Outdoor season starts in Tfexas I
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
With the weather getting warmer
and colder all in the same week, it can
only mean one thing: The outdoor
track and field
season is starting.
The Ne
braska men and
women begin the
outdoor season
this weekend in
College Station,
Texas —just one
week after the
NCAA Indoor
Championships in
Indianapolis.
NU Coach Gary Pepin welcomes
back nine NCAA outdoor All-Ameri
cans to both teams on the road to
claiming the first-ever Big 12 Confer
ence outdoor titles. NU won the men’s
and women’s Big 12 indoor crowns.
“It’s a totally different atmosphere
from indoors,” Pepin said. “There’s
more events, and we have some people
that didn’t compete in the indoor sea
55
son.
The Husker men won the last two
Big Eight conference titles, while the
women hope to bounce back^after a
disappointing final league season.
The women’s team had its streak
of 16 straight outdoor conference titles
snapped last year by Colorado.
TTiis year in the Big 12, the Husk
ers are led by recently crowned NCAA
indoor shot put champion Tressa Th
ompson, who said although NU is not
the defending league champions, the
Huskers are primed to start things off
for a run at the title.
“Last year is history, and this year
we have a new conference, so we’re
going to see some new results,” Th
ompson said.
Thompson has expired her indoor
eligibility, but has two years of out
door track remaining.
Also expected to lead the Husker
women is defending NCAA long
jump champion Angee Henry.
Despite Henry’s recent quadriceps
injury, Pepin said Henry will be ready
to defend her outdoor title.
“I’ll tell you one thing, Angee isn’t
through,” Pepin said. “The season is a
long one, so she’s going to have a lot
of time to compete.”
Henry, who is one ot the most di
verse athletes in the nation, will com
pete on two legs of NU’s relay teams
and could also participate in the triple
jump.
The men’s squad welcomes the re
turn of four-time All-American Willie
Hibler.
Hibler, a senior who did not com
pete in the indoor season because his
eligibility had expired, will run the 1 IO
meter hurdles, an event in which he fin
ished sixth at last year’s NCAA meet.
“Willie’s a superb athlete,” Pepin
said. “He’s got a lot of experience and
he’s one of those leaders that every
team needs.”
Thrower Scott Warren recently put
his name on the map during the in
door season and hopes to do the same
during the outdoor season.
Warren set the school and confer
ence record in the 35-pound weight
throw in the indoor season. He will
compete in four events during the out
door season.
“Outdoor’s is a busy time for me,”
Warren said. “With the shot, discus,
hammer and javelin coming up, I’ve
got a full schedule.”
Pepin said he has no early season
expectations, but he is optimistic the
Huskers will do well this year.
“I probably won’t know how we’re
doing for a month or so, but we’ve got
a lot of good athletes,” Pepin said.
Huskers ready for PSU
PSU from page 9
the flow exercise with a score of 9.85,
the parallel bars with a 9.8 and the hori
zontal bar with a 9.85.
Nationally, Nelson averages the
third-highest score on the parallel bars
(9.833), sixth on the high bar (9.79)
and fourth on the floor exercise
(9.773).
Nelson’s scores reflect the overall
performance of the Huskers in the past
three meets. After starting slow, NU
has scored 230 or above in its last two
meets. In those duals, Nebraska de
feated third-ranked Iowa and No. 10
Minnesota.
The high scores have done wonders
for the team’s confidence, he said.
“I think just now we know that we
can compete with anybody,” Nelson
said. “I think we always knew in our
minds that we could, and our perfor
mances the last two weeks prove it.”
NU Coach Francis Allen said Penn
State—ranked No. 6 — is one of the
top teams in the nation.
The Nittany Lions average a
228.283 team score per meet, just be
low the Huskers’ 229.533.
“I’m thinking they’re probably go
ing to be pretty good,” Allen said. “If
we come out there and lay down,
they’re going to beat us.”
Allen said sophomore J.D. Reive
will compete in the floor exercise Sun
day. Reive started slow this season be
cause of a foot injury, but against the
Golden Gophers he won the pommel
horse and the vault with 9.7s.
With Reive on the floor lineup, the
Huskers will use six gymnasts cm each
event for the first time this season.
“I think it makes them feel a little
more relaxed because they know they
have another gymnast to fall back cm,”
Allen said.
The meet will showcase some of the
top all-around talent in the nation as
well.
Nebraska freshman Derek Leiter
and junior Bill Mulholland are ranked
eighth and ninth nationally in the all
around and Penn State freshman Mike
Dutka is No. 10.
NU needs to continue at the same
pace it has the past two weeks, Allen
said, to have a chance of reaching the
finals in Iowa City.
“I don’t think we’re going to run
away with the national title by any
means,” Allen said. “But if we make
the finals, we can win the champion
ship.”
Allen said beating Penn State will
send a message to the rest of the na
tion that Nebraska is a legitimate title
contender.
“Penn State is probably going to
come out of the East Region as a top
seed. We need to let them know now
that we’ll beat them if that happens.”
NAVY
LET THE
JOURNEY BEGIN
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NCAAs stick to form
iNUAAtrom pageB
no starter taller than 6-foot-6, made a
strong bid to become the first No. 16
seed ever to beat a No. 1 seed.
The Stags led by seven at halftime
and stayed with the Tar Heels (25-6)
until the final minute before a pro
North Carolina crowd in Winston-Sa
lem, N.C.
The victory gave Smith an 876-253
record in his 36th season at North
Carolina. Rupp had an 876-190 record
in 41 years at Kentucky.
The Jayhawks also faced a pesky
No. 16 seed in the Southeast Region.
Kansas (33-1) fought off Jackson
State (14-16) 78-64 behind a 12-point,
19-rebound, six-block effort by center
Scot Pollard.
Pollard was helped by All-Ameri
can Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce.
LaFrentz had 18 points, 14 rebounds
and three blocks, and Pierce scored 19
points and had 13 rebounds and four
blocks as KU held a 61 -27 advantage
on the boards.
The Big 12 Conference went 3-0
on the day with a win by Iowa State.
The sixth-seeded Cyclones
struggled, but defeated No. 11 seed II
linois State 69-57 behind a career-best
29 points by Kelvin Cato at Auburn
Hills, Mich., in the Midwest Region.
Dedric Willoughby added 21 points
as ISU advanced to play Cincinnati.
Iowa defeated Virginia 73-60 be
hind 19 points by Guy Rucker and 17
by Andy Woolridge.
Hawkeye Coach Tom Davis im
proved to 10-0 in first-round games as
Iowa never trailed and led by as many
as 22 points.
In other first-round action; Purdue
defeated Rhode Island 83-76 in over
time and Arizona held off South Ala
bama 65-57 in the Southeast Region
at the Pyramid in Memphis.
In the east, California beat
Princeton 55-52 and Villanova de
feated Long Island 101-91.
In the Midwest Region, Cincinnati
defeated Butler 86-69 and Xavier
downed Vanderbilt 80-68 at Auburn
Hills.
Boston College beat Valparaiso 73
66, St. Joseph’s defeated Pacific 75
65 and defending national champion
Kentucky breezed past Montana 92-54
in the West Region at The Huntsman
Center in Salt Lake City.
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