Trophy winner
Johnny Rodgers.
Rodgers showed his appreciation
of Devaney’s recognition with a smile
that flashed from car to ear.
Despite some tough times after his
Husker days, Rodgers has returned to
the University ofNebraska-Lincoln to
earn his degree afler being absent
from college for more than 20 years.
It’s kind of hard not to admire
Rodgers for that.
And it was hard not to admire
Sayers for his message Sunday night.
Derek
Samson
Sayers, the former Omaha Central
star and Kansas All-American, spoke
bluntly about how role models should
come from outside the sports world.
“Most of the real role models arc
people you’re around every day,” Say
ers said. “Your parents, your coaches,
your professors — those arc the real
role models.”
But Sunday night, the audience
knew there were exceptions to that
rule.
Exceptions like All-American cross
country runner Theresa Sidling and
future legend Trev Alberts, who ac
cepted student athlete of the year
awards.
Alberts, who undoubtedly could
win Nebraska’s gubernatorial elec
tion in November, will shock a lot of
people if he isn’t a hit in the NFL.
After winning the Butkus Award,
playing an excellent Orange Bowl
despite an elbow injury and posting
his best numbers at workouts for NFL
scouts in March, Alberts had nothing
else to prove at UNL.
But Sunday, he showed he could
use his head for something other than
nailing Florida State’s Charlie Ward.
He showed what athletes could ac
compl ish when they mixed sports and
books successfully.
In his acceptance speech, Alberts
said that Tom Osborne was the reason
he came to Nebraska from Cedar Falls,
Iowa.
Osborne is without question a
coaching legend in our own time, and
he confirms there is much more to
being in the coaching elite than win
ning the big one.
Even though the national champi
onship has eluded Osborne through
out his career, he must have been
proud as he watched the huge number
of his athletes receiving awards for
their academic achievement Sunday.
Sayers is right. Role models can—
and should — be found outside the
sports world.
But Sunday night showcased five
sports figures — Sayers, Rodgers,
Devancy, Osborne and Alberts—who
would make pretty good role models
for anyone.
Samson is a sophomore news-editorial
major and a Daily Nebraskan senior report
er.