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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1995)
Sports Friday, January 20,1995 Page 6 ‘I am sorry the whole thing happened’ By Jeff Griesch isenior Reporter For almost a year Christian Peter has done his talking on the field. He played a major role as a defensive tackle in the Nebraska football team’s run to the national championship. After the game, his emotions spilled into post-game interviews, and he seemed happy. But not even a national championship could help Peter forget his past. He has consistently refused to talk about anything in his life except football to reporters because of a sexual assault conviction. -1 But Thursday, Peter ended his silence. With his two lawyers present, Peter told the Daily Nebraskan he was sorry the incident happened, and he was tired of being a target of scrutiny. “Always being written about, it is hard on my fam Peter ily, hard on coaches and my teammates,” Peter said. “I just wish it never could have happened. It hurts. It seems like a never-ending story, especially for my family.” Peter was found guilty of third-degree sexual assault against Natalie Kuij venhoven, a former Miss Nebraska, on May 11, 1993. Peter pleaded no contest to the charge and was convicted on March 2,1994. On May 13, 1994, he was sentenced by Lancaster County Judge Gale Pokomy to an 18-step, 18-month probation. Peter is making sufficient progress toward meeting the requirements of his probation, including enrollment in an aftercare program and interpersonal communications course. The terms of Peter’s probation barred him from entering any bars and prohibited him from drinking alcohol. Peter declined to discuss any alcohol prob lem he may have had. In addition to his probation, Peter was sus pended from practicing for 10 days last spring, and was not allowed to play in the annual Red White Game. After accepting his punishment, Peter said he expected to get on with his life. “I have written her an apology letter. I am sorry the whole thing happened,” Peter said. In a letter dated May 19,1994, Peter wrote Kuijvenhoven that he did not specifically re call what occurred that night at the Brass Rail See PETER on 7 NU’sMoore succeeding with blocks By Derek Samson \ Senior Reporter Nebraska center Mikki Moore is succeeding on the basketball court at something he loves doing — blocking shots. Now, Moore wants to find as much enjoyment and success in other areas of the game. “To me, right now, I (prefer) the block shots,” Moore said. “Coach (Danny) Nee is really telling us to get the rebounds, so I’ll have to start working on rebounds more and stop trying to block everything that goes up.” Moore has been able to get his hand on a lot of what has gone up near him this season, averaging almost three blocks a game. “My strategy is to watch the player and not the ball motion,” Moore said. “I keep an eye on my man and the man who is taking the shot. Then, I don’t go for the crazy headfakes. I just have to be smart about it.” Moore’s 42 blocked shots lead Nebraska and are second in the Big Eight, and the 6-foot-l0-inch sophomore is averaging 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. “I like to be a scorer when the team needs me,” Moore said. “If the offense is going right, and the guards are hitting their shots and I’m getting solid picks, then I don’t have to score to be noticed. The team tells me when I set a good pick, so I get encouraged in every thing. “I don’t see myself as a scoring threat right now. As the season goes on, and we see some of the seven-footers, I know it’s going to be hard to shoot over them. I have to worry about setting good picks to get the guards open.” As a freshman at Nebraska, Moore played in 20 games, averag ing two points an outing. JonWaller/DN Nebraska’s Mikki Moore shoots over Missouri’s Simeon Haley while Husker guard Jason Glock assists during Nebraska’s loss to Missouri Jan. 7. Moore’s increased numbers this season have pleased Nee. “Mikki Moore has improved, and with every day and every new game under his belt, he’ll continue to improve,” Nee said. “He’s a factor, and he really affects people around the basket. He has great jumping ability and very long arms. “He’s becoming a very solid basketball player. I’m very happy with his progress.” Moore agreed he had improved, but said his teammates deserved some of the credit. “I see myself improving more and more each game,” Moore said. “Last year, I didn’t play that much, so now I’m getting into the flow. It’s just that game experience. My teammates keep cheering me on, so that and the experience has helped.” Both swimming teams compete this weekend By Derek Samson Senior Reporter For Nebraska swimming coach Cal Bentz, competing against Iowa has special meaning. And with Iowa holding down the No. 13 spot in the nation, Bentz is even more excited for his No. 19 Comhusker men swimmers to meet up with the Hawkeyes today in Iowa City. “It’s become quite a rivalry. It’s a friendly rivalry and we respect each other,” Bentz said. “So many times in the past, it’s come down to the final relay. It’s intense when we swim against Iowa, but we always shake hands when it’s over.” After losing a dual meet to the No. 11 Sun Devils last weekend, Bentz said a victory over Iowa would be a boost for the Huskers. “We always use Iowa as some thing to measure ourselves against,” he said. “They’re always among one of the top teams in the Big 10, and that’s a tough conference. I feel like we’re ready to swim faster than we did last week, and then we’ll get a better feel to where we’re at.” Both the men ’sand women ’ s teams will compete against Iowa State on Saturday. “Iowa State is very important be cause it’s a conference school and tough competition,” Bentz said. “They’re a very improved team. I expect Iowa State to be a big factor in the Big Eight championships. “We’re going to need to be pre pared to swim back-to-back days against two very good schools.” Bentz said the Husker women swimmers were also prepared for a competitive weekend at Minnesota today. “Minnesota has a very good team, and I expect them to be very tough for us,” he said. “The Iowa State women aren’t exactly at the level that (Iowa State’s) men are, but they’ll be com petitive. The women will have to race well on both days.” Coach hopes for smooth meet in Rocky Mountains From Staff Reports The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team takes the first step toward de fending its national title Friday and Saturday, participating in the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Huskers, winners of eight of the last 15 national championships, return four members from last year’s squad, which outdistanced Stanford to win the championship in April. “We need to find out what we have,” Nebraska coach Francis Allen said. “This is a good meet for us. I don’t think there will be anyone there that will beat us, so we should be able to get out there and really see what we have.” Richard Grace, one of only two Nebraska seniors, leads the charge this year. Grace, a 5-foot, 125-pound product of Millard South, is the de fending national champion in the parallel bars. Nebraska’s other senior, Rick Kieffer, also returns, along with jun ior Jason Christie and sophomore Ted Harris. Freshman William Mulholland will join Christie, Kieffer and Grace in the all-around this weekend, Allen said. Nebraska’s primary competition this weekend should come from Big Eight rival Oklahoma. Aside from the Sooners, the Huskers will be up against New Mexico, Massachusetts, Air Force, Arizona State and an Olym pic training team. “They need to feel a little team camaraderie,” Allen said. “Because when it comes down to the national championship, you’d better be able to rely on one another.” Hawkeyes the team to beat in National Duals tournament By Clay Short and Tony West Staff Reporters The NU Coliseum will be the host to some of the best wrestling teams in the country this weekend. And Nebraska, seeded sixth for the tourna ment, has a chance to make some national noise. “This is shaping up to be a very interesting tournament,” said Nebraska coach Tim Neumann. “We are looking forward to a matchup with Penn State.” The Nittany Lions are seeded third in the National Duals, and a second-round confron tation with the Huskers is expected. “They’ve got an outstanding team, but we think we have a chance to beat them,” Neumann said. “The dual could come down to the two best heavyweights in the country.” Three of Nebraska’s best wrestlers aren’t favored against the Nittany Lions. Steve Baer,. Mike Eierman and Tolly Thompson all face No. 1 or No. 2 nationally ranked opponents. All 12 teams will wrestle Saturday morning, and both the winning teams and the losers will then wrestle again at either 1:30 or 3:30 Saturday afternoon. A team can lose its first matchup and still finish third in the tournament by virtue of .. winning their next four Neumann duals. “Every year we are going to more and more of a dual-meet emphasis,” Neumann said. “Ide ally, we would like to have the dual champion ships after the season, so you could use the NCAA Championships as a setup for this meet.” Last season, winning the National Duals helped propel Oklahoma State to the national championship. The Cowboys defeated Penn State 17-15 in the finals of the National Duals last year at the NU Coliseum. And this weekend at the NU Coliseum, Coach John Smith’s Cowboys have a chance to defend that title. But Smith said things had changed. “I have six freshmen that start, and that kind of puts us in an underdog position,” he said. “I think it’s a whole different situation.” Smith said the rankings were probably fairly accurate for the meet. “Without a question, I think Iowa is the team to beat,” Smith said. “They look awfully solid with what they have.” The Hawkeyes, 5-0, have four wrestlers holding down a No. 1 ranking. The Huskers’ opponent Saturday morning at 11:00 is Ohio University, an unranked team. “It’s kind of scary because they have three ranked wrestlers and so do we,” Neumann said. “Basically it looks like Iowa and a bunch of us fighting to wrestle them in the finals on Sun day.” The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 1 in both this weekend’s tournament and in the national rankings. “This is the granddaddy of all duals. This is an excellent test for our team,” Neumann said. “It tests the strength and depth of a whole team.”
