Sports
Ingram reaching to meet her potential
NU jumper inspired
by home town, father
By Josh Camenzind
Staff writer
For Dalhia Ingram, her career in track and
field began with pancakes.
It started in her hometown of Liberal, an
isolated town nestled in southwestern Kansas.
An annual celebration in Liberal called
Pancake Day was the occasion where school
was let out and Ingram first learned to love run
ning.
“We used to have this day in my hometown
called Pancake Day,” Ingram said. “I don’t
know if you’ve ever heard of it before, but we
used to get out of school for it and all the ele
mentary students would run to see who would
race that day.”
Ingram and all the other school children
would run on that day. It’s where she gained her
roots as a track and field competitor. And years
later, Ingram came to Nebraska looking tp get
away - but not too far away.
The small town holds important roots for
the junior. Ingram established herself in
Liberal, owning the second-longest jump in
high school history in the triple jump at 42 feet,
11% inches.
Liberal contains Ingram’s first influential
coach, who she had in high school. It contains
her inspiration in the father she lost as a young
girl.
“My dad died when I was six, and just to
know that he would be so proud of me is a great
motivation and inspiration,” Ingram said.
Ingram uses that itispir&tfotf to achieve her
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• ^ Matt Milleb/DN
NU TRIPLE JUMPER Dalhia Ingram is still looking to break through with a big 44-foot lump in the event. “She’s been close a couple of times,
but she hasn’t quite got there yet,” Coach Gary Pepin said.
Brink lightens up for NU
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
At a silent post-practice meeting, the Nebraska women’s
gymnastics team members sat on the mat in silence and lis
tened intensely to Coach Dan Kendig.
But as usual, one gymnast, who happens to be one of the
most dynamic in die NU’s history, couldn’t stand the silence
any longer. She interrupted Kendig, who was going over the
team’s agenda for their trip to Salt Lake City for the NCAA
Championships this weekend.
u
In college
gymnastics, you
feel like a big,
old lady”
Heather Brink
NU gymnast
“Oh, yeah, tell ajlyour
parents to wear red
Thursday, antLblack and
white Friday,” she shouted,
as dazed looks spread across
the other Cornhuskers’
faces. The statement had
nothing to do with what
Kendig was talking about
The gazes became
smiles and laughs. It was just
Heather Brink being
Heather Brink. The Huskers
—are used to such quirkiness.
Brink is loud in every
thing she does, especially on the gym floor, where she has
become Nebraska’s best-ever all-around gymnast. Even when
she’s just talking in normal conversation, the whole gymnasi
um can hear her. All the time.
And according to her teammates and coaches, that’s a good
thing.
“She just likes to be the center of attention,” said fellow
junior Laura Ohlendorf, one of Brink’s best friends.
“Sometimes, just in the middle of practice, she’ll just get in
the middle of the gym and start dancing or do something stu
pid. Whatever she does, you can’t help but laugh at her.”
But that’s exactly why Brink’s teammates need her off-the
wall presence.
But things haven’t always been that way with Brink and the
NU team in practice. She’s always been loud, but not necessar
ily the “good” loud they describe her as today. They’ve seen the
Please see BRINK oji 11
Matt Miller/DN
JUNIOR HEATHER BRINK keys the Nebraska women’s
gymnastic team emotionally and helps the Huskers as
they go into the NCAA Championships this weekend.
Huskers pound
Western Illinois
i ■ NU scores early and
often in beating the
Leathemepks 10-4 and
%4-l in a doubleheader.
43y Jay Saunders
Staff writer
With success; scoring runs
again$t Chicago State earlier in the
season and a doubleheader sweep
against** Western Illinois on
Wednesday die Nebraska baseball
team might want to think about
joining that Mid-Continent
Conference.
^Thf^ornhuskers rattled 24
runs offjhe Leathernecks, who is
in first place in the MCC, in two
games in front of 695 at Buck
Beltzer Stadium. Nebraska won the
first game 10-4, then took the night
cap 14-1.
“I’d like to join this confer
ence,” freshman Adam Stern said.
“We could feast off their pitching.”
Stem went 2-4 and scored three
runs in the second game. Stern
wasn’t the only player to rip the
cover off the ball.
The Huskers (29-11) were able
to get hit and run production from
all nine batters in the doubleheader.
Nebraska 1014
Western Illinois 4 1
“We hit the ball up and down
the lineup,” NU Coach Dave Van
Horh said. “We hit the ball hard
even when we made outs.”
Western Illinois (11-24) wasn’t
able to get those outs before the
Huskers made an assault on the
scoreboard.. ?
In game one, Nebraska jumped
out early by scoring three runs in
each of the first two innings. The
second game saw a scoring explo
sion, but it was a gradual one.
“We scored runs in just about
everyJnning,” Van Horn said.
“Before we knew it, we had five,
six, seven runs.”
Even though the offense has
been consistent throughout the sea
son, the pitching staff gave up only
five runs in two games.
Junior Scott Fries pitched six
innings in game one. Fries got the
win, giving up three runs and four
hits. Three pitchers, including
sophomore Brandon Penas, who
got the win in his first start of the
season, had a no-hitter for 3 1/3
innings.
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