SportsThursday
Gymnast Nelson to compete at NCAA
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
In a season full of surprises, the
Nebraska men’s gymnastics team
saved the best for last.
Barely able to walk normally and
supposedly finished with his injury
plagued career, three-time NCAA
champion Marshall Nelson said on
Tuesday he will compete on the
pommel horse in today’s qualifying
round of the NCAA Championships
in Iowa City, Iowa.
The senior decided last
Thursday, and received approval
from his doctor on Monday, to per
form in an event he finished second
in at the 1998 NCAAs.
The decision comes nearly two
months after he tore the anterior cru
ciate ligament in his left knee in a
dual at Oklahoma on Feb. 4. It was
the same injury that kept the
Greeley, Colo., native out of the
entire 1999 season, when the
Huskers finished third at the
NCAAs.
Nelson said at the time of the
injury he was dead set on not return
ing. But his rehabilitation has gone
faster than he expected.
And in the last week when he had
the chance to do so, Nelson decided
he would rather finish his career as a
contributor instead of a spectator.
The last time he competed at the
NCAAs, in 1998, he walked away
with titles on the parallel bars and
horizontal bar.
“Am I thinking I’m crazy?”
Nelson said. “Yeah, I am. But some
thing just makes me want to do it.
I’m confident knowing the risks I’m
taking.
“There are two reasons why I am
doing it. One, I think I can help the
team, even if it will only be by a few
tenths of a point. Two, it gives me the
sense of closure I’ve been feeling
since I’ve been missing.
“If I can inspire anybody to do
anything they wouldn’t normally
have already done, then it’s worth it.”
According to his teammates, it
will mean a lot more.
“Marshall hitting his horse will
be the most exciting routine of the
NCAAs,” fellow senior and All
American Derek Leiter said. “It
^ If I can inspire anybody to do
anything they wouldn’t normally have
already done, then it’s worth it.”
Marshall Nelson
senior NU gymnast
shows everyone that you need heart
to compete in this sport. He’s all
heart, and he’s been that way since he
got here.”
NU Coach Francis Allen said
that despite Nelson’s rustiness - he’s
only been practicing for a few days
and only attempted landing once -
he penciled his co-captain back into
the horse lineup in a heartbeat.
“He’ll do a full-difficulty rou
tine, he’ll just have to soften the
landing,” Allen said. “Just having
him in there will give the team a
huge boost. He wants to write the
final chapter to his career. It’s not the
chapter we wanted, but it’s better
than no chapter.”
Please see GYM on 19
Tosh Wolfe/DN
SOPHOMORE SARAH SASSE has moved into the top spot on the women’s golf team. After a disappointing freshman season, Sasse claimed nor first colle
giate win on March 19 at the Longhorn Class In Austin, Texas.
Year holds
promise
for Sasse
■ Golfer ready for sec
ond season after an
unfocused freshman year.
By Matthew Hansen
StaffWriter
Even prodigies get scared some
times.
Sarah Sasse can remember onfe
confidence-shaking moment, ft
occurred when she saw Omaha
Country Club, the course where she
would be playing in her first Nebraska
State Giri’s Championship.
The holes looked too long. The
rough looked too tall. The competitors
looked too . ?. mature.
Sasse was 10. Because you must be
12 to play a round on a Lincoln public
course, Sasse never had golfed a full
length layout.
It was all very upsetting to the fifth
grader.
“I burst into tears and told my dad
that I didn’t want to play,” die said. “I
just wanted to go home.”
Eventually, she quit crying. She
played the course, competing against
Please see SASSE on 18
4. - .<5 I
Defensive line has talent, depth
■ Despite failing to recruit
new linemen, coaches say
unit has potential.
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
A quick scan of the 2000
Nebraska football recruiting class
reveals that the Comhuskers failed to
sign a quarterback.
A more in-depth analysis also
discloses that NU didn’t sign any
defensive lineman either.
But unlike quarterback
prospects, who were scared off at the
thought of playing behind Eric
Crouch the next two seasons, defen
sive lineman aren’t headed to
Lincoln next fall because the Husker
coaching staff thought they already
had a more than adequate supply.
This fact becomes incredibly
apparent when Coach Frank Solich
was asked about his crop linemen
this spring.
. Among those he mentioned were
Loran Kaiser, Jon Clanton, Jason
Mike Warren/DN
JASON LOHR (70) will be one of the returning defensive lineman for NO,
along with Loran Kaiser and Jeremy Schlecta. Kyle Vanden Bosch and Chris
Kelsay, along with many other defensive lineman, round out a talented
group, many with some game experience.
Lohr, Patrick Kabongo and Ryon Adams and J.P. Wichman into the
Bingham. mix.
It doesn’t stop there, throw rush -
ends Kyle Vanden Bosch, Demome Please see LINE on 18
NU ace pitcher looking
at professional career
■ Coach: Komine has
the potential to make it
into the big leagues.
By Dane Stickney
Staff writer
As the Nebraska baseball team
files out of the locker room, a media
guide is needed to tell many of them
apart.
Virtually all of them wear blue
jeans, tennis shoes, athletic T-shirts
and various baseball caps.
Shane Komine is the exception.
The Cornhuskers’ ace pitcher
walks out of the locker room in a care
free manner, his arms stuffed with
papers, folders, two baseball caps, a
pair of shoes. As he sits down, he
drops his load and it scatters on the
floor.
He’s wearing a black stocking cap
with a smiley face on it that hides
most of his head, except for his ear
lobes, which bear diamond earrings.
He doesn’t look like any other NU
player; Komine comes from a
Japanese and Filipino background,
but he was bom and raised in Hawaii.
It’s hard to think that this 5-foot-9,
170-pound kid is a star pitcher who
can throw 94 miles per hour.
It’s hard to believe this is the play
er who was the 1999 Big 12
Freshman of the Year and the Big 12
Pitcher of the Week.
But Komine says he’s used to not
being respected.
“It’s kind of an advantage for me,”
he says. “Guys look at me and see that
I’m small, so they think I don’t throw
that hard. But when they get in the
box, it’s a different story.”
So far, this season has been a stel
lar chapter for Komine, who has
struck out 69 batters in only 51
Please see ACE on 19