Matt Miller/DN
NU GYMNAST JESS SWIFT is mobbed by her teammates after hitting a career-best score of 9.750 on the vault March 21. The Huskers won the Big 12
Championship for the second consecutive year with a score of 196.55 - the second-best in school history.
Women’s gymnasts win Big 12
Huskers capture fifth straight title, tie school records
By Darren Iyt
Assignment Reporter
As soon as Nebraska gymnast
Heather Brink stuck the landing on
her uneven bars routine a routine she
hadn't hit in three weeks she leaped
in the air and began to smile.
The fierce competitor from
Lincoln could now relax because she
had just capped off the best perfor
mance of her career.
Before family, friends and rela
tives, Brink tied three school records
and claimed three first-place finishes
at Big 12 Conference Gymnastics
Championships March 21 at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
“(The records) were one of the
things to add to the list of how w'eil the
night went for me," Brink said. “But I
am happiest with our team champi
onship”
Hitting 21 out of 24 routines, win
ning four of the five indiv idual titles
and posting six season-high vault
scores propelled the Nebraska
women's gymnastics team to its sec
ond-best score ever and allowed the
team to win a school - and conference
-record fifth straight title.
The 121h-ranked Cornhuskers
(196.550) outpaced No. 13 Iowa State
(195.800). Oklahoma (193.500) and
Missouri (191.925) to give Coach Dan
Kendig his fifth title in five years.
Nebraska jumped out to an earlv
lead - scoring a 49.075 on the balance
beam Nicole Wilkinson, who fin
ished fourth in the all-around, earned
All-Big 12 honors in the beam as well,
finishing fourth with a 9.875. All-Big
12 honors are given to gymnasts who
place in the top four on individual
events or the top four in the all-around.
The Huskers followed the beam
with a 48.975 on the floor exercise to
take a 98.050-97.325 lead over
Oklahoma. Misty Oxford who placed
second in the all-around, won the
event with a 9.90. Brink was second
with a 9.875 and Courtney Brown tied
for fourth with a 9.775.
Then Kendig got the surprise of
the year on the vault as NU improved
its season-best score bv 0.425 to score
a 49.075.
”1 didn't think we were capable of
a 49 before we did it tonight,” Kendig
said. "If you would have told me the
vault would be our second-best score
before the meet, 1 would have told you
we lost."
Brown got NU started with a sea
son-best 9.750. Freshman Amy Ringo
and junior Jess Swift followed with
career bests - 9.700 and 9.750 respec
tively. Wilkinson scored a 9.850 to
place second and Brink put the excla
mation point on the vault by scoring a
school-record-tying 9.950. Her mark
tied the record Oxford set last year.
On the final routine the uneven
bars - NU scored a Devaney Center
and school-record 49.400.
Individually, Brink tied the 9.950
school record set by Crysfal Savage
(1989) and Shelly Bartlett (1997).
Wilkinson also posted a career-high
9.925.
But Oxford's 9.90 after a Jess
Swift fall was the “biggest routine of
the day," Kendig said.
Oxford said NU has had two great
meets in a row and hopes to continue
the string at the Midwest Regionals
Saturday in Tempe, Ariz.
Pitcher
leads NU
to win
■ Sophomore Jenny
Voss stands out in show
down against Texas A&M.
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
After earning 10 wins in
Nebraska’s last 11 games, pitcher
Jenny Voss might be considered a
superwoman by some. But actually
she’s just blessed w ith a super arm.
On Sunday, the sophomore from
Ankeny, Iowa, pitched five innings in
the first game and three innings in the
second to lead No. 12 Nebraska to 10
2 and 5-0 wins over Texas A&M
before 310 fans at the Nebraska
Softball Complex.
With two wins against No. 6 Texas
and two against Texas A&M this
weekend, the Comhuskers (26-8) are
off to their second-best start in school
rustory ana also are in rrrst place in tne
Big 12 Conference with a 4-0 record.
Saturday, Voss pitched 14 innings
of scoreless softball and also outdu
eled Olympic pitcher Christa
Williams as NU defeated Texas 4-0
and 2-0.
NU used a six-run second inning
Sunday against A&M pitcher Ashely
Lewis to jump ahead in the first game.
Smith hit a home run and drove in
three runs.
The second game was scoreless
after four innings until NU used a sui
cide squeeze from Ali Viola, its sec
ond-leading hitter, to score Jennifer
Lizama in the bottom of the fifth.
In the top of the fifth Revelle opted
to replace freshman Lori Tschannen,
who hadn't allowed a hit, with Voss.
"Lon pitched excellently,” Revelle
said, "but we planned to bring back
Jenny if the game was close because
she had handled them so well in the
first game.”
Voss allowed two hits, but the
Aggies managed no runs. She said this
weekend was important for the team.
“We wanted to make a statement
that we aren't going to lose at home,”
Voss said. "I think we did a nicejob of
setting the tone.”
Spring practice will
help Solich fill voids
By Sam McKewon
Senior Reporter
For new Nebraska Football
Coach Frank Solicit, spring foot
ball provides many question^
v\ 11 h little
11 m e t o
answer’them.
7 \\ on '. \ -
sev en da\ s to
be e\ac!
SoitCh > in.;
a F: pra. t!ce
everv Monday. Wednesday, and
! t' cl a p through the month o!
April with scnmmaue-> on
Saturday. Spring practice will
culminate April 25 with the
annual Red-White Spring Game
Solich is faced with replacing
12 starters from an M team that
was 13-U and won a national
championship in i 997
The most talked about posi
tion h is been quarterback, left
. aca' ' b\ n 'oft fr • o \s main t
"lout o! 11\ e* r kg er.s couid c< >n
'end : *r the si.n tmu snot. Smieti
deg :• . ha-\ • a • ■ lekim t. i ■
hist m is . i d< i! r.m f. >- i )
cards uid thiec louchdouns and
Please see SPRINGon 8
Swimmers finish in top 20
By Lisa Vonnahme
Staff Reporter
After a slow start at the NCAA
Championships in Minneapolis,
the Nebraska women’s swimming
and diving team ended its season
March 2 i with an 1 1 ,!l-place finish
wh11 e the men finished 1 S1 h in
Auburn. Ala.. Saturdac
The women's team had a lot of
expectations going into the meet,
including a top-five finish, but the
Cornhuskers were unable to meet
uP 11 t. hoi! l • >u: . N l • viach '■ j)
1H!'V- ! UP - 1 • . a .
\t > s(i(»--vard ip. est% le reia\
squau of Anna W indsor. Helene
Muiier. Thercse Aishantmar and
S h a n d r a Johnson i u s t missed a
national championship by one
tenth of a second. Nebraska fin
ished in a school-record time of
7:10.89, but Stanford edged the
Huskers to win the title w ith a time
of 7:10.79.
“That relay was a defining
moment. ' Bentz said. “We really
needed that spark."
Eight Huskers Windsor,
Muller. Mshammar. Johnson. Beth
Karaica. Destine Lauren. Lenka
M a n h a! o \ a a n J Terrie M i Her
earned All- American honors at the
meet.
With two freshmen, eight
soplv'm 'iv-s ana a p.miot making
up the ' aw ouaE'r ne nst til
1 ' a: .:. •_. ■' r : ’ ■ n p m .• an
s^i,: ‘AMiii'heli __ :
as ;; p,. wv need to focus more on
sa\ mg some energy from this meet
lnstead of domg everything it
takes to get here. We'll be back.”
The men's team will be back,
too, after coming off its seventh
best showing in the team's 77-year
history.
"Given the tightness of this
meet, we had a pretty good three
davs.’’ Bentz said. "All in all, beiim
18'h is a fine finish. With the depth
0 f c o m p e t i 11 o n getting deeper
every year, we have to be proud to
be m the top 20."
Nl’ ended the three-day meet
b y s c ;, r i n g sex e n pot n t s o n t h e
fina 1 day of competiuon. The
Huskers finished the meet with 80
points. ’Iop-iankeJ Stanford won
the meet title with 5tK) points
to- • no s. ,vnd raigh? v eat
1 i a red ! !■' the 4 00 - y ar,i
freestyle relay.
All of the Nebraska qualifiers
seven swimmers and two divers -
earned All-American recognition.