Huskers sweep Cyclones
By Vince D’Adamo
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska swimming and div
ing team doubled its fun on Saturday
against Iowa State in the
Cornhuskers’ final Big Eight Con
ference dual meet.
The Husker men downed the Cy
clones 136-107. On the women’s side,
Nebraska pummeled Iowa State 153
71.
“We’ve had some tough meets
this year,” Nebraska coach Cal Bentz
said. “Both teams wanted to win,
and they put themselves on the line
to do it.”
The Nebraska men were propelled
by Travis Nicmeyer’s record-break
ing performance in the 3-meter dive.
Niemeyer set a Husker dual record
with a score of 348.975.
“Right now I’m feeling really con
sistent,” Niemeyer said.
Danny Bergman placed First in the
1-meter dive with 315.15 points.
Francois Boshoff won the 200-meter
freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 41.15
seconds. Tuan Benavides took first
place honors in the 50- and 100-meter
freestylewith times of20.96 and45.96,
respectively.
Eric Rasser paced the 200-meter
backstroke with a 1:52.49 effort.
Conny Wennberg won the 200-meter
breaststroke at 2:08.57. The400-meter
freestyle team of Benavides, Boshoff,
Josh Mathias, and Alex Schleifman
earned a first-place finish with a time
of 3:03.33.
On the women’s side, the 200-med
ley relay team of Janet Danberg, Penny
Heyns, Julia Russell, and Erin Carew
took first with a time of 1:46.56.
BriAnna Wilkins won the 1,000
meter freestyle with a time of 10:33.11.
Melanie Dodd paced the 100- and
200-meter freestyle with times of 52.06
and 1:50.83. Russell took first-place
honors in the 50-meter freestyle and
the 200-meter breaststroke with times
of 24.41 and 2:18.33.
Heyns headed the 200-meter inter
mediate medley with a 2:09.57 effort.
Danberg garnered a first-place time of
2:07.06 in the 200-meter backstroke.
Heather Park won the 500-meter
freestyle with a 5:09 outing. And fresh
man T.D. Rowe swept the 1 -meter and
3-meter diving events with scores of
276.9 and 270.15.
The Husker men now have a dual
record of 4-7, whi le the women ’ s final
mark is 5-3. The Big Eight Champion
ships begin Feb. 14 in Oklahoma City,
Okla.
Gymnasts finish third after delay;
performance strong on uneven bars
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
Because of gusting winds and icy
runways in Chicago and Milwaukee,
.., the Nebraska
women s gymnas
tics team did not
arrive in
Tuscaloosa, Ala.,
for its Friday night
meet until 2 a.m.,
that day.
Cornhusker
coach Dan Kendig
said there weren’t
Kendig many complaints
from the team
members, but it was not the way he
wanted to spend the night before fac
ing Alabama, the No. 1 team in the
nation.
Alabama had the top two finish
ers in all four events, scoring a
195.725 to easily outdistance 12th
ranked Penn State. The Nittany Li
ons finished with a score of 191.70,
and Nebraska finished third at
189.45.
Kendig said he felt the score should
have been a little closer. He said
Nebraska’s performances were scored
accurately by the judges, but he felt
“The biggest thing we need is to get the word out
and get people to come out to our meet. The bigger
the crowd, the better we’ll do. ” ;
DAN KENDIG
Nebraska women's gymnastics coach
Alabama may have been given the
benefit ofthe doubt in some aspects of
the competition.
“Alabama looked good,” Kendig
said. “They got some pretty good
scores from the judges.”
As for Penn State, Kendig said he
thought the Huskers had just as much
talent as the Lions.
“Our team is very anxious to go up
against Penn State in March. We feel
we owe them one.”
Kendig said Nebraska, 1-2, had a
strong performance on the uneven bars,
and improved from its first meet in the
vault. But Kendig said he would not
be satisfied until his team hit all 24
routines at a meet.
The top two all-around scores be
longed to the Crimson Tide’s Meredith
Willard, who finished with a 39.875,
and Mama Neubauer, who finished
with a 38.875. Nebraska senior Joy
Taylor finished third with a score of
38.525.
Husker freshman Misty Oxford
filled in for junior Kim DeHaan, who
sat out with sore hamstrings. Oxford
finished with an all-around score of
36.875 and freshman Amie Dillman,
who was bothered by a sore ham
string, did not participate in the floor
exercise. Kendig said he expected
DeHaan and Dillman to be back in
action this weekend.
The Huskers will face Missouri at
7 p.m. Saturday at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
“This week is going to be a big
week for us,” Kendig said. “The big
gest thing we need is to get the word
out and get people to come out to our
meet. The bigger the crowd, the better
we’ll do.”
Huskers earn NCAA berths
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska men ’ s and women ’ s
track and field teams opened their
1996 indoor campaign at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center on Saturday
as they played host to the Nebraska
Open in front of 2,895 spectators.
Although no team scoring was
kept, a number of Cornhusker ath
letes assured themselves berths in
the NCAA Indoor Championships
by posting automatic qualifyingper
formances.
A pair of Husker shot putters stole
the show as they both eclipsed Big
Eight records in the shot put.
Junior Tressa Thompson first
snapped senior Paulette Mitchell’s
school and Big Eight record of 55 feet,
5 inches.
Not to be outdone, Mitchell, a five
time All-American, regained her
school and Big Eight record with a 56
111/2 toss.
Several other Huskers posted
NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday,
including Nicola Martial, two-time
NCAA defending champion in the
outdoor triple jump.
For the men, senior Greg Armitage
won the 35-pound weight throw with
a mark of 58-6 3/4.
The Huskers will be back in action
Saturday at the Devaney Center, play
ing host to Colorado Stateand Abeline
Christian in a triangular, which will
start at noon.
Injuries contribute
to runner-up finish
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
After being upset by New
Mexico at the Rocky Mountain
Open a year ago, the Nebraska
men’s gymnastics team went back
Friday looking for revenge.
But injuries plagued the
Comhuskers’ attempt that fell short.
A healthy New Mexico finished
first among the college teams with
a score of221.525, Nebraska placed
a close second with a team total of
220.475.
“They had more to win than we
had to lose,” Nebraska coach
Francis Allen said. “New Mexico
was at full strength.”
Allen said he thought the health
of the teams played a big factor in
the meet.
Two key Husker freshmen, J.D.
Reive and Marshall Nelson, did not
compete in the meet because of
injuries. Allen said he expected
both athletes to return in the next
month.
“A 220 without those two guys
is a respectable score,” Allen said.
Senior Jason Christie led the
Huskers, finishing second on the
horizontal bar and fourth on the
pommel horse. Christie finished
“They had more to win
than we had to lose.
Neiv Mexico was at full
strength. ”
FRANCIS ALLEN
NU men’s gymnastics coach
fifth in the all-around with a score
of 55.725.
Sophomore Jim Koziol, who
competed with a sore back, fin
ished sixth with an all-around score
of 55.55 after making the finals in
the high bar, rings, and the pommel
horse.
Former Husker Dennis Harrison
competed for the Olympic Training
Center and finished fourth in the
all-around. Harrison was the 1994
NCAA all-around champion.
The Olympic Training Center, a
team consisting of athletes ranging
from high school to college gradu
ates, finished with the top overall
team score at 226.675.
Richard Grace, another former
Husker, won on the parallel bars
with a score of 9.70. Grace was the
1995 all-around champion.
Scott Bruhn/DN
Nebraska’s Mike Roller wrestles Penn State’s Matt Hardy
Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Roller won 12-4.
cu
Continued from Page 7
period caused them to commit 15
turnovers and fall behind 37-23 at
halftime before losing 69-61.
In the second half, Nebraska
came back, outscoring the 17-4 and
4-1 Buffaloes 38-32.
“I think that we didn’t play ag
gressively enough in the first half,”
Nebraska coach Angela Beck said.
“They just killed us on the boards,
and set the pace of the game. That
really hurt us. We had a long talk in
the locker room and decided that in
the second half we were going to be
the aggressors and come after
them.”
“They got started right from the
beginning of the second half,” Barry
said. “It was really hard for us to get
momentum in the second half. The
break really benefited Nebraska.”
The Huskers cut Colorado’s lead
to seven points early in the second
half when Nebraska senior Pyra
Aarden rebounded her own miss
and made a layup with 17:43 re
maining.
The Buffaloes responded by
going on an 18-8 run to increase
their lead to 17 points when sopho
more point guard LaShena Graham
hit a 10-foot shot with 10 minutes
remaining.
Graham establ ished career highs
with four steals, eight assists and 14
points.
Nebraska responded with a 21 -8
run of its own to cut the score to 65
61 when sophomore guard Anna
DeForge made a layup with 1:15
remaining in the game.
But Nebraska didn’t score for
the remainder of the game while the
Buffaloes made four free throws to
ice the game.
Nebraska senior Kate Galligan
led the Huskers with 14pointswhile
Aarden chipped in 13 and junior
Tina McClain added 12 points.
Erin Scholz led the Buffaloes
with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Amy Palmer added 14 points for
Colorado.
Duals
Continued from Page 7
Nebraska took the final three weigftt
classes, but didn’t have enough time
left to overtake the Hawkeyes,
At 177 pounds Erik Josephson,
ranked No. 11, won in overtime against
No. 10 Curt Heideman, giving Ne
braska its first points since 118 pounds.
But Iowa still lead 20-6.
Ryan Tobin scored again for Ne
braska on a decision over Lee Fullhart
by the score of 9-3 to make it 20-9.
Gable elected to forfeit to top
ranked Tolly Thompson, giving Ne
braska its final team points and ending
the competition 20-15.
“It was probably the hardest Na
tional Duals that I’ve been in,” Gable
said. “Nebraska came out strong and
showed me a lot. We just refused to let
them take the trophy.”
osu
Continued from Page 7
pulled the Cowboys to within two
points at 19-17, Badgett nailed a 3
pointer to give Nebraska a 22-17 lead
with 7:39 left in the first half.
Oklahoma State was led by
Alexander, who scored 12 points, and
Jerome Lambert, who scored 11 points
and grabbed six rebounds.
Nee also praised the contribution
of the rest of the Nebraska bench,
including freshmen Andy Markowski
and Leif Nelson. Nelson, a 6-foot-11
center, battled in the paint and snagged
four rebounds.
For the game, Oklahoma State was
outrebounded 34-32, markingthe first
time this season that Nebraska has
outrebounded a Big Eight foe. The
Huskers are 10-0 this year when they
outrebound an opponent.
Nebraska’s team effort smothered
the Cowboys in the first 20 minutes,
creating 11 turnovers. The Huskers
led by as many as 15 points and 40-28
at the half.
Despite a 5-for-ll shooting per
formance from the field in the second
half, the Huskers shot 66 percent from
the free-throw line and continued to
hold off Oklahoma State.
In the second half, the Cowboys
forced 15 Husker turnovers.
The fans were drawn back into the
game when the Cowboys pulled to
within three points after two more
Alexander free throws at the 11:03
mark. But Strickland quieted the crowd
with a 23-foot jumper that gave Ne
braska a 51 -46 advantage.
The Cowboys had a final run
stopped when Boone stretched the
Husker lead to eight points on a 15
footer at the 2:05 mark.
Nee said the most valuable perfor
mance of the second half came on the
free-throw line from Gamer.
The 6-7 forward buried 7-of-8 sec
ond-half free throws and hit 9-of-10
from the stripe for the game.
The victory was especially gratify
ing to the Husker seniors, who have
never won in Stillwater. Last year,
Nebraska lost 93-53 in Stillwater.
“It feels real, real good,” Strickland
said. “Last year we felt terrible. We
felt like we got cow manured on.”