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Friday, February 23,1996 Page 10
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Gregg Madsen
NU gymnasts
deserve more
crowd support
There was a fierce intensity this
week in the practice room of the
Nebraska women’s gymnastics
team.
On Monday, freshman Jess Swift
practiced the final pass of her floor
exercise routine. The only thing
harder than the triple full twist she
attempted was the missed landing
that followed.
She picked herself up, tried again
and fell again — this time even
harder. Another pass produced an
other fall, but the look on her face
showed only determination. On her
fourth try, she nailed the landing.
That same determination was ra
diating from everyone in the prac
tice facilities at Mabel Lee Hall.
Senior Joy Taylor and freshmen
Amic Dillman and Misty Oxford
labored to perfect their balance
beam routines.
Junior Shelly Bartlett’s voice
shouted encouragement to her team
mates as she and freshman Quirtney
Brown worked on the uneven bars.
And after putting their bodies
through the stress of twisting double
backs, punch rudis and reverse
hechts, the gymnasts moved through
12 conditioning stations, four of
which required stomach crunches
that would make an “Abs of Steel”
video look like “Mister Roger’s
Neighborhood.”
i ue uqjeci ui uus lurious prepa
ration was the Masters Classic, Sun
day at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
The meet will showcase some of
the top gymnasts in the country,
and Nebraska coach Dan Kcndig
said he hoped to see a large, vocal
crowd at the meet.
“Their attitudes have been
great,” Kcndig said, “and I feel like
they work way too hard not to get
people to come out and cheer them
on and appreciate the beauty of our
sport.”
The seventh-ranked Huskerswill
play host to No. 3 Michigan, No. 9
Washington and No. 19 Ball State.
Last weekend, Michigan de
feated two-lime defendingnational
champion Utah, scoring a 196.575,
the third-highest score in school
history.
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said
her team had been decimated by
injuries this season, and those same
four gymnasts who missed the meet
against Utah, including senior co
captain Dianna Ranelli, would miss
the Masters Classic.
Michigan’s top three healthy all
arounders all have scored over a
38.3 5 thi s season, and senior Wendy
Marshall scored a perfect 10 in the
vault against Massachusetts.
Any Michigan lineup, when
combined with the talent of the
Huskers, will provide an eveningof
fast-paced excitement — all from
some of the hardest-working ath
letes in the nation.
Madsen is a sophomore news-edito
rial major and a Daily Nebraskan staff
reporter.
V Matt Miller/DN
Amie Dillman is one of five freshmen gymnasts to crack the Nebraska lineup this season. Dillman will lead off for the Huskers in
two events Sunday night in the Masters Classic at the Devaney Center.
Freshmen gymnasts gain experience
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
When asked about the future of the
Nebraska women’s gymnastics pro
gram, a smile spreads across Coach
Dan Kendig’s face.
“Yeah, 1 really think we’re at the
start of something special here,”
Kendig said.
The causes of the third-year coach ’ s
grin are five freshmen gymnasts.
Amie Dillman, Courtney Brown,
Misty Oxford, Jess Swift and Laurie
McLaughlin have made their presence
felt in the Cornhusker starting lineup
this season. And they all agree that
their success has been a collective ef
fort.
Swift, a native of St. Cloud, Minn.,
said having such a talented class of
freshmen made keeping a starting spot
difficult and constant improvement a
must.
“You know there is always some
body right behind you ready to take
your spot,” she said, “and you have to
perform when you’re out there. You
can’t make any mistakes.”
Kcndig said Swift had stepped in
for injured teammates several times
this season.
“1 can’t speak highly enough of
her,” Kendig said. “She’s came through
every time we’ve asked anything of
her.”
On Sunday at 7 p.m., Swift will lead
off for the Huskers on the uneven bars
at the Masters Classic at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center. The seventh
ranked Huskers will be competing
against No. 3 Michigan, No. 9 Wash
ington and No. 19 Ball State.
In the Huskers’ Feb. 9 dual against
Boise State, Swift filled in for Oxford,
who sprained her ankle on the vault.
Oxford, whohas been the only fresh
man to compete in the all-around this
season, said the team had become a
family this season.
“If you have any kind of problems,
you know you can talk to the older
girls because they’ve been through the
same thing,” Oxford said. “That’s why
we’re so successful, because we’re so
close.”
Last Friday at Arizona State, Ox
ford scored a career-high 38.250 in the
all-around. She had personal bests in
vault (9.9) and floor exercise (9.725).
“We felt we recruited well in the
sense that we recruited some smart
athletes that were doing the right things
and were clean on their routines,”
Kendig said.
McLaughlin, who redshirted last
season because of a knee inj ury, scored
a career-best 9.9 in the uneven bars
against the Sun Devils.
NU seniors to be honored
By Jason Brunz
Staff Reporter ~
The Nebraska women’s basket
ball team will finish its regular sea
son tonight against Iowa State at
theBobDevaney
Sports Center.
The
Comhuskers, 17
8 overall and 7-6
in the Big Eight,
will play the Cy
clones, 17-8 and
5-8, at 7.
The game will
beCK mark tnc tinal
regular-season games for seniors
Lis Brenden,Pyra Aardcn and Kate
Galligan. They will be honored
before the contest. Beck said the
team received a brief pep talk
Wednesday from Bob Dcvaney,
Athletic Director Emeritus and
former football coach at Nebraska.
Nebraska will be looking for re
demption after its 79-77 overtime
loss to Iowa State in Ames, Iowa,
earlier this season.
“They are the type of team that
“We’re looking for them
to give us a good test. ”
ANGELA BECK
NU women’s basketball coach
really challenges everybody on the
road,” Beck said. “We’re looking
for them to give us a good test.”
Nebraska needs a victory to take
a winning league record into the
Big Eight Tournament, which will
be played March 2-4 in Salina, Kan.
The Huskcrs are fourth in the con
ference, and even with a loss to
night, Nebraska has secured a seed
no lower than fourth.
But if Nebraska beats Iowa State,
and third-place Oklahoma State
loses its final two games, Nebraska
will finish third in the conference.
Beck said the team was not worry
ing about anything other than win
ning its game tonight.
Kansas sits in first place in the
league with a record of 10-3. Colo
rado is second at 8-4, and Okla
homa State is 7-5. The Cowgirls
play at Missouri tonight and at Colo
rado on Sunday.
Beck credited Nebraska’s recent
turnaround — the Huskers have
won four of their past six games—
to the home court and an increased
confidence level.
After losing road games at Kan
sas State and Kansas, Nebraska has
defeated Missouri and Colorado at
the Dcvancy Center. Datingback to
Dec. 30, the Huskers have been
stuck in a pattern in which they win
two straight games and then lose
two games. A win tonight would
end that pattern.
“We’ve had a pretty good sea
son overall,” Beck said. “The prob
lem with the first half was that we
had most of our games on the road.
I’m really proud of the way we’ve
been performing.”
Standing between Nebraska and
its first three-game winning streak
in two months is Iowa State for
ward Jayme Olson. The 6-foot-1
sophomore leads Iowa State with
16 points and 8.1 rebounds per
game.
See FRESHMEN on 11
Track teams
look to witi
Big 8 titles
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
If history repeals itself this week
end, then nobody will be shocked if
both the Nebraska men’sand women’s
track and field teams capture another
Big Eight title at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
The Cornhuskers play host to this
year’s Big Eight Championships,
which will be the last for the confer
ence. The conference expands to the
Big 12 next season.
The meet begins today at 9 a.m.
with the women’s pentathlon and the
men’s septathlon. Fielcf events begin
at 3 p.m with the women’s long jump.
Competition resumes Saturday at
10 a.m. with the women’s 20-pound
weight throw. Running events begin at
2 p.m. The men’s 4 x400-mctcr relay
at 4:35 p.m is the final event of the
two-day meet.
See TRACK on 11
