sprin review
marshall nelsonthe comeback ▼ ^
Marshall Nelson stood in the
comer of the floor exercise area of
the Nebraska men’s gymnastics
training facility last Friday and
stared down the path he was
about to take.
His eyes scoured the mat so
intently, it looked as if they’d pop
right out of his face. He was think
ing about one thing and one thing
only - his next routine, his next
battle.
Such concentration could
make the observer forget where
Nelson was last year and make
him hesitant to remind the three- 4
time national champion about it.
He was right back where he was in
1997 and 1998, when he was win
ning three national titles, two par
allel-bars and one horizontal-bar.
For the past year, Nelson was
in rehabilitation for the anterior
cruciate ligament he tore in his left
knee. He couldn’t zero in on a floor
routine unless he was evaluating
one of his teammates’ from the
sideline.
He quietly watched, week in
and week out, his team make a run
at the national title without him.
And it hurt him more than anyone
else to wonder what he could have
done, and if the Huskers would
have finished No. 1 instead of No.
3, if he could’ve participated.
Nelson won’t lie. It wasn’t fun.
“You can’t expept to just live
vicariously through someone
else’s routines,” Nelson said. “It
was hard.”
Coming back wasn’t easy,
either. He made a good physical
recovery but wasn't sure if he was
ready mentally. Nelson returned to
competition two weeks ago at the
Rocky Mountain Open in
Colorado.
But that’s when his tunnel
vision kicked in. Nelson started
his comeback with three event
titles and a school record on the
pommel horse. So much for
nerves. So much for forgetting
how to compete.
“He’s just a beautiful gymnast,
one in a million,” said NU Coach
Francis Allen, who has coached
40 individual NCAA champions
and 159 All-Americans. “You
don’t find them very often. When
you do, you just sit back and enjoy
it.”
stories/photos
marshall nelson: john gaskins/heather glenboski
sandra noetzel: trevor johnson/heaiher glenboski
4 sandra noetzelthe standard
At practice, Husker tennis
player Sandra Noetzel wears a
crimson Nebraska polo shirt
! that falls untucked over gray
gym shorts.'A backwards
Husker baseball cap covers
bundled-up strawberry hair,
almost reminiscent of little
orphan Annie.
Her stance is lanky and
relaxed, comfortable, almost
too comfortable. Then she
trades jokes with one of the
guys playing on the court next
to hers.
She seems to resemble a
tomboy more than a sports
star,
then she serves...
then again....
At practice Noetzel might
not have the look of a tennis
star, but she’s definitely got the
game, and the record and the
desire.
“I want to get to 100 wins
this year” the German-born
Noetzel says in slightly broken
English, “It’s a nice round
number to finish my career off,
don’t you think? I’ve got 81 or
82, I’m not sure, you’ll have to
check up on that one.”
Actually she’s closer to 100
wins than she thinks. Her 84
36 career record at UNL is the
best in school history. But both
Noetzel and Coach Scott
Jacobson want more from her
than that.
“I’m looking for her to do a
lot better than she did last
year” Jacobson said.
And that was only to
become the first woman from
UNL to go to Nationals, while
finishing second in Big 12 sin
gles.
“I want to be No. 1 this
year” Noetzel says, “I got No. 2
last year, but this year I want to
be No. 1 and go to Nationals
again.”
Noetzel has put in the work
to do it.
Jacobson said: “Her work
ethic has gotten stronger
every year at practice, and I’ve
seen more of that this year.”
Also Noetzel cares for the
future of her teammates.
When asked “what she wanted
NU fans to know. ./, Noetzel
earnestly begged “please give
us a facility” alluding to the fact
that the tennis team now prac
tices off university grounds, at
the Woods complex at 33rd
and 0 streets.
She also says she wanted
more fans to come watch the
matches.
“We’re a good team, and
we’ve got some good players.
People should come watch
us,” Noetzel said.
And the best of those play
ers is the joking German with
the strawberry hair.
She is herself.
