Huskers make Super Six, history
Tiebreaker lifts NU past
Utah and into final round of
six at NCAAs.
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
For suspense, a gymnastics arena can always
beat a Stephen King novel — especially if an
entire season comes down to one routine.
Entering the final rotation of Thursday’s NCAA
women’s gymnastics team preliminary competition,
Nebraska was in third place ahead of powerhouse
and nine-time national champion Utah.
Then the tension began.
The Utes, ranked No. 2 for most of 1997,
needed a 49.25 team score on the balance beam
to tie the Comhuskers, who had already finished
the meet and had a bye in the final rotation.
The afternoon session’s
final qualifying spot in
tonight’s team finals and the
entire season was on the line
when Utah’s final competi
tor. Summer Reid, stepped
onto the balance beam. The
sophomore scored exactly
what she needed — a 9.925
— to pull the Utes even with
the Huskers.
The team scores, based Oxford
on the marks of each team’s
top five gymnasts, showed the Huskers and Utes
tied at 196.025. For the first time in champion
ship history, judges went to a tiebreaker, which
added the score of each team’s sixth gymnast.
The final result read Nebraska 234.725, Utah
234.350 and sent NU to the the Super Six team
finals for the first time in school history.
“We still didn’t really believe it,” NU Coach
Dan Kendig said from Gainesville, Fla. “The
judges were adding those scores up 10 about times
and we ended up ahead of them. It was just cool.”
Second-seed Georgia won the afternoon ses
sion at 197.07 and UCLA was second. The top
three teams advanced to compete in the Super
Six tonight at 7 at the O’Connell Center. Ari
zona State, Florida and Michigan qualified from
the night session.
Sophomore Misty Oxford finished in the top
six on each of her three events. Oxford was sixth
on the balance beam (9.825), fourth on the floor
exercise (9.85) and in a nine-way tie for first on
the vault (9.9).
Freshman Heather Brink also tied for first
on the vault. Brink was 12th on the uneven bars
and finished sixth in the all-around at 39.225.
Bartlett finished ninth in the all-around at
39.3. The senior was third on the uneven bars at
9.9 and tenth on the vault with a 9.875.
“She actually had a great day,” Kendig said
of Bartlett. “It was pretty dam special.”
The third-place finish marks the first time
the Huskers have advanced to the Super Six.
Utah had made the team finals for the past 19
years and finished in the Top Five every year
since 1979.
“Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet,” Kendig said.
“We’ve been on both sides and it’s time for us
to enjoy a little bit of the good side.”
NU has six
in NCAA
event finals
By Gregg Madsen
StaffReporter
The cloud hanging over the Ne
braska men’s gymnastics team has a
silver lining.
For just
die second time in
19 years, NU will
not be competing
as a team at the
NCAA men’s
gymnastics cham
pionships.
But the
sting of missing
the team competi
Harris tion should be
eased Saturday
night at 7 when six Comhuskers battle
for a shred of redemption at the NCAA
Individual Event Finals.
The Comhuskers missed qualifying
for the team championships by finish
ing fifth behind California, Oklahoma
and Stanford at the NCAA West Re
gional in Albuquerque, N.M.
Nebraska was affected by the loss
of J.D. Reive, who injured his neck in
warm-ups before regionals. Reive had
spinal surgery and it is uncertain
whether he will return to gymnastics.
NU Coach Francis Allen said the
Huskers — who were ranked third
heading into regionals — had been
destined to win the school’s 10th na
tional title.
“The worst part for me is that I think
the whole country expects us to be
there,” Allen said. “They’ve just grown
accustomed to seeing Nebraska in the
national championship.”
The opposition won’t see NU on
the team award stand, but it may see
several Huskers finish high in the in
dividual events.
Allen said senior Ted Harris and
sophomore Marshall Nelson have ex
cellent chances of winning their events.
Harris will be competing on his
specialty, the still rings.
He said the finals will have a dif
ferent feel since the Huskers won’t be
competing as a team.
“It totally changes the complexion
of the meet,” Harris said. “I mean,
we’ve all been preparing to be in this
as a team. We’re still going to try just
as hard, but the meet will be totally
different.”
A Kearney native, Harris holds the
school record on the rings and is ranked
Please see FINALS on 8
Daniel Luedert/DN
TODD NICHOLL returns a shot in last weekend’s match against Texas Tech. Nicholl will play No. 5 singles
for NU against OkSahoma and Oklahoma State this weekend.
Big weekend faces Huskers
By Jay Saunders
Staff Reporter
Nebraska Men’s Tennis Coach
Kerry McDermott showed his team
a tape of a match that was one of
the finer moments in Comhusker
history on Thursday night.
McDermott brought out the
tape of NU’s historic 1989 upset
of Texas and showed it at the team’s
meeting.
The reason that video is so
important is because the Huskers
beat the odds that day, knocking
off the eighth-ranked Longhorns
to finish the regular season on a
high note.
NU must beat similar odds
again this weekend in order to
achieve its goal of the season —
a berth in the regional tourna
ment.
“It is a goal we have talked
about since day one,” McDermott
said. “We have to win one of the
two matches to play in the regional
tournament.”
The Huskers (9-12 overall and
1-6 in the Big 12 Conference) play
host to Oklahoma on Friday and
Oklahoma State on Sunday, with a
berth in the regional tournament at
stake. Both matches are scheduled
to be played at the Cather-Pound
tennis courts.
Both the Sooners (15-5 and 3
3) and the Cowboys are ranked
higher than NU, adding impor
tance to the weekend.
McDermott said his team is
throwing all records and rankings
out the window.
NU will instead be looking for
revenge against OU, a team that
beat the Huskers 4-3 at last year’s
Big Eight Tournament.
“We are going to go out and
show we are better than 9-12,” ,
McDermott said. “We have to be
ready in the sense that we really
want to win more than they do.”
In order to do that,
McDermott said NU is going
have to put together one of its
toughest performances of the sea
son, and he won’t be happy un
less he sees 100 percent from his
players.
“There can’t be any excuses
from anyone,” McDermott said.
“Our motto this week is no one
leaves the court without a scratch.
I want to see blood and guts on the
court.”
A big contributor to the Husk
ers’ success could be the return of
Andrew Wiese. Wiese, who has
played No. 5 singles and No. 3
doubles all season, injured his
ankle two weeks ago and his return
this weekend will be a match-time
decision.
The Huskers also will pull a
late-season lineup switch this
weekend. Henrik Andersson is tak
ing the place of Frederik Riesbeck
at the No. 2 doubles spot, to team
with Magnus Grahn.
“I wouldn’t be worried if we
had been winning the doubles
point all year, but we haven’t,”
McDermott said. “Frederik has
been having some trouble with his
serve and Henrik has been playing
good doubles in practice.”
NFL next
step for
Huskers
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
The weekend 12 Nebraska football
seniors have waited a lifetime for has
arrived, but figuring out what to do
while the NFL ^______===^
Draft takes place is
the problem for
many of them.
Former
Comhusker rush
end Jared Tomich,
who will be spend
ing the weekend in
his hometown of
St. John’s, Ind.,
with his family, Tomich
said he probably
won’t do the household chores his mom
has given him until Saturday.
While former Husker running back
Damon Benning, who will spend the
weekend in Omaha with his family, said
he is hoping for good weather so he
can get in a few rounds of golf.
Tomich and Benning said they both
will pay attention to the the NFL Draft
— which starts at noon Saturday with
the first four rounds and continues on
Sunday with the conclusion of the draft,
— on their televisions at home but
probably will not sit and watch the draft
throughout the day.
Please see DRAFT on 8
Nil ^
Hopefuls
Twelve former Nebraska
football players may get their
named called in this
weekend's annual NFL Draft.
Name Position
Adam Treu OL
Chris Dishman OL
Mike Minter LB
Jamel Williams LB
Brian Schuster FB