Sports
Thursday, April 18,1996 Page 9
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Tim Pearson
Bowling teams
deserve credit
for winning
Maybe the Nebraska bowling
teams deserve to be honored at
Friday’s “Night of Champions.”
They at least deserve some
credit.
The bowling teams at Nebraska
have won four national titles in the
’90s. Both the men’s and women’s
teams took titles last season. The
men’s team successfully defended
its title last weekend in Kansas City,
Mo.; the women came two pins
short of winning.
The Nebraska bowling program
has gained respect nationwide. The
bowling teams have been recog
nized as the top in the country.
Bowlers come from as far as New
York and Massachusetts to bowl at
Nebraska.
Neither team, however, is sanc
tioned at Nebraska. The bowling
teams don’t receive the benefits that
the golf or tennis teams now re
ceive. The NCAA ruled last year
that women’s bowling could be in
cluded as a sanctioned sport. But
men’s bowling isn’t sanctioned.
It all boils down to gender eq
uity. Nebraska coach Bill Straub
would welcome the chance to make
bowling the newest addition to the
athletic department. But he’s not
expecting a call from Athletic Di
rector Bill Byrne anytime soon.
Nebraska now has 11 women’s
sports and 11 men’s sports.
Women’s soccer was added two
years ago to fulfill Title IX require
ments for gender equity.
“If there are still gender equity
concerns," Straub said, “we have a
program that is sanctionablc."
Bowling started as a club sport
at UNL about 25 years ago. About
10 years ago, the program began to
receive nationwide recognition.
Straub, who has coached the UNL
bowling teams since 1983, has been
the catalyst.
“It certainly isn’t what you call
a club activity," he said. “But until
the athletic department picks it up,
we’re right in the middle. It’s par
allel to golf and tennis.
“I think it’s all going to come
down to economics. If they can use
our sport to help them, they’ll pick
it up."
ror now, tnough, btrauo will
continue doing what he’s doing.
He’ll keep letting potential re
cmits come to him because he can’t
afford to go to them. He’ll treat
them to lunch and make sure they
have a place to stay. He’ll give
scholarships to help defray tuition
costs, and he’ll continue to sign
contracts with companies to pro
vide equipment. And he’ll continue
to let students drive on 1,000-mile
road trips.
Straub’s not alone among col
lege bowling coaches. Coaches at
145 other schools arc in the same
situation.
No school has picked up bowl
ing as a sanctioned sport. Out of the
145 schools that sport bowling
teams, most arc in the same situa
See PEARSON on 11
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On course
Matt Miller/DN
Nebraska senior Michelle Patterson practices Wednesday. Patterson is the No. 3 ranked
Husker golfer this spring
Golferperfects composure
By Antone Oseka
Staff Reporter
For Nebraska golfer Michelle
Patterson, Greg Norman’s collapse
and final-day loss of a six-stroke
lead at the Masters was a learning
experience.
Watching Norman, the all-time
leading money winner in the his
tory of professional golf, has taught
Patterson to remain composed on
the golf course.
Norman never loses his compo
sure, Patterson said, even if he’s
playing poorly in golf’s most im
portant tournament.
But the senior from Loomis said
she still had some work to do to
equal Norman’s demeanor on the
course.
“I don’t think I’m one to hold
my head up high all the time,” she
said.
Coach Robin Krapfl said confi
dence was Patterson’s only prob
lem. The more confidence she gets,
the lower the scores she shoots,
Krapfl said.
“She tries to make it happen in
stead of let it happen,” Krapfl said.
Patterson has noticed that prob
lem, too. She is averaging the
team’s third-lowest stroke average
per round this spring behind Heidi
Stark and Rachelle Tacha.
Patterson averaged 79.88 strokes
per round in the fall portion of
Nebraska’s season. So far in the
spring, she is averaging 81.73
strokes per round.
“I’ve forgotten to take one step
at a time, one day at a time,”
Patterson said.
Right now, Patterson’s mind is
filled with distractions from golf
and her classes. But she said that’s
when she played the best.
“I think I play better under pres
sure,” she said.
TThat was obvious as a freshman,
Patterson said, when she often
nearly missed qualifying for a tour
nament before finishing as the
team’s top golfer.
Patterson has won tournaments
outside of the Husker schedule, too.
Last summer, Patterson won her
section of the U.S. Amateur Tour
nament in Kansas City, Mo. She
then traveled to Boston for the U.S.
Amateur Tournament but failed to
make the cut.
“It was good experience for this
year,” she said.
This year, the sectional tourna
ment will be held at Nebraska’s
home course, Firethom Golf Club
in Lincoln.
With confidence and a few re
finements in her game, Krapfl said,
Patterson can go further than the
U.S. Amateur Tournament. She can
play in the Ladies Professional Golf
Association.
Patterson said playing profes
sionally wasn’t in her immediate
plans, but it was in the back of her
mind. She said she wanted to gradu
ate first, then work on her game.
She would trade all that for a
couple more years at Nebraska,
though.
“I’m not ready for it to come to
an end.”
Huskers
take two
from UNI j
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
Just when Northern Iowa started to
take advantage of the opening the Ne
braska softball team was leaving it, the
Cornhuskers shut the door.
The 18th-ranked Huskers defeated
the Panthers 8-7 and 7-3 Wednesday
afternoon at the NU Softball Complex
to improve their record to 31-13.
Northern Iowa fell to 25-13.
In the first game, Northern Iowa
scored two runs in the top of the sixth
inning to lead 7-4.
But the Huskers responded, scor
ing four runs in the bottom of the in
ning and then holding the Panthers
scoreless in the seventh to win the
game.
“We didn’t steal it, but we clearly
opened the door for them to steal it,”
Husker coach Rhonda Revcllc said.
“Then we came in j ust the nick of time
and slammed the door before they got
a chance to steal it.”
See UNI on 11
Ex-Huskers
await shot
at pro ball
By Nikki Markota
Staff Reporter
The National Football League will
do its ceremonious picking and choos
ing of the best college football players
Saturday and Sunday.
And while the air around the
Cornhusker football offices is buzzing
with talk of the names Phillips,
Berringer, Peter, Graham and Frazier,
a few other Nebraska players also
could make headlines this weekend.
Several other former Huskers, in
cluding Tony Veland, Jeff Makovicka,
Clinton Childs, Phil Ellis, Doug
Colman, Tyrone Williams and Clcster
Johnson are all possible prospects who
could go on the second day of the NFL
draft or sign as free agents.
“I just want a chance to play some
ball again," said Makovicka, a fullback
who summed up the feelings of his
other teammates.
For the professional teams, how
ever, the major part of the evaluating
process is completed. Many of these ]
former Nebraska players participated
in the NFL combines in February and
have worked out for various teams.
Childs, an I-back, and Veland, a free
safety, said they felt the workouts
helped them significantly, but they did
not know if and when they would be
chosen.
“You never can tell what s on an
other man’s mind,” Childs said.
Veland said the pro workouts prob
ably reflected his talent more than the 1
season itself.
If not drafted, Makovicka, Childs
and Veland could still catch on as free
agent signees.
Even if he isn’t selected in the draft,
Makovicka is confident he can help an
NFL team.
“I’m hoping for free agency” he
said, “so that I can go somewhere
where they would need a guy like me
and the type of football I play.”
Veland said he only needed a
chance, not a multi-million dollar sign
ing bonus.
“As long as you get a chance to go
to the pros,” he said, “it’s what you do
there that counts. What you make of
your opportunity really determines
how far you go.”