"\ J ■ - '
NU goes west for Mt. Sac
■ The Husker men and
women look to improve on
an already strong season.
By Josh Camenzind
Staff writer
California is the destination this
weekend for 32 members of the
Nebraska track and field team.
While on the West Coast, NU will
be competing in three meets. The
opening competition is Friday in the
Ponoma-Pitzer Invitational. The
Huskers next travel to Long Beach
State for the Long Beach Invitational.
The weekend concludes Sunday with
the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif.
In addition to those competing in
California, 38 Huskers will go to
Central Missouri State for the Mule
Relays on Friday.
The team will look to score high
in the Mt. Sac Relays with Scott
Warren, Shane Lavy, Becky
Beachler, Cory Lehman and Dalhia
Ingram competing. The women’s
4x400 meter relay team will also look
to better its time as they return from a
one-week break.
Junior college transfer Lehman
will look to continue his rise in the
javelin as his personal best throw of
234 feet, 5 inches ranks him fifth
nationally. Lavy, a senior, is also
looking to move up in the national
scheme of things in which he is cur
rently ranked seventh. His best jump
of the season is l-VA and he has yet to
lose this year. Beachler is hoping to
improve upon her provisional quali
fying mark in the shot put at 48-6,
while Ingram is looking to do the
same in the triple (42-63/4) and long
jump (21-4).
Javelin thrower Cassi Morelock
has secured an automatic qualifying
mark with her throw of 175-1 at the
Jim Click Shootout, which ranks her
third nationally. Melissa Price has
done the same in the hammer throw
with a mark of 195 -10 at the Clemson
Invitational, which ranks her seventh.
The men’s team is now ranked
seventh in the United States Track
Coaches Association dual rankings,
trailing Tennessee by 29.2 points. The
women are ranked third as they trail
No. 1 Brigham Young by 12.18
points.
Strawberry arrested again
for coke possession, soliciting
■ The New York Yankee
had been turning his life
around in rehabilitation.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Darryl
Strawberry’s turbulent baseball
career took a downward turn when he
was charged with possession of
cocaine and soliciting a prostitute.
The New York Yankees outfielder,
in a gold-colored 1999 Ford Explorer,
solicited an undercover officer for
sex for $50, said Sgt. M. Hamlin of
the Tampa Police Department after
Wednesday night’s arrest about three
miles from the team’s training com
plex.
Upon being searched by officers
K. Daniel and B. Holder at 10:10 p.m.
EDT, 0.3 grams of powder cocaine
wrapped in a $20 bill was found
inside of Strawberry’s wallet, the
police said.
The powder was tested and
proved positive for cocaine, accord
ing to the police report.
Strawberry was booked at 12:22
a.m. today at the Hillsborough
County Jail. After he had his finger
prints taken and was photographed
for a mug shot, he was released bn
$6,000 bond shortly after 1 a.m.
The 37-year-old outfielder, an
eight-time All-Star, has been in
Tampa at the Yankees’ extended
spring training camp while he works
back into shape following colon can
cer surgery last Oct. 3.
After the Yankees won the World
Series without him, New York City
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani praised
Strawberry “for the comeback he’s
made as a baseball player and the
comeback he’s making in life.”
He was in New York last weekend
to receive his World Series ring, then
returned to Tampa. He was not
expected to rejoin the Yankees until
next month, after a stint with
Columbus of the Triple-A
International League. The Yankees
did not want him to join Columbus
until he completed chemotherapy.
Strawberry’s list of substance
abuse problems is lengthy.
Major league baseball suspended
him for 60 days in 1995 after he test
ed positive for cocaine. The previous
year, he entered the Betty Ford Center
in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and spent
four weeks undergoing treatment for
a substance abuse problem.
In 1990, while with the New York
Mets, he entered the Smithers Center
in New York for alcohol rehabilita
tion.
In addition to substance abuse,
Strawberry also ran afoul of tax laws.
In April 1995, a federal court ordered
him to repay $350,000 in back taxes
and sentenced him to six months of
home confinement. But the order
allowed him to leave home for prac
tice and games, and to travel to road
games.
Strawberry, who came to promi
nence with the Mets in the early
1980s and won the NL Rookie of the
Year award in 1983, also has had off
and-on problems in Los Angeles,
where he was accused of failing to
make timely alimony payments to his
ex-wife Lisa.
He rebounded after signing with
the Yankees in June 1995 and had
remained drug free, with regular test
ing by major league baseball.
Strawberry had his best season in
seven years in 1998, hitting .247 with
24 home runs and 57 RBIs in 295 at
bats.
The Yankees, because of compli
cated rules involving baseball’s luxu
ry tax, shifted him to a minor league
roster during the offseason, fearing
he would not be healthy enough to
play by opening day.
Strawberry, the No. 1 pick in
baseball’s June 1980 amateur draft,
joined with Dwight Gooden to help
lead the Mets to the 1986 World
Series title. Gooden also has had
cocaine problems and currently is
with the Cleveland Indians.
Strawberry has a .250 career aver
age with 332 homers and 994 RBIs in
16 major league seasons with the
Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San
Francisco Giants and Yankees. He led
the NL with 39 homers in 1988 and
topped 100 RBIs three times with the
Mets from 1987-90. *
Rucker trains in Rockies
in preparation for NFL
DRAFT from page 13
Good athletic ability and ver
satility are traits that teams like
about Foreman. They also like
how he performed in the camps.
Foreman, whose father,
Chuck, played in the NFL, said he
was confident about how he’s
positioned himself.
“I did everything I needed to
do,” Foreman said. “I interviewed
well. I practiced well. I tested
well. I feel good because I’ve
done everything I could.”
Former tight end Sheldon
Jackson also feels well about the
progress he’s made since the
Holiday Bowl.
Jackson said his workouts at
the combine and for individual
teams have helped improve his
stock ten-fold. He said teams like
his character, his ability to get ver
tical between defenders and his
potential to improve.
Jackson also wasn’t picky
about where he wants to go, but he
said if it were up to him, he would
be selected by a “West Coast”
team or the Minnesota Vikings
because they play in a dome.x’
Chad Kelsay, a former rush
end at NU, doesn’t have any idea
where he would be selected or if
he even would be selected in the
first six rounds.
He said he doesn’t put much
stock into the mock drafts and
analysts comments.
A lot oi people can pick the
Top 10,” Kelsay said. “After that,
they don’t know. It would be real
nice to go on the first day, but I
just want a chance to prove
myself.”
So do the rest of the Huskers
that ESPN SportsZone lists as
possible draft candidates. The list
includes Kris Brown, Jason Wiltz,
Joel Makovica, Kenny Cheatham
and Josh Heskew.
“It’s all about waiting now,”
Jackson said.
NU’s Wiggins
gets 6th year
From staff reports
Shevin Wiggins, a receiver and kick
returner for the Nebraska football team,
has been granted a sixth year of eligibil
ity by the NCAA after it reversed its
previous decision.
On Thursday, an NCAA appeals
committee said it would allow Wiggins
to have an extra season of eligibility,
providing he “would meet all the eligi
bility requirements for competition.”
The NCAA based its ruling on a
recent court decision that allows stu
dents with learning disabilities to regain
the year of eligibility they missed.
Wiggins, who was recruited in
1994, had to sit out the subsequent sea
son, which was followed by a redshirt
season in 1995.
“That is great news for Shevin and
for our football team,” NU Coach Frank
Solich said to The Associated Press.
“Shevin is a talented wide receiver,
and has played a very important role on
our offense the last couple of seasons.
He has also been an outstanding con
\ tributor on special teams.”
Huskers wounded yet
ready for spring game
SPRING from page 11
One of those players, who will be
making his first spring scrimmage
appearance, is fullback Willie Miller.
Miller missed the first part of spring
after having surgery on his knee dur
ing the winter.
One constant all spring has been
NU senior lineman James Sherman.
Sherman said the injuries on offense
have made it more challenging for
everyone.
“We have guys out and a lot of
younger players in there on the
offense,” Sherman said. “But we need
to execute the best we can, and the top
offensive line is doing a pretty good
job of that.”
The list of offensive players not
participating includes quarterback
Bobby Newcombe, I-backs DeAngelo
Evans, Dan Alexander, DeAntae
Grixby and Alik Tillery, linemen
Adam Julch and Billy Diekmann, and
wingback Frankie London.
Part of the offensive struggles have
been related to the dominating perfor
mance of the defense.
The defensive dominance hasn’t
just been by the Blackshirts. Defensive
Coach Charlie McBride has called the
defense one of the deepest in some
time.
A question mark coming into the
spring about who would be rush ends
has turned into a spot that goes at least
three-deep on each side, said Rush
Ends Coach Nelson Barnes.
“I think I’ve found some guys who
are going to be able to play,” Barnes
said. “For the most part, I think we’ve
answered the questions about how the
rush ends are going to perform next
year in terms of leadership, in terms of
hustle and in terms of being able to
make some big plays.”
Injuries to two top returning line
backers, Tony Ortiz and Julius
Jackson, have given freshman Randy
Stella valuable playing time.
Stella himself missed the first
week of practice with a knee injury.
However, since he has returned at full
speed, he has been impressive, Solich
said.
“It’s been a while since Randy has
really been able to do things on the
football field the way he’s capable of
doing them,” Solich said. “But he was
moving around well. He showed his
speed and quickness, and that’s very
promising.”
A change in this year’s Spring
Game will be that Solich isn’t calling
the plays.
For the red team, Dan Young and
Ron Brown will coach the No. 1
offense and George Darlington will
head the defense.
The white team with the No. 1
defense will have Turner Gill and Milt
Tenopir coaching the offense and
McBride heading the defense.
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OPEN FORUMS
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forums:
1) Monday, April 19,1999,
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An important goal of the fe for people of color
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