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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1994)
Daily t Nebraskan Monday, April 26,1994 SPORTS ‘A perfect day’ vaults Husker men to title By Mitch Sherman Staff Reporter _ The expressions on the faces of Nebraska’s four senior gymnasts in the post-meet interview room said more than words could describe. After three years of frustration, Dennis Harrison, Sumner Darling, Burkett Powell and Che Bowers fi nally held the coveted national cham pionship trophy. In front of 2,286 people Saturday afternoon at the Bob Devancy Sports Center, the four seniors and the rest of the Huskcrsposted aseason-high score of288.250 points. They easily outdis tanced Stanford at 285.925 points and Ohio State at 285.025. The Huskcrs’ score was the second highest in school history and the sec ond highest i n the h isloryofthc NCAA meet. “It’s incredible,” Bowers said. “We’re going out our senior year, and we finally put it together. It’s an unbe lievable feeling.” Powell said their careers couldn’t have ended in a better way. “There was a tear in my eye after that last routine,” he said. “1 am going to cherish this moment for the rest of my life. When we’re 50 years old. we’re going to look back at this, and we’re still going to be rocking and rolling.” Nebraska, runner-up to Stanford in the last two years, began the final round on the floor exercise. Stanford was on the pommel horse, and Ohio State was on the rings. After the first rotation, the Huskcrs were in last place. “It was like being in a trench,” Nebraska coach Francis Allen said. “Those other teams stayed on us the whole time. It was a tough meet.” Nebraska moved to the pommel horse, scored 48.225 points and jumped into first place after two rota tions. Nebraska gymnast Burkett Powell performs on the pommel horse Saturday. “I am going to cherish this moment for the rest of my life,” Powell said of the Huskers’ national title. The Huskers remained on top until after the fourth event, when Ohio State took the lead by less than half a point. But Nebraska’s vault score of46.6, which dropped the Huskers to second place, was no reason to be alarmed. Allen said. “You watch the vaulting, and you think we’re slipping behind,” Allen said. “But they did a great job.” Although Ohio State was in first place after four rotations. Buckeye coach Peter Kormann said he fell un safe. “We had the lead,” he said, “but that can be a little misleading because of the vaul t. Vaul t scores arc always a little lower, and Nebraska had done vault. We hadn’t.” The Buckeyes moved to the vault and lost their lead. Nebraska posted a 48.750 on the parallel bars and re gained the lead. The Huskers, who didn’t miss another routine, never let go. See CHAMPS on 8 Harrison wins all-around, helps round up national title By Mitch Sherman Staff Reporter _ For Nebraska’s Dennis Harrison, Saturday was a little piece of heaven. The senior gymnast from Omaha, who won the NCAA all-around title Friday night, came back Saturday to lead his team to the national champi onship. His score of 58.2 during Friday n igh t’s al l-around championsh ips was good enough to beat Josh Stein of Stanford by more than half a point. nut Harrison did better on Saturday. Although the all-around totals did not count dur ing the team cham pionsh ips, Harrison led theCornhuskers to victory with an all-around score of Harrison 58.425. That score was only one-tenth of a point off the school record of 58.5 5 set in 1981 by Jim Hartung, who went on to become an Olympic gold medalist at the 1984 games in Los Angeles. So does that mean Harrison has what it takes to follow in Hartung’s footsteps and compete in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta? “He can do anything he wants to do,” Nebraska coach Francis Allen said. “If he decides that he wants to make the Olympics, he’ll make it.” The Olympics arc his ultimate goal. Harrison said, but first on the agenda is the training for the 1994 U.S. na tional team. If Harrison makes the U.S. team, he will compete in the World Championships this summer. “After that,” he said, “I’ll be going for the Olympics.” Harrison came into this weekend as a five-time All-American. He left the Bob Dcvancy Sports Center Satur day as an 11-limc All-American. , Despite having to compete in his third meet in 24 hours, Harrison fin ishcd in the top six in five ofsix events in the individual finals Saturday night. Harrison didn’t win an individual title, but teammate Richard Grace took first in the parallel bars. “It’s incredible,” Grace said. “I d idn ’ t c ven come in to th is meet th in k ing I could win the parallel bars. I got what I wanted—the team champion ship. This is just icing on the cake.” The junior from Omaha won the See HARRISON on 8 I-back struts his stuff in Red’s soring romp By Tim Pearson Senior Reporter With the Red team up 13-7 in the first half of Saturday’s 45th annual Spring Game, Lawrence Phillips ex ploded for a 22-yard run to move the Red team to the White team’s 4-yard line. But this was not your ordinary run. Phillips broke through several de fenders, almost going down to the turf. With one hand on the ground, he kept his balance and kept going until (breed out of bounds. Phillips sparked the Husker of fense with 156 yards rushing on 16 carries against the top defense, and the Red cruised to a 43-19 win over (he- White in front of a Memorial Stadium crowd of 28,999. Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne said Phillips, who ran for 508 yards and five touchdowns last year, answered any remaining ques tions about who would replace Calvin Jones at I-back. Jones passed up his senior year to enter Sunday’s draft,. “I didn’t sec many questions he couldn’t answer,” Osbornesaid. “He’s a great player. I thought Phillips had a particularly good day.” - .1 The HuskcrofTen.se also had a good day after struggl ing most of the spring. “I think if the offense plays like we did,” Phillips said, “we’ll be in the Orange Bowl for the national champi onship again." Quarterback Tommie Frazier, who will be a junior in the fall, said the offensive explosion was much-needed. “I felt we went out there a little more focused and ready to play,” Frazier said. “It was important for us in order to have confidence going into next fall.” Frazier ran for two touchdowns and threw for 153 yards on 10-of-18 passing. The quarterback from Manatee, Fla., also gained some confidence in his first game with full contact. Until Saturday, Nebraska quarterbacks had been wearing green jerseys, which kept them off limits from the defense. With his newly found freedom, Frazier scored on a 6-yard run to put the Red up 7-0. The Wh i tc came back quickly when second-team quarterback Brook Bcrringcr hit split end Riley Wash ington on a 51-yard bomb to tie the score at 7.11 was Washington’s first of two touchdowns on the day. Spring Game Stats White 7 6 0 6-19 Red 13 10 713-43 Red-Tommie Frazier 6-yd run (Darin Erstad kick) Whtte-Riley Washington 51-yd pass from Brook Barringer (Erstad kick) Red-Damon Banning 1 -yd run (pass tailed) Red-Lawrence Phillips 9-yd run (Torn Sieler kick) Rad-Sieler 34-yd field goal White-Washington 12-yd pass from Matt Turman (kicfc failed) Red-Frazier 1-yd run (Sieler kick) Whlte-Turman 20-yd run (kick failed) Red-Clinton Childs 7-yd run (Sieler kick) Red-Berringer 2-yd run (kick failed) A-28,999 White Red First downs 14 31 Ruehes-yards 35-102 65-350 Passing yards 242 flRjt^j Passing 14-23-2 14-26-0 TWal yards 43 34* 581® Return yards 11_ . . .IS_ Punts 3-38 7 2-47.0 Fumbies-lost 2-1 2-1 Penslties-yards 6-56 8*52 Third-down conversions 4-12 5-16 But that’s as close as the White team could come. I-back Damon Benning scored on a one-yard dive, and Phillips scored on a 4-yard run to make it 20-7. If the Huskcr ofTcnse continues to click I ike it did Saturday, Frazier said, Nebraska could be tough to beat. “If we go out and play the way we did, the defense will come along,” he said. “There’s not any team that can hold us under 21 points.” Indianapolis makes its move; picks Alberts fifth overall From Daily Nebraskan and Associated Press reports_ The I nd ianapol is Col Is d idn ’ t wan t to risk passi ng up Nebraska 1 incbackcr i rev Aioeris, so they traded up in Sunday’sNFLdraft to make the Butkus Award winner the fifth selection over all. Indianapol is traded the seventh pick of the draft. Alberts along with its third round selection, to the Los Angeles Rams for the team’s fifth pick. Alberts said he was surprised by the trade and the selection by the Colts. “But I’m certainly excited about the opportunity,” Alberts said. “They have outstanding talent there. Espe cially now, it seems they’re building up the defense.” Ken Alberts, Trev’s father, said the Colts wanted to ensure Alberts would be in Indianapolis next season. “They were afraid that they might not get him at No. 7,” he said from the Alberts’ home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. “Just before the draft, they talked to Trcv. In their judgment, he was the No. 2 defensive player available.” Trev, the first senior chosen in the draft, said the ranking was about right. “I’m not surprised they would rate me that high,”Trcvsaid.“I feel confident in my abilities.” Ken said his son was anxious to play alongside some of the new faces in Indianapolis. “The owners said they were going to build a defense,” he said. “They’ve traded for a number of outstanding defensive players and signed a bunch of free agents. He’s excited about play ing with some of their talented free agents. He knows they’re an up-and coming team.” The Col ts’ select ion of Alber ts drew criticism from ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, who said Indianapolis should have chosen quarterback Trent Dilfer of Fresno Stale. “Indianapolis said that while they would have liked to have a quarter back as well, they were committed to building a championship team,” Ken said? “They felt like they needed to build their defense to win a champi onship.” The Los Angeles Rams selected Toby Wright, a rover at Nebraska last year, as the 20th pick of the second round. He was the 49th pick overall.