Huskers end up sixth
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Dan Kendig has never been as
happy to be sixth as he was Friday
night.
The fourth-year coach of the Ne
braska women’s gymnastics team said
he wasn’t disappointed with the
Comhuskers’ sixth-place finish at the
NCAA Super Six Team Finals in
Gainesville, Fla., Friday night.
“I thought things went very well,”
Kendig said, “even though we were
sick it was still a big step forward for
this team.”
In it’s first appearance in the Su
per Six, the Huskers counted one fall
en route to a 195.25 team score. UCLA
won the national championship at
197.15 and Arizona State was second
with a 196.85.
In the individual event finals Sat
urday night, three Huskers earned four
first-team All-America awards.
Heather Brink became the most
decorated freshman in school history,
earning first-team All-America on the
vault and second-team honors on the
beam and in the all-around.
Sophomore Misty Oxford was a
first-team All-American on the floor
exercise and the vault. The Kelso,
Wash., native also had second-team
honors on the balance beam.
In their final appearances for NU,
seniors Shelly Bartlett and Kim
DeHaan both had a strong finish.
Bartlett was ninth in the all-around
with a 39.3 and earned the first All
America honor of her career with a
9.725 on the uneven bars.
DeHaan, who missed qualifying
for the individual finals, was still a
second-teamer on the uneven bars and
the floor exercise.
NU wins
six titles
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska men’s and
women’s track and field teams won
seven titles at the 72nd annual Kan
sas Relays this weekend.
For the women, Heather Bums
won the 100-meter hurdles with a
season-best time of 13.89 seconds.
Kerry Doetker won the high jump
with an NCAA provisional quali
fying mark of 5 feet 10 inches.
NU’s 4x400-meter relay team of
Charmaine Plummer, Jill Myatt,
La’Tisha Croom and Angee Henry
won with a time of 3:37.6.
For the men, Willie Hibler won
the 110-meter hurdles with a sea
son-best mark of 13.88 seconds.
On Friday, freshman Jack
Melson and Chris Wright won in
dividual titles.
Nelson sticks two NCAA titles
NELSON from page 9
the individual event finals.
Senior Ryan McEwen earned All
America status for his fourth-place fin
ish on the high bar. Fellow senior Ted
Harris was second-team All-America
on the still rings, finishing eighth.
“It’s nice because even though the
team was the main goal the whole
year, for things to end up this way
makes up for it,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s 9.95 on the parallel bars
ties the school record set by Kevin
Davis in 1983. He became the 12th
Husker to win a national champion
ship on the parallel bars and the sixth
on the high bar.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in
yet,” he said. “It’s nice to know that
all the work over the years has paid
off like this. Mostly, what people see
at a meet like this is the result. They
don’t realize how much effort goes
into this kind of competition.”
Nebraska now has 37 NCAA in
dividual national championships,
«
It’s nice to know that all the work over
the years has paid off like this.”
Marshall Nelson
NU men’s gymnast
third behind Penn State (42) and Illi
nois (40).
NU Coach Francis Allen said he
wasn’t surprised with Nelson’s suc
cess.
“You can tell by the way he com
petes that he’ll score high in these
kinds of meets,” Allen said. “He nailed
his p-bar dismount. His routine was
flawless. He was up really early on
high bar, or he probably would have
scored a 9.9 there, too.”
Nelson won the high bar with a
9.7875 despite being the second com
petitor of the nine finalists. Allen said
most judges typically reserve the high
est scores for the last competitors.^
“The judges didn’t want to go too
high with his score, but it became ob
vious that his was the best routine,”
Allen said. “He got up there and was
perfect, and I think that messed up the
rest of their scoring.”
Junior Bill Mulholland finished
ninth in the all-around at 57.025 and
freshman Derek Leiter was 12th with
a 56.6.
Leiter, a Lincoln native, was the
highest-finishing freshman in the all
around. Ohio State senior Blaine Wil
son won the all-around with a 58.625.
Eight Huskers picked in NFL Draft
DRAFT from page 9
“I’ve been playing too long to come
in and sit on someone’s bench,”
Booker said. “I want to come out and
play big-time ball. I don’t expect to
be drafted in the first round and not
play.”
Other Huskers drafted and team’s
that selected them are Jared Tomich,
New Orleans; Mike Minter, Carolina;
Adam Tfeu, Oakland; Chris Dishman,
Arizona; Jamel Williams, Washing
ton; Eric Stokes, Seattle; and Jon
Hesse, Jacksonville.
The excitement of the draft for the
players who were drafted overshad
owed a weekend of temporarily unful
filled dreams for four other Huskers
who weren’t announced among the
240 names called.
Damon Benning, TerreU Farley,
Jeff Ogard and Brian Schuster must
try to earn an NFL-roster spot through
the ffee-agent market.
Here is an synopsis of all eight NU
players who were selected this week
end:
Michael Booker
Booker was one of six comerbacks
taken in the first round, and the fourth
one taken in the first 11 picks.
“He’s a guy that is not only the best
player that was up there, but he also
fits a need that we have,” Falcons first
year Coach Dan Reeves said. “The
exceptional thing about him is he has
the size that you like to have to match
up with the bigger receivers you face
in the NFL.”
Atlanta ranked 29th last year in
team defense and was 26th against the
pass. Reeves said Booker has to start
his Falcon career with the idea that
he will play right away.
Booker said he is looking forward
to playing and improving Atlanta’s
image as having a poor secondary.
“Hopefully we’re going to get rid
of that trouble when I get there,”
Booker said. “I’m excited to be com
ing to Atlanta.”
Jared Tomich
Growing up just an hour away from
Soldier Field in Chicago, turned
Tomich into a big fan of Bears great
Mike Ditka.
Now that Ditka is the coach of New
Orleans, Tomich said he is looking
forward to playing for his idol. Tomich
even compared Ditka to both Nebraska
Coach Tom Osborne and defensive
coordinator Charlie McBride.
“I’m a huge Ditka fan,” Tomich
said. “Ditka and Coach Osborne are
very similar in they’re both loved by
their fans. There is a little bit of a
coaching difference between the two.”
Tomich said Ditka told him the
Saints expect him to come in and play
defensive end.
Mike Minter
Minter said he is thrilled to have
the chance to play for former NU
Coach Kevin Steele, who is now a
linebackers coach for Carolina.
Minter said he also enjoyed the
opportunity to play for a team that was
one game shy of making the Super
Bowl last season.
“I’m ready to battle whomever for
the starting job,” Minter said. “Now I
have to go do my job.”
Adam Treu
Treu said getting drafted in the
third round was a big surprise to him,
but he is looking forward to becom
ing a part of the tradition at Oakland.
“This is just quite a feeling,” TVeu
said. “It really hasn’t set in yet.”
Chris Dishman
Dishman said there were a couple
of bonuses to being drafted by the Car
dinals. Dishman gets the chance to
play alongside former Husker Aaron
Graham, who was drafted by Arizona
last year.
The Cardinals also need help on
the offensive line, which gives
Dishman a good chance at playing
next year.
“I didn’t want to go somewhere
where I would have to sit in the
backseat for a couple of years,”
Dishman said. “I wanted to get on the
field and contribute.”
Jamel Williams
Williams, who was projected as a
possible second-round selection, said
he was surprised when the Redskins
drafted him in the fifth round.
“I guess I was more disappointed
then nervous,” Williams said. “I knew
I couldn’t do anything about it. Jack
sonville had just called and told me to
stay by the phone and wait, then Wash
ington called.”
Eric Stokes
Stokes had to endure a little rib
bing by his new coach before he
learned who had drafted him.
Stokes was contacted by Seattle
Coach Dennis Erickson, who was the
coach at Miami when the Huskers
defeated the Hurricanes to win the
national championship in 1995.
“He said he wasn’t going to hold
it against me that we beat them in the
Orange Bowl,” Stokes said. Stokes
said he will probably play on the spe
cial teams and be a backup free safety
in his first season.
Jon Hesse
Although Hesse was the 221st of
240 selections, the linebacker said he
is still happy about being drafted, and
he is looking forward to trying out
with the Jaguars.
NU beats Tigers twice
From Staff Reports
Jenny Voss picked up her 16th
and 17th wins of the year to lead
the Nebraska softball team in a
doubleheader sweep over Kansas
on Sunday.
The Comhuskers (20-18 over
all and 64 in the Big 12 Confer
ence) defeated No. 24 KU 2-1 and
5-1.
NU was led at the plate by fresh
man Jennifer Lizama in the first
game. Lizama went 2 for 3 and hit
her fifth solo home run of the year
in the fifth inning.
In game two, Nebraska burned
the Jayhawks for 10 hits and five
runs over seven innings. Jenny
Smith, Christie McCoy and Jamie
Bleazard all went 2 for 4 for the
Huskers.
Voss (17-13) pitched a com
bined 14 innings and gave up only
two runs. The freshman pitched
four complete games this weekend,
going 3-1 with an earned run av
erage of 1.3. Voss — who struck
out 17 of the 27 batters she faces
— is now second on NU’s all-time
chart with 26 complete games.
The Huskers began the week
end with a doubleheader split with
No. 9 Missouri. NU lost game one
2-0 before winning the second
game 9-1.
Nebraska returns to action with
a doubleheader at Northern Iowa
beginning at 2 p.m. on Wednesday
at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls,
Iowa.
NU golf team in 5th
From Staff Reports
Freshman Elizabeth Bahensky
led the Nebraska women’s golf
team to a first-round score of 113
Sunday at the inaugural Women’s
Big 12 Championships at
Lawrence, Kan.
Bahensky, a native of Kearney
who is competing in just her sec
ond meet for NU, is in sixth place
with a four-over par total of 76,
“I was real proud of Elizabeth’s
composure and just the way she
handled herself on the course to
day,” NU Coach Robin Krapfl said.
Other Comhuskers among the
top 10 after the first day of play
include Hanne Nyquist and
Rachelle Tacha. The two both shot
77 and are tied for ninth. Other NU
golfers’ scores were Shirin
Homecker, who fired an 83, and
Maureen Regan, who shot 91.
Krapfl said she was pleased
with the Huskers’ performance.
“We’re definitely not out of it,”
Krapfl said. “We need to come back
with a solid round, and I’m very
confident we will. I feel real good
about our practice after today’s
round and I think we’U come back
strong tomorrow.” ; j; r i
Texas leads the field heading
into today’s second round. The
Longhorns shot a season-best
round of 301 on the first day. UT’s
Heather Bowe had the top indi
vidual round, shooting 71. Teams
will resume play today at 8 a.m.
The Nebraska golfers will be paired
with Kansas and Oklahoma.
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