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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1994)
Nebraskan Friday, April 22,1994 Sports Healthy NU gymnasts ready for NCAA meet Huskers hope to overcome nemesis By Mitcn anerman Staff Reporter The Nebraska men's gymnastics team will try to win its eighth national title in the last 15 years this weekend at the NCAA Gym nastics Championships held at the Bob Dcvancy Sports Center. The preliminary round of the NCAA championships will take place tonieht at 7 Allen p.m. in the Devaney Center main arena. Three teams will qualify for the final round, which will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. 1 The top-ranked Cornhuskers will have to do something they haveift done in the last two years if they want to take the title. - They have to beat Stanford. The Cardinal, ranked No. 5, comes into the meet as an underdog to Nebraska, but that hasn’t stopped it in the past. Last year, Stanford came from behind to shock Nebraska by one point at the national meet in Albuquerque, N.M. Two years ago, the Cardinal sent the Huskcrs home with a second place finish, overcoming Nebraska’s score of 288.95, an all-time high. Although,Stanford has not been dominating this year, Coach Sadao Hamada said the Cardi / See NCAA on 8 Huskers hope to sweep KU, move up in Big Eight, nation Coach says NU capable of keeping its streak going By Jeff Griesch Senior Editor The Nebraska baseball team will look to add to its 12-gamc winning streak tonight as it opens a three-game weekend series with Kan sas at Buck Bcltzcr Field at 7. j I he Lornhuskcrs have Iwon eight straight Big Eight games, including two games on Tuesday and Wednesday over the 21 st-ranked Jayhawks, to move ahead of Kansas into third place in the conference. With the wins, the Husk ers improved to 10-7 in the conference anu zo-io over Sanders all, while the Jayhawks fell to 11-9 and 27-13. Despite the Jayhawks’ 17-2 record at home before the two-game set with the Huskers, Ne braska baseball coach John Sanders said he wasn’t surprised with the wins. “I think we arc very capable of continuing this streak,” Sanders said. ‘‘We arc playing well, and we have also got some breaks, but we still need to work on some things. I know we can still play a lot better.” While Sanders and the Huskers weren’t surprised at winning two games at Kansas, they were surprised that they didn’t have to face the Jayhawks’ ace Jamie Splittorff. SplittorfT, who is the Big Eight’s top pitcher with an 8-0 record and a 2.91 ERA, hasn’t pitched since April 13 against Wichita State. Kansas assistant sports information director Chris Padgett said SplittorfTmissed his regular turn in the rotation because ofa “tired arm,” and his status is still unknown for this weekend’s scries with the Huskers. While Kansas’ starting rotation is missing its biggest gun, the Huskers are well-rested. Sophomore Alvic Shepherd will open the series for the Huskers on the mound. Baseball Standings Pet. W L Pet. .762 30 12 .714 Oklahoma 12 7 .632 30 12 .714 Nebraska 10 7 .558 26 16 .619 Kansas 11 6 .550 27 13 .675 Missouri 8 7 .533 28 12 .700 Iowa State 6 13 .316 14 23 .378 Kansas State 2 17 .105 11 31 .262 CONFERENCE TEAM w l Oklahoma State 16 5 Shepherd, 1 -3, is coming off his best perfor mance of the season on April 15 with a 4-2 victory over Kansas State. JefTStrasser, who will also be pitching with a week’s rest, will get the nod Saturday, Sand ers said. And Huskcr All-American Troy Brohawn, who is 3-0 since reluming to the rotation on April 8, will close the scries for the Huskcrs on Sunday. “We arc definitely in a solid position with our rotation right now,” Sanders said. “We have been pitching well, and we just hope we can continue to throw strikes and play solid defense behind them.” The Huskcrs have rebounded from an 0-6 start in the conference and could move into second place in the conference with a sweep of Kansas. Sanders said the Huskcrs also had a chance to gain some exposure in the national rankings. “We have some really quality opportunities to move, not only in the Big Eight but on the national level,” he said. “We are playing some teams over the nextcouple of weeks that really give us an opportunity to move, and that is, really all you can hope for late in the year.” Senior class wants place in history By Mitch Sherman Staff Reporter Four years ago, Nebraska men’s gymnastics coach Francis Alien recruited four high school seniors who were considered among the best in the nation. Their first year in Lin coln, the four frestwnen were the nucleus of a team that fin ished seventh at the NCAA meet, Nebraska’s lowest fin i 1 isn in l i years. Harrison “Normally at Nebraska, that is not a good season,” Allen said. “But that year, I considered it a positive because nobody r .... thought we were going to do anything.” The next year, the four helped the Huskers to a second-place finish behind Stanford. The following year, the Cardinal beat the Huskers again. This year, Dennis Harrison, Che Bowers, Sumner Darling and Burkett Powell said they were refusing to stop short of a national title. They have their chance this weekend at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships Friday night at the Bob Devancy Sports Center. A look at the four seniors’ credentials shows that each has made his mark at Nebraska. The four seniofs have combined for 10 All American awards, one NCAA individual title See SENIORS on 8 Shaun Sartin/DN Nebraska coach Tom Osborne talks to junior split end Brett Popplewell during a recent practice. 4 Draft forecasts mixed for former Comhusker players oy uereK samson Senior Reporter Trcv Alberts should not have to wait long to see where his future lies in Sunday’sNational Football League draft. Alberts is a consensus first-round pick and is expected by most to be the lirst Big Eight player chosen in the draft, which will be televised by ESPN beginning at 2:30 p.m. Iowa State coach Jim Walden said the Butkus Award winner and Big Eight defensive player of the year would go high in the draft. “Trcv Alberts is the first guy that comes to my mind,” Walden said. "There was not a more dominating player than h im last year i n our league. The liming is perfect for Trcv. Alberts Jones “I think he’ll be an outstanding * pro. I think Trev and that (Dan) Wilkinson kid from Ohio State arc probably the two premier defensive players.” Mel ICipcr Jr., ESPN’s draft ex pert, said Alberts would be drafted by Seattle, which owns the eighth pick i n the draft. w itn iNrL clubs dishing out huge sums of money these days, you don’t want any part of a prospect that has questionable work habitsor won’t play with pain,’’ Kiper said. “With Trev, you have a model team leader. He also has the smarts to pick up any system.” When Alberts ran a 4.49 during workouts for NFL scouts in March, his slock increased greatly. Sports llluslratcd’s draft analyst Paul Zimmerman said. “My opinion was very high of him even before he ran the 4.49, but be cause ofwhat teams needed, I thought he would be about the 15th pick,” he said. “Now| I think he could go as high as the fourth pick. “Running the 4.49 also made him very wealthy. That alone should make him about $300,000 more. I think the logical spot for him will be Cleveland at the ninth pick." Three other Huskers besides Alberts—safety John Recce. runn i ng back Calvin Jones and rover Toby Wright — were among Kiper’s top 150 players available on draft day. Kiper projected Reece as a second rounder, the 46th pick overall. He said he thought Jones and Wright would both be selected in the third round. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne agreed with Kiper’s projections. “I think we’ll get three or four people taken in the first couple of rounds or so,” he said. "I’d be shocked if Alberts wasn’t in the first round, and I’d be fairly surprised if he wasn’t taken early in the first round.” There arc mixed feelings about Jones, who became the third straight Nebraska player to leave Nebraska early for the NFL. Jones will have no problem suc ceeding in the NFL, Walden said. “Oh hell, he's going to make it,” * Walden said. “I’m just glad he’s gone. “Jones is as good as Brown, and, if I’m not mistaken, Brown did pretty well last year. I’m not sure how high he’ll go, but he’ll make it.” Kiper, who predicted Jones would be the first pickofthc third round, was notes optimistic about Jones’ chances. “(Jones) is not afraid to lower his shoulder and take it to a linebacker or defensive back,” he said. “However, in the NFL, he won’t win many of those battles, lacking the elusive ness and natural changc-of-direction skills to leave defenders in his wake."