Benson battles through injury
By Darken Ivy
Staff writer
Each time Nebraska women’s soc
cer player Kim Engesser steps onto the
field, she instinctively looks around for
Jenny Benson.
It’s natural for her.
The two of them have played
together on chib teams coached by Jan
Engesser, Kim’s mother, since they
were little.
Benson was one of the main rea
sons Engesser transferred to Nebraska
from Portland in 1997.
This year, the duo had planned to
finish out Engesser’s last season at
Nebraska playing together.
That was before Benson tore the
anterior cruciate ligament in her right
knee during a Denver Diamonds club
soccer game July 19.
Now all Benson can do is cheer on
Engesser and the rest of her
Comhusker teammates.
“Every game I go out and wish she
was there,” Engesser said. “It makes me
sad seeing her sitting on the bench.”
This past weekend’s games against
UCLA and Southern California were
supposed to be a homecoming for
Benson, Engesser and Sandy Smith -
all Huntington Beach, Calif., natives.
Since Benson’s first season at NU,
she couldn’t wait for the California trip,
said her mother, Sharon.
“She was really looking forward to
having all of her family, friends and
coaches see her for the first time,”
Sharon Benson said.
But Jenny Benson has to wait two
Matt Miller/DN
BENSON NOW ACCEPTS the fact that she will not play any
mere this season. The Injury made her realize how much
playing soccer meant to her, she said.
Matt Miller/DN
NU SOCCER PLAYER JENNY BENSON warns her knee in a tub Tuesday morning in the NU Coliseum training room. She
spends at least 90 minutes a day trying to regain strength in her leg after undergoing knee surgery eight weeks ago.
more years for that opportunity. The
length of that wait helped make it hard
er to go through last weekend
“It was hard, because I would look
over and see my family sitting in the
stands,” she said.
Although Benson wasn’t able to
play, her mother said she enjoyed hav
ing her at home. It was the first time
J 1ULUV1)
Mike, and twin
brother, Jeff, had
seen her since
her surgery.
Before
Jenny’s visit, the
Benson family
received updates
over the phone
every other day,
Sharon Benson
said
Jenny
Benson said she
was glad the
California
games didn’t
open the season,
because it took
some time adjusting to her injury.
But, after a few games, Benson
said, she had begun to understand her
role and accept it.
The 2-1 loss to Wisconsin
Milwaukee in the opener was the hard
est game for her.
“It was one of those games you die
to be on the field,” Benson said. “You
just want to help, but I was helpless. I
knew I couldn’t do anything.”
Benson is eight weeks into her
rehabilitation and determined to be
back with the team by spring. On the
recent trip to California, she used the
hotel exercise room to do her drills.
Benson knows the importance of
rehabilitation because she tore the ACL
in her left knee in 1994, while she was r
sophomore at Marina High School.
She said that experience helped her
deal with the most recent one.
“Waking up from surgery, I knew
how it was going to feel,” Benson said.
“I understand (the recovery) is going to
be a slow process.”
But Benson said the injury has
been harder on her this time.
She wasn’t involved with soccer
each day in high school - like she is in
college. She also wasn’t busy training
with the under-20 national team.
“It couldn’t have happened at a
worse time,” said Kari Uppinghouse,
Benson’s best friend and former NU
teammate. “Things were finally start
ing to happen for her.”
Uppinghouse remembers the day
the trainers told Benson her ACL was
tom.
“It was devastating news,”
Uppinghouse said. “We were speech
less, and she was crying. Knowing I
was done, I wish I could have taken the
injury for her.”
Benson has not asked for sympathy
from anyone. Her mother said that’s
part of her personality.
“She puts other people before her
self,” Sharon Benson said. “She told
me, ‘I’m fine, don’t worry about me.’”
Jenny Benson may not let on to
many people how she’s really feeling,
but she responds quickly when asked
how much she misses soccer.
“It just kills me not being out there
every day,” she said. “I can’t wait for the
day I can step back on the field.”
Beer run tests stomach’s strength
By Todd Munson
Staff writer
Five miles. Five beers.
What the hell was I thinking?
Last Sunday, I competed in die 20th
— or possibly the 21st depending on
whom you ask - running of The Beer
Run.
Started in 1978 by the Lincoln
Track Chib as a way to wind down die
season, The Beer Run eventually
branched out and evolved into its own
entity.
At die dawn of the age of gender
equity, women began slamming full
12-ounce beers with the men. Aral for
die lightweights, or minors, anon-alco
holic and soda division had been
added
Although it has always been a low
profile event, The Beer Run is rich in
history. A high school track coach set
the record of 29 minutes, 23 seconds
back in 1984. Wow.
If die course record didn’t serve
notice about the seriousness of the race,
die starting area certainly did. Cars up
and down the street were adorned with
a variety of running paraphernalia. The
folks who owned these vehicles cer
■
tainfy looked the part, either decked out
in actual running attire or wearing T
shirts from past races and marathons.
Suddenly, 1 was a bit nervous. I’d
never run more than two miles at a time,
and by the looks of things, the only per
son I could beat was a dead ringer for A1
from “Home Improvement”
After a couple feeble attempts at
touching my toes, I joined die 30 or so
runners at the starting line for the pre
race directions. Adding to my fears was
die official’s warning: “If you throw up
more than twice, you’re disqualified,
’cause you’re doing it on purpose.”
Mile 1 -After the first few hundred
yards, I found myself in a group at die
front Very strange. Soon, the first beer
stop was in sight I watched in awe as
the leader grabbed his on the fly and
downed it within two steps. When we
hit the stop I checked my Timex
Ironman, which for the first time was
being used as intended. Under six min
utes by a good margin. No wonder my
heart was about to explode.
Mile 2 -Either the others were get
ting faster, or I was getting slower. On
this mile, I watched die leaders run off,
and I was passed by others. As I ran
along with a fellow in a Beer Run shirt
from 1994, Iasked him what his strate
gy was.
“Drink the beer fast,” he said.
I thanked him for that tidbit and
told him this was the longest I’d ever
run, as well as my first running race.
“Whoa dude, baptism by fire,” he
muttered as he ran ahead.
Mile 3-1 shouldn’t have had that
Mountain Dew before the start Man,
did I have to pee. Thankfully, there was
a tree nearby, and my kidneys were
soon tapped On this leg, I was passed
by a kid who looked like his parents
didn’t feed him. When asked how one
goes about running 5 miles, his reply
was, “I dunno, you just do it”
Poor kid is a victim of advertising,
but at least he wasn’t wearing a pair of
Nikes. At the third beer stop, I was
handed a freshly poured cup of foam.
This would come back to haunt me.
Mile 4 - Belch ...barf... beer...
bad Not only was I getting a little sick,
but I noticed my motor control was get
ting a little slow, and the fellow behind
me was gaining. My head began to
swell with doubts about even finishing,
or living for that matter. But hey, the
fourth beer went down extra smooth
thanks to my freshly purged stomach.
Mile 5 - Delirium had set in, as
well as “Gonna Fly Now” from
“Rocky.” The only problem was the
runner behind me was getting closer
every second. He finally caught me,
and we hit the final beer stop at the
same moment
The time had come to put five years
of college life and countless Ultimate
Frisbee parties to good use. Between
exhausted breaths, I muscled that final
beer down in two gulps and promptly
collapsed. But not before I saw the
other fellow still trying to finish his.
My time of40.53 was good enough for
10th, not too bad considering the pee
break and stopping to puke in a bush.
After a few minutes, a steady
stream of runners poured into the fin
ish, and the post-race picnic/sobering
up session began. While The Beer Run
was a odd gathering of local runners,
the proceeds were donated to a pro
gram for children. When the fuzziness
cleared, I went home with my prize in
hand - a bottle of Fat Tire Ale.
I think it will probably be in the
fridge for quite a while.
Newcombe
ready to test
Washington
By David Wilson
Senior staff writer
Four tests and a couple of papers
due the same week could spell pressure
for any UNL sophomore.
Add trying to completely recover
from a knee inj ury and preparing for die
toughest defense you’ve faced in you’re
quarterback career, and you’ve got one
hectic week.
That’s exactly what Nebraska sig
nal caller Bobby Newcombe is up
against
“You study the offense like you
would study for two classes,”
Newcombe said Tuesday afternoon.
“But it’s not the game that’s getting
to me. It’s a tough week academically.”
The second-ranked Comhuskers
(3-0) will play host to No. 9 Washington
(2-0) at 2:35 p.m. in Memorial Stadium
on Saturday.
The matchup will mark the return
of Newcombe at quarterback after he
suffered a slight tear in his posterior
cruciate ligament behind his left knee in
NU’s season opener against Louisiana
Tech. It also will mark his first start at
quarterback against a ranked opponent
Newcombe, who said he expects to
be at 100 percent by Saturday, sat out
against Alabama-Birmingham and
California.
“That was very hard,” Newcombe
said. “It was eating at me a little bit I
think it strengthened me a lot more
mentally. I never really dealt with that
kind of situation before.”
Newcombe completed nine of 10
passes for 168 yards and scored twice
on the ground against Louisiana Tech.
Though he has missed two games since
then, he said he doesn’t plan to come
back with a coat of rust
Redshirt freshman quarterback
Eric Crouch, who started both games in
Newcombe’s absence, agreed with
Newcombe’s assessment of his return.
“I think he’s moving real well in
practice,” Crouch said. “It looks like
he’s getting back to normal. That’s
always good to see.
“You never want to see a quarter
back out like that Especially someone
with his athletic ability and big-play
potential You always want someone on
the field who can make big plays like
Newcombe said his injury helped
him grow closer to many of his team
mates, who supported him through his
injury.
Despite the support, he said, a cer
tain amount of pressure still lingers.
“Quarterback at Nebraska is a posi
tion that is very hard to win, and also to
keep -notcnty physically, but also men
tally,” Newcombe said “It’s a tough
position just walking around in daily
life.
“There are times when I’m sitting
in class where the pressure gets so big,
you can’t finish what you need to fin
ish.”
But in the aid, Newcombe said, he
will be ready Saturday.
“As tor as pitying in big games, itfc
nothing really new to me,” said
Newcombe, who finished last season at
wingback after playing three games as
NU’s third-string quarterback. “But as
far as playing quarterback in a big
game, it’s new to me.
“At the same time, I predict myself
going into toe game very relaxed”
