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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1999)
§p!]ii)Prevfe*v i Five seniors lead NU into men’s golf season ■ Jaime Rogers and Steve Friesen provide a 1-2 punch for the Huskers. ByAdamKunker Senior staff writer The Nebraska men’s golf team is dusting off the winter snow as best it can, hitting the links with a vengeance and preparing for the spring season. After a successful turn in the fall, in which the Comhuskers never finished out of the top four in their five tourna ments and won the Colorado State Ram Intercollegiate, 21 ^-ranked NU is look ing for more in the spring. j And there are five seniors who will see to it that the Huskers get their share of respect around the nation, and get themselves in contention when the NCAA Championships come around. “Our goals are high,” senior Josh Madden said. “We’ve learned a lot from last season. This season, we expect to be there. We’re not going to be intimidated, we re going to go out and scare some people. We’ve got nothing to lose.” Another trip to the NCAAs would be NU’s second consecutive appear ance. And, Madden said, since the Huskers have already put themselves in position for the Central Regional with their play in the fall, a good spring would only add more fuel to the fire. “Nationals is definitely on the card for us,” senior Jamie Rogers said. ^gra^ 728 Q ST 4LjfcLlf HAYMARKET SPORTS BAR & GRILL SUPERBOWL SUNDAY 4 giant screens. HOT WINGS. QB 1 ACTION. Great drink specials. D J - FOOT IN THE HOUSE TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS $.20 CENT WINGS POOL TOURNAMENT EVERY MONDAY @ 8:00pm! $$CASH PRIZES “Everybody’s pulling toward that” But there’s something else that seniors Madden, Rogers, Steve Friesen, Ryan Nietfeldt and Scott Gutschewski are all looking for to close their careers. Something in the way of a Big 12 Championship and redemption after last year’s disappointing showing, when NU finished seventh. “We’re all pretty much determined to improve our standing in the Big 12,” Rogers said. “We’ve got a very good shot there, though there are some tough teams.” The Huskers’ biggest competition will be No. 5 Oklahoma State, which has had the monopoly on conference titles, winning 36 of the last 39 Big Eight or Big 12 Championships. “They’re always a force to be reck oned with as far as the Big 12 is con cerned,” Rogers said. “But for us, the experience is there, the confidence is there, and we should have a really great spring.” Nebraska opens the spring season Feb. 22 with the Texas-San Antonio Invitational in San Antonio, Tex. Rogers is looking forward to mak ing a bigger impact earlier in the spring season after a slow start in the fall. Last season, Rogers was an honor able-mention selection to the All American teams. But this year, he wants more - for himself and for NU. “I just want to start off on a more positive note and not get behind the eight-ball like last semester,” Rogers said. “I’d like to have a spring like last year, and I expect I will. If I don’t, I’ll be disappointed.” Rogers and Madden went home to Australia over break to escape and to practice on their games in for the spring. Rogers said the UTSA tournament should be a good chance for NU to showcase its talents. “It’s a tournament we should win,” Rogers said. While looking to expand on their fall-season exploits, Rogers and Madden stressed the importance of the spring being the coming of age for the Husker seniors. “This is the last one,” Madden said. “The culmination of our careers. We just want to go out and do it” Transfer brings stability to NU men’s tennis team Verzi adds to what could be NU’s best team ever By Jay Saunders Staff writer A year ago, Nebraska men’s ten nis coach Kerry McDermott said his team could possibly make a big splash in an always-challenging Big 12 Conference. McDermott was not quite the prognosticator he thought he was, as the Comhuskers struggled through the Big 12 season, winning only one conference dual. “We stunk it up in the Big 12,” McDermott said. “We have nowhere to go but up.” With a new look, McDermott again said he thinks Nebraska will have a much-improved team. “We are going to be better than we were last year,” McDermott said. “We’ll be real competitive and have a definite shot to compete.” The Huskers return seven letter winners from last year, but only two who have a great deal of playing experience. NU’s new look comes from one freshman and three transfer students who will compete for playing time in both singles and doubles. The biggest impact may come from sophomore Lance Mills. Mills, an Omaha native, transferred from Virginia Tech. Mills played No. 3 singles last year for the Hokies, who were ranked in the top 30. Fellow transfer Juan Hamdan played No. 1 singles at the University of Pan America. “Lance brings in valuable experi ence from Virginia Tech,” McDermott said. “The main thing I’ve seen is (the transfers) have put more pressure on the team to play and practice hard.” Mills will challenge for a spot in the top three, but the Huskers’ No. 1 weapon will be senior Dinko Verzi. The Hamm, Germany native was named to the Big 12 first team last season. This fall, Verzi was ranked in the top 100, but fell out of the rankings. Verzi will also play with sophomore Andrew Wiese at No. 2 doubles. “(Verzi) didn’t have a very good fall, but he has the potential to play at a very high level,” McDermott said. “He just needs to be a little more aggressive.” The entire team may need to be more aggressive if they want to get through a schedule that includes 12 teams ranked in the top 50. NU is not ranked in the top 50, but instead comes in at No. 70. Wiese said some overlook Nebraska because they are not a traditional ten nis powerhouse. “I think the top 60 is pretty realis 66 Our guys have to realize we are a good team. We are stronger at each position this year.” Kerry McDermott NU men’s tennis coach tic,” Wiese said. “All it takes is one good match, and teams will start to talk about you.” If NU wants to win that big match, McDermott said the Huskers needed to stay confident. Sophomore Jorge Abos-Sanchez, German-born Kai Reike and senior Joakim Larsson round out the top six. Once again this year, McDermott said doubles will be a key if the Huskers want to reach their goal of making the NCAA tournament. “Our guys have to realize we are a good team,” McDermott said. “We are stronger at each position this year.” Freshman must adapt to new college bowling rules Daugherty heads a optimistic Nebraska squad By Christopher Heine Staff writer Nebraska women’s bowling coach Bill Straub is relying on a young squad to maintain his pro gram’s stature as one of the country’s best. Four out of his top seven play ers are freshmen. Sure, bowling may not have issues of physical immaturity as does football when it comes to par ticipating underclassmen. However, these highly touted freshmen are learning a lot on the run as the Comhuskers plan to make one at a national championship. “How our freshmen adjust to the pressures down the stretch will be a big factor in how we compete and finish,” Straub said. NU has four remaining team tournaments on the 13-event sched ule that started Oct. 3. The Huskers will round out their long season at the 3rd annual Intercollegiate Bowing Championships on April 21-25 in Wichita, Kan. Bowlers of major-college level go through a childhood of training similar to the future stars of tennis and golf. They arrive with scholar ships at places such as Nebraska with seasoned form and experience aplenty. However, there are a few grow ing pains. Three-time All-America selec tion Jennifer Daugherty said the first thing a freshman must adjust to is the “Baker System.” The system is a form of competi tion that NU has participated under this season, and it will be used to decide the national championship this spring. This is how it works: Five bowlers will represent each team, and each player will roll two frames. They take turns just as a baseball team fpllows a pre-game lineup. Here’s a short, theoretical exam ple. Daugherty, with her team-lead ing 204.8-pin average for the year so far, might theoretically lead off the Husker attack and then bowl frame six as well. Or she might roll stanza five, enabling the All-American to finish off the all-important 10th frame. Daugherty said the freshmen’s inexperience with “the rhythms of the Baker System is pretty impor tant.” “Before college, we basically all just compete individually,” she said. “Getting used to team play is an adjustment everyone has to make.” Daugherty said another key adjustment for a newcomer is the required communication it takes to be a high-caliber team. Bowlers discuss the conditions of lanes in a similar manner to base ball hitters discussing a pitcher’s ten dencies in the dugout. Adjustments must be made during the match. “Some lanes are oiled long and some short,” she said. “Where they are oiled has an impact on the way our rolls break. A team has to talk about that to make proper adjust ments.” Straub’s 1997-1998 recruiting class seemed to have the credentials 66 Some lanes are oiled long and some short Where they are oiled has an impact on the way our rolls break” Jen Daugherty NU bowler to pass these tests. Diandra Hyman, of Dyer, Ind., was the 1998 national high school player of the year. She is third on the Comhusker squad with a 199.9 aver age. Another frosh standout, Amanda O’Hayre, was the Colorado state player of the year in 1998. O’Hayre is NU’s fifth best bowler so far with a 194.6 average. Straub said the Huskers are one of five teams with a legitimate shot at winning it all this year. NU is cur rently ranked No. 3 in a writer’s poll, and No. 2 in a computer poll based on strength of scheduling. Straub said his freshmen should be prepared by the long season “to have the emotional control to deal with the NCAA tournament.” Hyman said the adjustment peri od is over for the freshmen. “I think we’ll prove ourselves and show ’em what we can do,” she said.
