Monday, April 15,1996 Page 9
Mitch Sherman
Title run ends
unexpectedly
for Christie
Jason Christienevercxpeetcdto
go out like this.
A national title as a sophomore
and runner-up finishes as a fresh
man and junior left Christie expccl
ingnothinglessthan perfection asa
senior.
Returning a young, talented
squad with the addition of two su
per freshmen, the Christie-led
Cornhusker gymnasts werer poi sed
for another title run this spring.
On Saturday night, the ride to
the NCAA Championships sailed
into the Bob Devaney Sports Cen
ter. Christie and the Huskers missed
the boat.
After two of six events, injury
riddled Nebraska led the NCAA
West Regional, from which the top
three teams advanced to the NCAA
Championships in Stanford, Cali f.,
later this month.
But the roof soon caved in. The
Huskers slipped to third place after
a mediocre performance on the
rings. They 1 imped to a slow start in
the vault, and then Jim Koziol tried
to do what everybody knew lie
couldn’t.
Koziol, Nebraska ’ s season-1 ong
leader in the all-around, grimaces
with pain each time he moves his
back the wrong way. He is nowhere
near 50 percent after rcinjuring his
lower back last week, but he tried
anyway.
As he ran toward the vault, his
teammates knew what was going to
happen. Koziol shouldn’t have been
on the mat. His feet went skyward
and he landed on his backside, de
jected. Koziol struggled to his feet,
apologized to his teammates and
left the gym.
“I’m proud of my team’s effort,”
said Allen, whose Huskers failed as
a team to make the NCAA Champi
onships for the first time since 1978.
“My teams have heart. They didn’t
just come out and lie down and
die.”
Christie tried his best to rally the
troops. His 9.775 on the parallel
bars tied a season best. But it wasn’t
enough, and Christie knew it.
After the Huskers were finished,
Oklahoma needed only a 37.9 on
the high bar to claim the third and
final qualifying spot. Christie didn’t
stay around to watch. He left the
arena, awaiting the bad news in the
Huskers’ practice gym buried in a
comer of the Dcvancy Center.
Christie emerged, eyes red from
wiping away tears, after the Soon
ers’ 38.325 eliminated the Husk
ers. He reflected on his career, his
season and Nebraska’s disappoint
ment, magnified by injuries to
Koziol and freshman J.D. Reive.
“It makes it really hard because
we have seen all these teams,”
Christie said, “and I still feel like
we are the best team out there when
we arc healthy.”
In his worst nightmares, Christie
never imagined it would end like
this.
Sherman Is a junior news-editorial
major and the Dally Nebraskan sports
editor.
Gymnasts’ 17-year streak snapped
Matt Miller/DN
Nebraska’s Jason Christie performs on the pommel horse Saturday night at the Devaney
Center. Christie, the Huskers’ on ly senior, fell from the horse and scored a 9.0 in Nebraska’s
fourth-place finish.
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Before their last rotation of the
NCAA West Regional on Saturday
night, the members of the Nebraska
men’s gymnastics team sat quietly in a
circle of folding chairs, focusing their
attention on the next event.
The Cornhuskers had just scored a
season-low 36.05 in the vault and
dropped into fourth place. The top
three teams would advance to the
NCAA Championships, April 25-27
in Stanford, Calif.
Only an extraordinary effort in the
parallel bars could give Nebraska a
chance tocarn its 18th consecutive trip
to the NCAA Chamnionshins.
The huddle worked. Nebraska
scored a season-high 38.15 on the par
allel bars and moved ahead of Okla
homa into third place. But that effort
wasn’t enough. The Sooners, who
needed a 37.9 on the horizontal bar to
reclaim third place, scored 38.325 and
ended the Huskers’ chance to qualify.
California, ranked No. 2, won the
meet with a 230.475. Defending na
tional champion Stanford was second
at 228.5. Oklahoma finished third at
227.375, and Nebraska was fourth with
a 226.925 before a crowd of 807 fans
at the Bob Dcvaney Sports Center.
Oklahoma junior standouts Casey
Bryan and Jeremy Killen paced the
Sooners to their fourth straight NCAA
Championship appearance. Killen was
second in the floor exercise with a 9.8
and third on the vault with a 9.525.
Bryan, the 1996 Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation athlete of the year,
placed third in the all-around (57.35),
second on the vault (9.55), third on the
high bar (9.775) and fourth in the floor
exercise (9.75).
Stan ford’s Keith Wiley won the all
around with a 57.75, and Brigham
Young’s Darren Elg was second at
57.375.
Bryan said Oklahoma’s third-place
finish was even more gratifying be
cause of the Sooners’ shaky start at the
beginning of the season.
“This means a lot because our whole
team was injured at the beginning of
this season,” he said. “We started out
with a 215 as our first team score.
We’ve come a long way. No one ever
thought we could make nationals.”
At the other end of the injury spec
See LOSS on 11
NU women gymnasts
advance to NCAAs
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Nebraska women’s gymnastics
coach Dan Kcndig was confident his
t cam would have a strong performance
Bartlett
Saturday night at the
NCAA Midwest Re
gional in Salt Lake
City.
Kendig’s confi
dence was prophetic
as the Comhuskers
notched the second
highest team score in
school history, a
195.3, and finished
in third place in front
oi a crowd oi lans at tne Hunts
man Center.
With that score, the Huskers earned
the eighth seed in the NCAA Champi
onships April 25-27 in Tuscaloosa,
Ala.
Utah, ranked No. 3 in the nation,
won the meet with a 196.675. Arizona
was second with a 195.75. The Utes
are the third seed at the champion
ships, and Arizona is fifth.
Alabama is the top seed. The Crim
son Tide won the NCAA Central Re
gional and set a new NCAA scoring
record with a 198.075.
Nebraska’s Shelly Bartlett finished
second in the all-around with a school
record-tying 39.375. That record was
set just two weeks ago by senior Joy
Taylor at the Big Eight Champion
ships in Ames, Iowa.
Bartlett, a junior from Spokane,
Wash., also had a career-high 9.925 on
the floor, finishing fourth.
Arizona all-arounder Heidi
Hombeek scored a 10 on the vault and
won the all-around with a 39.7.
The Huskers were completely fo
cused during the meet, Kendig said.
“We really felt like we didn’t have
to worry about the other teams,” he
said. “We knew that if we came out
and hit, then we would be in the hunt.”
Freshman Misty Oxford had a ca
reer high on the balance beam (9.725),
and finished eighth in the all-around
with a career-high 38.975.
Nebraska set a new school record
in the floor exercise (49.275). The
Huskers missed the school record on
the uneven bars by 1/10 of a point.
Tampa Bay guard
signs with Huskers
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter — ~
The Nebraska basketball team
can thank two people with Mid
western ties for helping the team
bag its first recruit of the spring.
The Comhuskers signed 6-foot
3,190-pound guard Rodney Fields
from Tampa Bay Tech on Satur
day. Fields filled one of two schol
arships the Comhuskers have avail
able to offer in the spring signing
period, which runs until May 15.
Titan coaches Adrian Johnson
and Leo Haggerty both have con
nections to the Midwest.
Johnson—who has coached at
Tech for five years and never had a
player sign with a Division I school
immediately after high school —
graduated from Northwest Missouri
State and said he had a lot of friends
from Omaha.
Haggerty, an assistant, coached
with Danny Nee at Notre Dame and
with Husker assistant Jimmy Will
iams 22 years ago at Minnesota.
Johnson said Nebraska was get
ting a quality player.
“His character is second to none,
and that’s what stands out most of
all about him,” Johnson said. “He’s
got an awful lot of potential, and he
played three positions for me.”
Fields averaged 20.9 points, 14
rebounds and 6.3 assists per game
as he helped Tech to within one
game of the Class 5 A (second-larg
est class) state tournament. The
Tampa Tribune named him first
team all-area and the top player in
Hillsborough County.
He showed interest in Central
Florida, South Florida, Miami and
had a visit scheduled to national
runner-up Syracuse but canceled
the trip after visiting Lincoln on
April 6.
“Danny Nee and Jimmy Will
iams were the two main reasons he
chose to go there,” Haggerty said.
“I’ve known them for 20-plus years,
andyou can’t find two better people.
I know they will treat him fair, and
I told him, They will take care of
you.’
“He wanted to go to a program
See FIELDS on 11