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Matt Miller/DN
NU FRESHMAN GYMNAST Amy Ringo’s enthusiasm for the sport has rubbed off on her teammates and helped the Huskers this season.
Energetic Ringo provides a lift
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
Odds are von won't see Nebraska fresh
man gymnast Amy Ringo walking around
campus any time soon wearing signs that
encourage people to come to the Nebraska
gym meets.
Mainly because there are 4-foot snow
drifts and negative temperatures, which can
celed the Cornhuskers" rescheduled dual with
Brigham Young Wednesday.
But earlier this year, the upperclass girls
made Ringo and the other freshman wear
signs that told people to come to the NU meet.
Most people would have been embarrassed.
The outgoing Ringo had a ball
“1 love doing stuff like that," Ringo said
“1 am the cheerleader
of the group.”
Ringo has used her
endless supply of
energy to provide a
boost for the No. 19
Nebraska women’s
gymnastics team.
Assistant Coach
Teresa Ijams said
Ringo provides the
team with comic
relief.
u
She has a contagious
... It rubs off.”
Teresa Ijams
NU assistant coach
around on the gvm
one won’t last in the
sport.
Her personality
helps her have fun,
- —site Sftiik.lt. also got
“I was a crazy lit
tle kid,” Ringo said. “I
would always run
around the house, so
one day my mom
decided 1 could run
nats instead.”
“She has a contagious personality and
attitude," ijams said. “She is always in a good
mood and it rubs off ”
Ringo said she's always happy because
that makes gymnastics enjoyable for her. She
said if one can't have fun doing gymnastics.
Growing up, Ringo competed at Xtreme
Gymnastics in Phoenix, Ariz. She credits her
club coach. Stormy Eaton, for teaching her
gymnastics and making her energetic. He
died in 1995.
“1 looked up to him a lot,” Ringo said.
“When I go home and see everybody, it is
tough because I think about him.”
While at Eaton’s club, she said she always
looked up to the older girls.
Her mom insisted on going home after
Ring’o was done with practice, but Ringo
often talked her into staying a couple more
hours so she could watch the older girls prac
tice.
Putting the extra time and work carried
over as Ringo got older. She loves to practice.
“I cry if I miss a day of practice,” Ringo
said. “If I were going to sit in the dorms all
day, I would be bouncing off the walls.
(Gymnastics) allows me to put the energy
toward something good.”
Please see RINGO on 10
Arkansas aims to hogtie NU
By Sam McKewon
Senior Reporter
When you’ve coached in 35
NCAA Tournament games and won a
national championship, not a whole
lot can surprise you in the postseason.
That's the position Arkansas
Coach Nolan Richardson is in going
into his team's matchup with 11th
seeded Nebraska in a 9:20 p.m. game
Thursday at the Boise State
University Pavilion in Boise, Idaho.
And Richardson said he doesn't
plan on taking his sixth-seeded
Razorbacks out to the West regional
to just show up.
Rather, he’s taking a Mickey
Mouse approach.
“My goal is to win and go to
Disneyland,” Richardson said. “I’ve
never been to Disneyland and there's
still a lot of little kid in me. I look for
| ward to trying to get to Disneyland.”
The West region's championship
game will be played in Anaheim.
Calif.. March 21.
Richardson said the experience of
f having won the NCAA Tournament
in 1994 and having been to the Final
Four twice (1994. 1995) helps
.Arkansas going into the Big Dance.
“I like this time of year"
Richardson said, “because unpre
dictable things happen. Every year
the best team doesn’t necessarily win.
It's the team that does the best job
over a three-week period.”
But before the Razorbacks (23-8)
can make a run at the NCAA title,
Richardson said, he’s focused on
beatmg the Comhuskers.
Richardson said he has seen
Nebraska a couple times on televi
sion this season, including a 85-68
loss to Tulsa Dec. 1. But NU has
improved since then, Richardson
said, and has the looks of a quality
foe.
“They won a lot of games late in
the season and reached the Big 12
semifinals,” Richardson said. “That
tells me they are a pretty good team.”
In order to break the Huskers
down, Richardson said, Arkansas will
have to execute its patented “40 min
utes of hell” pressure defense and
force NU into mistakes.
During the season. Arkansas led
the Southeastern Conference in forc
ing 22.7 turnovers per game, averag
ing 10.6 steal per game against oppo
nents.
That same kind of defensive
harassment would help the
Razorbacks' chances Thursday
Richardson said
“We like to score with our
defense,” Richardson said. "That's a
major defense. We have to score with
our defense.”
Offensively, Richardson said,
shooting becomes the main concern.
«
My goal
is to win
and go to
Disneyland”
Nolan Richardson
Arkansas coach
Tnree of the Razorbacks’ four lead
ing scorers are guards, and leading
scorer Pat Bradley has scored most of
his 15 points per game from the
perimeter.
“It’s easy to predict how we’ll do,”
Richardson said. “If Pat Bradley and
(guard) Tarik Wallace don’t hit some
shots we have a hard time winning
because we don’t have a great inside
game.”
As for Nebraska, Richardson
said, he knows NU has a good point
guard in Tyronn Lue and an up-tempo ;
sty le.
!t is a sty 1 e that has great!)
improved the Husker program and a
style that gives NL a chance i
Thursday, Richardson said.
"Basketball has come a long wav
under Danny Nee,” Richardson said.
“It seems like in the old days
Nebraska used to shoot the ball about
once a week.”
Lobos hope Huskers
don’t destroy dream
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
When reality finally sinks in for
the New Mexico women’s basketball
team, the Lobos will still be living
their dream.
New Mexico wrote a storybook
finish Saturday to a mediocre season.
After surprising the Western Athletic
Conference by winning the league
tournament and 14 of their final 16
games, the Lobos earned their first
ever NCAA Tournament berth.
The Lobos (22-6) finished their
season as the WAC’s seventh-place
team but secured one of five league
berths.
Eighth-seeded UNM travels to
Norfolk, Va., to battle No. 9 seed
Nebraska Friday at 6:00 p.m.
“Nebraska is a very good team.’’
Lobo center Katie Kearns said. "But
Fm excited 1 can't say enough about
this. I've always wanted to be in the
tournament. Fmalreadv packed"
New Mexico Coach Don
Fiannigan knows the Lobo's heads
won't stay in the clouds for long
Fiannigan said Nebraska presents a
formidable challenge to the Lobos.
“(The NCAA selection commit
tee) could have made it easier on us,”
Fiannigan said, “but right now we
just have to say, ‘Bring 'em on.’”
Flannigan said his team has
drawn confidence from the selection
committee’s faith in the WAC. Five
league teams earned bids in the Big
Dance, compared to four for the Big
12.
“The competition we’ve faced in
the WAC will serve us well,”
Flannigan said. “Hopefully, every
thing will just carry over into the
tournament.
“I hope the league teams do well.
The conference deserves respect at
the national level.”
The Lobos hope to take advan
tage of their unlikely opportunity to
lead the WAC charge for respect.
Much of the responsibility falls
on forward Abby Garchek’s shoul
ders. Garchek leads New Mexico
with a 20-points-per-game average
and set a WAC Tournament record
with 81 points in four games on her
way to earning the tournament's most
valuable player honor.
But neither Garchek nor
Flannigan is satisfied with tne
Lobos' tournament performance
Both want to hold onto New
Vlexico's dream season for just a bit
longer.
“It's a privilege to pia\ an out
standing team like Nebraska,"
Flannigan said. “It makes me feel
anxious, but I feel really good about
how we're playing.”