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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1999)
Sports Huskers ready for battle vs. Wildcats Kubik, Schwartz hold key for win against Kentucky, says Sanderford By Jay Saunders Staff writer On Selection Sunday. Nebraska Women's Basketball Coach Paul Sanderford was wor ried his team would not make it to the NCAA tournament. As the selections were being announced. Sanderford saw his team in the field of 64. That doesn't mean his worries are over, though. The coach said he now is trying to get the Cornhuskers prepared for first-round oppo nent Kentucky. The game against the Wildcats will be Saturday at 8:15 p.m. at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. “I'm excited that we are playing in the Big Dance,” Sanderford said. “If you have to go on the road, it's a nice place to go.” NU would not be in the tournament if not for a late-season run that carried the team into the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Junior guard Nicole Kubik has been the Huskers' guiding force all season, and she said the team did not spend all of its energy just get ting to the tourney. “Every team has to step it up another level,” Kubik said. “This team has another level to go up to. Everyone is hyped about going to California and showing the nation we can win.” Kentucky has not been to the tournament since their coach, Bernadette Mattox, took over four seasons ago. The Huskers, on the other hand, played two tournament games last season, and went to the tournament in 1995. Sanderford said he hopes experience will help his team, but that factor can be deceiving. “Those people are so excited about being there sometimes they forget to play,” Sanderford said. “But everyone in the field is pretty doggone good” These first-round combatants are no stranger to the opposition’s style of play. Sanderford said he was showing films of a Kentucky game and the players found several of their plays familiar. Sanderford compared Kentucky to Big 12 foe Kansas because of the team’s quickness Everyone is hyped about going to California and showing the nation we can winC Nicole Kubik NU guard and athleticism. The Wildcats also have a 6 foot-2 player at the small forward, which Sanderford said will help junior Brooke Schwartz. “If Kentucky has an advantage,” Sanderford said, “it’s their ability to shoot the basketball. But they will have a quickness dis advantage with Brooke.” If the Huskers can get past UK, they have a possible second-round matchup with UCLA, a team Nebraska lost to 85-67 on a neutral court Nov. 27. The Bruins would have the home court if both teams advance, but Sanderford warns of anyone looking past the first round. “We can play with UCLA, but first we have to get by Kentucky,” he said. “With the excite ment of the Big Dance, you have to have your | work done.” Sanderford has years of tournament experi ence to back up his words. This is the coach’s 14th trip to the NCAA tournament, and his sec ond straight with Nebraska. With the team's struggles earlier this sea- | son, Sanderford said this tourney may be the sweetest. “I'm not sure if this one isn't more gratify ing than any of them,” Sanderford said. “It’s because we've had our backs against the wall.” DN File Photo BROOKE SCHWARTZ and the Huskers will bat tle Kentucky in the first round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday in Los Angeles. Huskers buff up over winter By David Wilson Staff writer It may be surprising to see a seem ingly reserved 5-foot-9 cornerback yellmg at his fellow defensive backs when they lag behind while running. But it was that kind of leadership, along with lifting in groups by posi tion, that helped the Nebraska football team gain more lean muscle mass than it ever had in a six-week period. The Comhuskers, who averaged 194 pounds of muscle per person when winter conditioning began Jan. 20, gained an average of 12 pounds of lean muscle per person when tested Wednesday. Nebraska also dropped its body fat from 14.2 percent to 9.6 percent. “We came into the winter pro gram a little bit off the mark in terms of body composition,” said Boyd Epley, Nebraska's director of athletic performance. “Our goal was to build lean body mass with greater empha sis. “That happens in the weight room. Coach (Frank) Solich stressed to the players that we needed to really do a good job in the weight room to get that turned around. That’s exactly what the players did. It’s really phe nomenal for a six-week period.” 1999 Top Scores 10-Yard Dash 40-Yard Dash Tyler Rauenzahn IB 1.52 Eric Crouch QB 4.47 Matt Davison WR 1.53 Tyler Rauenzahn IB 4.48 Ben Cornelsen WR 1.54 Dwayne McClary WR 4.48 Erwin Swiney DB 4.52 10-Yard Dash Points Dominic Raiola OL 754 40-Yard Dash Points Damien Bauman TE 733 Tyler Rauenzahn IB 775 Kyle Vanden Bosch RU 713 Eric Crouch QB 775 Josh Kohl LB 713 Dwayne McClary WR 744 Kyle Vanden Bosch RU 744 Pro Agility Carlos Polk LB 744 Paul Kosch WR 3.75 Dharran Diedrick IB 723 Clint Finley DB 3.77 Kelby Krueger DB 3.86 Vertical Jump Jeff Hemje DB 3.86 Sean Applegate WR 38.5” Josh Anderson DB 37.5” Pro Agility Points Correll Buckhaiter IB 37” Jon Clanton DL 983 Chris Kelsay RU 970 Vertical Jump Kyle Vanden Bosch RU 850 Correll Buckhaiter IB 688 Clint Finley DB 850 Sean Applegate WR 688 _ . , , Damien Bauman TE 663 Performance Index Jay Runty QB 646 Kyle Vanden Bosch RU 2939 Chris Kelsay RU 2921 Damien Bauman TE 2887 The Huskers hadn't worked in position-by-position groups at the same time every day in previous win ter conditioning periods. The change, Epley said, allowed the players to keep track of each other more than if they were lifting individ ually. Jon Frank/DN “They had camaraderie within their position,” Epley said. “Team unity is a very important factor. They pushed each other. You don’t want to be late because the rest of the guys m Please see HUSKERS on 8 DeAnda, Munson to see tournament play ByLisaVonnahme Staff writer For the past five years, Jose DeAnda and Scott Munson have ded icated their lives to Nebraska wrestling. They’ve competed with injuries, and they’ve felt frustrated while hav ing to share a starting spot with anoth er NU grappler. They’ve had big moments, too - like during Munson's sophomore sea son when he pinned Iowa State’s Matt Mulvihill and led the Cornhuskers to a 20-18 upset over the Cyclones. They've watched their teammates compete at the NCAA tournament. They’ve seen those teammates become national champions and All Americans. But this year’s NCAAs will be dif ferent for DeAnda and Munson. The senior duo won’t be watching the tournament from the stands. Instead, for the first time in their careers, 1 lth-ranked DeAnda and 12t!l-ranked Munson will be wrestling in it. This time, DeAnda and Munson will have a shot at becoming an All American, or maybe even a national « I've always wanted to wrap up my wrestling career... at nationals Scott Munson NU wrestler champion, in their final competition of their careers - the NCAA Championships, March 18-20 at State College, Pa. “I’ve always wanted to wrap up my wrestling career, which I’ve had for the last 18 years, at nationals,” said Munson, NU’s 197-pounder. “I want to go out doing the best I can do until the last moment of my eligibility.” Like Munson, DeAnda’s hope is to finish in the top eight of his weight class, which would earn him the status of an All American wrestler. And even though the seniors will be competing in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,700 at Penn State’s Bryce Please see WRESTLERS on 8
