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.