_
'"~*1
Andrew Strnad
Tracksters’
popularity
doesn’t last
Track and field - it’s considered
the crown jewel of the Summer
Olympics.
Unfortunately, for those who
participate, the general public only
pays attention once every four years.
Remember all of the talk about
how great sprinter Michael
Johnson’s accomplishments were?
Well, of course they were great;
the man obliterated the world record
in the 200-meter dash and was the
first to record wins in the 200- and
400-meters in the same Olympiad.
Too bad Johnson and all of the
other great feats from Atlanta were
soon forgotten.
Fortunately, Nebraska has the
luxury of having its own collegiate
track team,
Since 1980, the Husker track
team has won 48 of a possible 72
indoor and outdoor conference
championships. ,
In addition to winning 34 of the
last 36 conference titles, the NU
women’s team has claimed three
indoor national championships
(1982-84) and has 27 top 10 finish
es.
Individually, NU has produced
more than its share of Olympians.
Does the name Merlene Ottey
ring a bell?
Ottey, a 14-time national cham
pion at Nebraska, has captured five
Olympic medals - including three in
Atlanta.
Overall, seven former Nebraska
athletes represented six different
countries at the ’96 Olympics in
Atlanta. V
At the root of the Husker’s suc
cess is a coaching staff with more
than 70 years of experience at
Nebraska.
When it comes to accepting
acclaim for NU’s accomplishments,
Coach Gary Pepin time and time
again has said the credit goes to all
of the coaches and athletes.
The coaches, Jay Dirksen (dis
tance), Mark Colligan (throws),
Billy Maxwell (sprints and hurdles),
Mark Kostek (multi-events) and
Steve Smith (sprints and multi
events) have coached well over 100
NCAA All-American athletes.
Meanwhile, the beat goes on for
the athletes as the team has already
posted several NCAA provisional
marks and figures to send a strong
contingency to Indianapolis for the
NCAA Indoor Championships in
March.
Who will be the next All
American at NU? Who will be the
next Husker athlete going to
Sydney, Australia, for the 2000
Olympics?
Don’t ask me. Just go to the Bob
Devaney Sports Center track and
see for yourself.
Andrew Strnad is a senior
broadcasting and political science
major and a Daily Nebraskan
staff reporter.
4
Cleveland faces inner battle
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
Tonight at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center, bright lights, blaring music and
the noise generated by 3,000 cheering
people will descend upon the members
of the Nebraska women’s basketball
team as they prepare to battle Missouri.
The contest marks the beginning of
a two-month long fight to earn an
NCAA Tournament bid.
Also tonight, Amanda Cleveland,
the Huskers’ freshman forward, will be
sitting at her home in Lancaster, Texas,
fighting a different fight and a much
bigger battle.
She’ll be fighting the biggest battle
of her 18-year-old life.
There won’t be __= ■ .
many people
there. Cleveland
can’t be exposed
to large crowds.
And forget the
bright lights and
blasting music,
because this battle
isn’t taking place _
in an arena for all Cleveland
the world to see.
The battle facing Cleveland lives within
her body.
She was diagnosed in December
with aplastic anemia, a disorder that
results from the unexplained failure of
the bone marrow to produce blood cells.
Aplastic anemia affects eight in every 1
million people worldwide. It is a rare
and life-threatening disease.
Sometimes, the mental and physical
pain of the disease is too much for
Cleveland to bear.
“Every day I cry,” Cleveland said. “I
tell myself, ‘You’ll be okay. Stop cry
ing.’Thenltumtomymom. She talks to
me and tells me I’ll get through if She
says, ‘When you get through this, you’ll
be able to look back and see how strong
it made you.’”
Just the facts
When functioning properly, the
bone marrow produces red blood cells,
which carry oxygen throughout the
body and live for 120 days. The marrow
also produces platelets, which carry
chemicals to clot the Mood and live for
six days. White cells, which fight infec
tions, live for one day or less.
Continuous production of blood
cells is necessary all through life
because cells don’t have infinite life
spans once they leave the bone marrow
and alter the blood.
“Bone marrow is like a factory in
Please see AMANDA on 11
NU hopes to trap
Tigers at Devaney
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
January offered both die bad and the
good for Nebraska Women’s Basketball
Coach Paul Sanderford and his team.
The Comhuskers suffered three
tough losses on the road, including a
four-point disappointment at Baylor.
The loss to the Bears ended a two
week span in which NU played six
games, three of them on the road. His
players returned exhausted and drained
But January was also the month in
which the Huskers began their climb to
what Sanderford hopes is their peak
level of play, embarrassing Texas A&M,
Kansas State and Oklahoma State.
Now, as the Huskers (16-6 overall
and 5-3 in the Big 12 Conference) kick
off play in February against Missouri
tonight at 7:05 at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center, Sanderford wants to get
rid of the bad and begin focusing on the
good and the future.
“It’s been a long year,” Sanderford
said “People look at me everyday and
tell me I look tired. But I’m excited
about the progress we are making as a
basketball team. It’s fun to go to prac
tice.
“I see a lot of consistency and matu
rity. We’re not so careless with die bas
ketball. We’re passing and handling the
press well.” f
Tonight’fc game against Missouri
(10-9 and 2-7) marks die beginning of a
6t-—
Missouri is a scary
team. They ve beaten ,
some pretty good
basketball teams... ”
Paul Sanderford
NU women’s basketball coach
possible run for the NCAA
Tournament, which begins the second
week of March.
“Missouri is a scary team,”
Sanderford said. “They’ve beaten some
pretty good basketball teams like Iowa
State. They are scary even at 2-7.
Anybody is capable of winning in the
Big 12.”
The Tigers return four starters from
last season’s team and are led by Julie
Helm. A 5-foot-11 guard, Helm leads
Missouri with 20.5 points per contest
Center Kesha Bonds contributes
15.4 points per game and 10.7 rebounds
per game.
The Tigers, who favor a slow-;
tempo, half-court set, have held their
opponents to an average of 52.8 points
per game. The Huskers are averaging 78
points per game.
“The Tigers are everything we
Please see M1ZZOU on 10
Matt Miller/DN
NU GUARD BROOKE SCHWARTZ and the Hnskers play host to Missouri
tonight at 7:05 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
NU football recruits
become official today
BySamMcKewon
Senior Reporter
The future ofNebraska football will
take shape today as recruits will sign cm
the dotted line to play for the
Comhuskers in the 1998 season.
NU has received at least 21 verbal
commitments from high school seniors
who are expected to sign letters of mfcent
today. Several other players said they
would not make their final decisions
until this afternoon.
Derrick Harmon, a defensive
back/receiver from Memphis, Tenn.,
gave a verbal commitment to the
Huskers Tuesday, but Memphis East
High School Coach Wayne Randall said
Harmon may change his mind today
Even Harmon said his decision
wasn’t firm.
“I can’t be completely for sure,”
Hannon said Tuesday evening. “But if 1
had to decj.de right now, I’d go to
Nebraska.”
Harmon initially made his decision
Monday but wavered his thoughts after
being pressured by coaches at the
University of Memphis.
Randall said Harmon was targeted
as Memphis’ “number one recruit” and
is a key player in the Tigers rebuilding
process after three straight 4-7 seasons.
“They’ve told him that if he goes
there, two or three other guys are going
to come, too,” Randall said. “The
Memphis coaches really want him to
come there.”
Harmon said he has received plenty
of advice over die past 24 hours.
“Alotofnewspaperscameuptothe
school to try and talk me out of it,”
Harmon said “I got a lot of crap at the
barber shop, too.”
But Harmon will ultimately make
his decision today, Randall said.
“If I had to bet one way or the other,
Please see RECRUITS on 10
Rivalry heightens
with NCAA quest
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
After losing to Kansas
Sunday, the Nebraska men’s bas
ketball team’s quest for an NCAA
“It’s survival of the fittest,”
NU Coach Danny Nee said. “The
teams that raise their levels and
find ways to win in February are
going to be the ones who have
successful years. The teams who
don’t are going to have mediocre
or bad years.”
Because a .500 record in the
conference probably won’t be
good enough to get into the ^
NCAA Tournament, NU point
guard lyronn Lue said it is impor
tant the Huskers win at least six
of their last eight games.
Lue, who leads the Huskers
with an average of 20.3 points per
game, will play a key factor in
NU’s success.
. Please see QUEST on 10