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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1997)
n [_ ... , I 4550 “O” Street • Lincoln 474-2062 Cliff Keen NWCA Wtt National Duals g,;." Saturday, •Session •Session II STthft » Sponsors: . ®ack teams start r- ;• -;r ' ‘ • indoor season at KSU By Vince IMdamo Staff Reporter The Nebraska men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams get out of the starting Modes at the Kansas State Open in Manhattan Saturday. The field events start at 1 pjn. with the running events beginning at 4:30 at Aheara Field House. Seven teams will participate in Saturday’s meet. Besides NU, Big 12 Conference teams Kansas State and Oklahoma State will field teams along with Wichita State, Emporia State/ Pittsburg State and Missouri-Kansas City. Coach Gary Pepin, who begins his 17th season as the women’s coach and 14th as the men’s, said the Huskers will send 60 competitors down to Manhat tan. NU Recruiting Assistant Matt Mar tin said despite the expected lack of intensity, the meet will serve many pur poses. “We just kind of use it as a chance for the new people to get their feet wet,” Martin said. “Also, it gives, the returners, such as a long jumper the chance to run a sprint race.” Martin said senior long juniper Joe Laster will compete in the 55-yard dash and other Huskers could see time in different events as well. “Although it may not necessarily be his usual event,” Martin said. “It gives him a competitive feel. It’s also a chance for coaches to evaluate and see how far the team has come. “I don’t see a whole lot of areas where somebody isn’t ready. They’ve gone so long with practice that they just can’t take it anymore.” Sisters bond on cburt KUBIK from page 7 lege and Nicole was finishing her high school career in Cambridge. In Jami’s final two years, the Tto jans won back-to-back state titles. Nicole added another one before com ing to Lincoln. “When 1 was a junior playing with out her I could tell there was a differ ence,*’ Nicole said. “I would wish that we could still be playing together. Then after that I really thought we could play together again at college.” It was Nicole, though, who had a pretty good idea she wanted to be play ing basketball for the Huskers. During Jami’s recruiting trip to Lin coln — Nicole’s sophomore year in high school — Beck offered the younger Kubik a scholarship. Without hesitation, Beck said, Nicole told the coach she wanted to finish her high school career first. Jami’s decision was a little more difficult. She had to decide between an offer to walk-on with the Husker volleyball team or take the basketball scholarship. “I was never heavily recruited and never thought that seriously about it,” Jami said. “Thai I was also having trouble deciding between volleyball and basketball.” Jami took the scholarship, but she struggled being away from her family and sister for two years. “It was a little harder for me,” Jami said. “If we had something to talk about we usually talk about it with each other. During the first two years I would have to make a long-distance call. Now, if there is anything to say we can talk to each other.” Women's Basketball Besides talking to each other in personal times, they also are helping each other on die court. Nicole is av eraging 9.5 points per game while Jami is averaging 3.7. “It’s a lot easier for me playing with her,” Nicole said. “She’s been here two years so when I have questions or if I’m doing something wrong I can talk to her.” Beck said it’s been Jami passing her experiences to Nicole that has helped the freshmen grow. “Jami has really been teaching Nicole the ropes,” Beck said. “But the transition for Nicole has been easier than Jami’s was.” NU to close homestand rmracs from page 7 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in a contest televised nationally by ESPN. Belcher forms one-half of Nebraska’s Show-Me State duo. Sophomore point guard lyronn Lue, also from Mexico, has scored 29 points in each of NU’s last two games and leads Nebraska with a 17.1-point-per game average. The Huskers, 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference alter a 10-point overtime victory over Kansas State on Wednes day, can win their fourth consecutive game on Saturday and third straight conference game for the first time since March 1994. Missouri (9-7 and 1-3) beat Baylor 82-66 on Tuesday in Columbia, Mo., the Tigers first-ever Big 12 victory. Before that win, the Tigers dropped league games to Iowa State, Colorado and Oklahoma State. OSU needed a wild, last-second shot to beat MU 68 67 last Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. “Norm Stewart’s teams are very, very physical,” said NU Coach Danny Nee. “1 think (Jason^Sutherland and Kelly Thames are twohf the premier names in our league. They might hit some rough times right now, but I think it will balance out.” Thames, a junior forward, and Sutherland, a senior guard, lead a Ti ger team looking for an identity. Stewart has used nine different start ing lineups in MU’s last 11 games, and the Tigers haven’t won two straight games since beating Northwest Mis souri State and Mercer in mid-Decem ber. The two former Big Eight teams have a pair of common opponents this season. Both Nebraska and Missouri lost to Colorado — NU by the score of79-73 in Boulder on Jan. 4, and MU 87-78 in Columbia three days later. The Tigers also fell to Creighton, 73-71 in overtime at the San Juan Shootout on Dec. 1. The Huskers beat Creighton 71-52 in Lincoln on Jan. 8, beginning NU’s current four-game homestand. The Huskers and Tigers will meet again Wednesday in Columbia, begin ning a grueling month-long stretch in which Nebraska plays seven of 11 games on the road. * NUgymnasts begin year inCdorado By Gregg Madsen Staff Reporter For the first time since 1991, the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team starts the year having not made the NCAA finals the previous season. The Comhuskers travel to Colo rado Springs to battle five schools in the Rocky Mountain Open Sat urday. Coach Francis Allen said the Huskers were eager to compete in the meet that includes Oklahoma* Air Force, Brigham Young, New Mexico and Arizona State. “We’re in really good shape,” Allen said. “We’re not going to set the world on fire this weekend, but we have four great gymnasts in each event.” The Huskers will be without jun ior Jim Koziol, who may be out until mid-February with a shoulder in jury. Without Koziol, the Huskers will need to hit every routine to compete with the teams at the open, Allen said. Nebraska finished third in last year’s Rocky Mountain Open, scoring a 220.475. Allen said he expected sopho mores J.D. Reive and Marshall Nelson and junior Bill Mullholland to lead NU scoring. Filling the void left by Koziol is the primary concern this season, and Allen said this meet would give the team a good idea of how much Koziol’s absence affected the team. “We’ve got to get in the meet and get going,” Allen said, “and that’s what we’re going to do.” Women look to improve on high score By Ghegg Madsen Staff Reporter After posting the highest first meet team score in school history, the Nebraska women’s gymnastics team lodes to improve at Southern Utah Monday night. The fifth-ranked Comhuskers defeated No. 13 Iowa State 193.675-191.675 last weekend scoring the highest season-opening score in school history. Assistant Coach Rob Drass said he expects this meet to give a clearer picture as to where the team is at this point in the season. “I hope we have as solid a meet against them as we did against Iowa State,” Drass said. “It’s still early in the year, and we don’t know yet if last week was luck or what. Hope fully this week will tell.” The Huskers scored a school record 195.75 against the Thunderbirds last year, and Drass said another score like that is not impossible this season. “Ifwecanput it all together then we can go 195-plus,” he said. Nebraska will be looking for another strong performance from freshman Heather Brink. Brink won the all-around last week against the Cyclones with a score of 39.175. Seniors Shelly Bartlett and Kim DeHaan, who finished first and sec ond in the uneven bars at Iowa State, will contribute as well. Drass said the team was excited about improving its performance Monday in Cedar City, Utah. “They’re motivated to go out there and hit 24 of 24 on routines,” he said. “If they do that then we’re capable of scoring that high.”
