Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1994)
Husker gymnast wins golden victory By Mitch Sherman Staff Reporter __ At 5-foot, 125-pounds, Nebraska gymnast Richard Grace has been the butt of many jokes about his height over the years. As a freshman, Grace dressed up as a Kccblerclf when he went to cat at the training table on Hallow een. “It was my first year here, and school was going kind ofbum,” he said. “So I said,' Mom, make me a costume for Halloween.’” Grace’s mom, Lucille, who is a seamstress; whipped up a costume of an elf. “It was excellent,” Richard said Saturday, as he showed off the tat too of a Keebler elf on his ankle. “The guys dared me to wear i t to go cat,” Grace said. “They said that I wasn’t going to wear it. So I said, OK, I’ll wear it.’ “Everyone at the training table loved it. I was the only one dressed up.” On Saturday night, the ell was one-of-a-kind again. Grace, a junior from Omaha, was the only Huskcr to win an event during the individual finals Satur day. Grace, who was the defending national champion in the floor ex ercise, took home the crown in the parallel bars. “It’s incredible,” Grace said. “I didn’t even come into this meet thinking l could win the parallel bars. I got what I wanted — the team championship.” The individual title came after scoring a 57.25 in the all-around Saturday afternoon to help lead the Huskers to their first national cham pionship in four years. “I didn’t have the attitude going into the p-bars that I would win,” Grace said. “I didn’t even want the individual championship, but I got it.” Wright Continued from Page 7 - technique will be a major factor (in the pros), but 1 was getting much better every game. “That’s the great thing about Ne braska. They arc going to teach you William Lauer/DN Nebraska’s Richard Grace performs his national title winning routine on the parallel bars Saturday night. the fundamentals and technique you need to know to make it.” And Wright is not about to forget Nebraska. “I wish I would have been there for four or five years, instead of two ” he said. “The people they have, from coaches to trainers, were just incred ible. That’s why people (in the NFL; value Nebraska’s word so much. The) know football players and people un derstand that.” Wright said he will leave Thursday for a rookie camp in Los Angeles. Huskers rally past Jays to complete season sweep By Derek Samson Senior Reporter_ The Nebraska softball team com pleted a six-game sweep of intrastate rival Creighton by winning a double header over the Lady Jays 1 -0 and 7 3 Monday. — iNeorasKa coacn Rhonda Revcllc said Nebraska had a mental advantage over Creighton this year. “I just feel like our kids feel they have the edge,” she said. “They didn’t Revelle panic at anytime tonight. I really en joyed being out here. It’s always good to beat a team six times, but it’s always special when you can beat Creighton anytime.” In the opener, Nebraska ruined a perfect game for Creighton pitcher Stephanie Byrge in the sixth inning. Byrge had ret ired the first 16 Huskcr batters of the game until Rachel Dunham singled in the sixth inning. Alycia Ticmann followed with a single and Sherry Allcorn reached base on an error to load the bases. Amy Erlenbusch’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Sarah Sinclair, who was running for Dunham, to give Nebraska the 1 -0 lead. “If you go six innings and it’s 0-0, the tendency is to feel nervous,” Revellesaid. “But we stayed real calm and just executed. We weren’t swing ing the bat with real authority. We started attacking and good th ings hap pened.” Melanie Raimondi pitched a com plete game, giving up only three hits to earn the victory. There was a night-and-day differ ence between the first and second game. Nebraska and Creighton com bined for 19 hits in the nightcap, compared to five in the first game. After scoring two runs in the sec ond inning, Nebraska went ahead in the third when Amy Offcnbacker’s double and Denise McMillan’s triple each knocked in runs to give the Husk ers a 4-3 lead. Nebraska added three insurance runs in the sixth inning, two coming off of an Offcnbacker triple. “That pitcher (Creighton’s Dede Pendleton) was a little more our style,” Revclle said. “Our pitch selection was very good. We attacked really good and it seemed like we really came alive offensively.” Olfcnbackcr went 2-for-3 with three RBI sand Tobin Echo-Hawk went 3-for-4. while scoring twice in the second game. Cody Duscnbcrry pitched 4 2/3 innings for the win as Nebraska im proved its record to 21-29. Erstad Continued from Page 7 a lot of attention on me.” Erstad also said that being on the same field with some of the other Huskcr players added to his tension. “After watching guys like Tommie Frazier and other stars on TV,” Erstad said, “it hit me that 1 was on the field with some great players whoare among the best in the nation.” Along with the stress created by fans and players, a camera crew fol lowed Erslad’s every move on and off both playing fields. But Erstad wasn’t slowed by the extra attention. “I actually got over here early enough to take more swings than usual," Erstad said. Despite the extra swings, Erstad had an off day at the plate. The sopho more from Jamestown, N.D., has struggled during the past few weeks. After his 2-for-15 hitting perfor mance in the scries with the Jayhawks, Erstad’s batting average fell to .316. But with football practice over, Erstad said things should begin to turn around. “I am kind of glad it’s over, be cause it has been tough to switch pages both physically and mentally from baseball to football and back to baseball," Erstad said. “Mentally, it’s going to be a lot easier for me to prepare for every game, and I’ll be able to get back into my routine. “Hopefully I’ll be able to turn it up over the next couple of weeks and be hot for the Big Eight tournament.” Looks like a Vivarin night The big one's only 12 hours away. You could have paid more attention in x class, but tonight you've gotta cram. First, you better keep Ni- those eyes from closing. \ \ Revive with Vivarin. Y Safe as coffee, it j) helps keep you awake and mentally '\.jF alert for hours. W So when y.our most / difficult problem to solve is how to stay awake...make it a Vivarin night! for fast pick up—safe As coffee Revive with VIVARIN Draft Continued from Page 7 “The people, the fans and the val ues that I have learned at Nebraska will always be a part of me and will travel with me,” he said. Adjusting to the level of play in the National Football League might take some time, Jones said. Sol ich believes the 5-fool-111-back has what it lakes to play in the NFL. “I’m sure he’ll fare very well,” Solich said. “They’re getting a com plete player.” Jones will leave for the Raiders’ minicamp on May 6-8 and also will participate in another training camp at the end of May. r -i We specialize in student and faculty travel to Europe! 3 Countries 5-Day Flexipass Youth fares for all ages 25 and under. Slightly more for full fare. Other passes also available. Savings on roundtrip to one city or arrival and departure through different cities. 9 International Affairs 1237 R Street 402-472-5358
