They Got them On Base, but…

…they couldn’t get them past third base and the Huskers suffered a 6-2 loss to Ohio State in the third game for the Huskers.

Again the Huskers had the big bats as they out hit the Buckeyes 9-8 but they left 10 runners on base. A couple of other things also attributed to the loss. Three errors were committed that helped the home town team and hitting into two double plays silenced a come from behind chance.

OSU scored two runs in the second, one in the fourth and seventh and 2 in the eighth. The Huskers could only score twot in the 6th to cut the lead to 3-2, when it looked like the Husker bats were coming to life.

Earlier, in the fourth, the Huskers looked like they were ready to explode. With two outs, Kash Kalkowski hit a ground rule double down the right side as the ball jumped into the bleachers. and went to third on Rich Sanguinetti’s single. Kale Kiser was unable to complete the scoring opportunity so they left two stranded.

Nebraska was in position to score again in the top of the fifth with runners on the corners and one down following a pair of Buckeye errors, but King got Chad Christensen grounding into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The sixth inning started as a Husker come back. First Josh Scheffert led off with a walk and then scored from first on Rich Stock’s 20^th double to make it 3-1. Kalkowski smashed a single up the middle to bring home Stock and bring the Huskers to 3-2. But then recovery ended with the next three hitters failing to bring home any more runs.

In the top of the eighth, it looked like the Husker bats would come through. Down 4-2 , the Huskers had the tying run on base in the top of the eighth following a leadoff single from Scheffert and a two-out infield single from Sanguinetti, but once again the OSU got an out when it needed it with a fly out by Kiser for the third out

Thus ended the Huskers first entry into Big Ten Baseball but in spite of being  the second team to leave Conference tournament, it has points of real improvement in Coach Erin Estrada’s first year as head coach.

For the season, the Huskers dominated in just about every offensive category. Pitching was a little problem and you can bet the emphasis of recruiting will lean in that direction. The exciting thing is that all eight of the following players will be back next year.

Over all The Huskers had a very satisfactory season as eight Husker players earned All-Big Ten honors this week. Shortstop Chad Christensen, outfielder Rich Sanguinetti and designated hitter Michael Pritchard, who all earned first-team honors. Cory Burleson was also honored as the team’s Sportsmanship Award Honoree.

Junior third baseman Josh Scheffert was the Huskers’ lone second-team pick, while first baseman Richard Stock, second baseman Pat Kelly and starting pitcher Kyle Kubat were all third-team selections. Kelly and Kubat were also named to the All-Big Ten Freshman team, along with outfielder Austin Darby.

Tennis: Nebraska’s No. 31 ranked doubles team of Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim fought hard but fell to Virginia’s No. 5 ranked doubles team of Drew Courtney and Jarmere Jenkins in a 6-1, 6-4 loss in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Doubles Championship.

Aumueller and Lindheim ended the regular season with a 32-9 doubles record and ranked 31^stnationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

“Virginia played very well and put pressure on our guys from the start,” Nebraska Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. “It was a great year for Christopher and Benedikt as they played in the National Indoors and finished their careers playing at the NCAA Doubles Championships. These guys have come a long way in our program and will be missed but have set high standards for other teams to follow.

“Both Aumueller and Lindheim finished their careers ranked in Nebraska’s top five in career victories. Aumueller ended his career with 76 victories, which ranked No. 5 all-time in Husker history. Lindheim closed his career with 89 victories, which ranked No. 4 in NU history. Christopher Aumueller earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors and Benedikt Lindheim earned Second-Team All-Big Ten Honors.

Nebraska’s Mary Weatherholt battled hard but came up short in a 6-4, 7-5 loss to No. 13 Zsofi Susanyi of California in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championship. Weatherholt, who closed the regular season ranked 47th nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), ended her junior season with a 30-11 singles record.

“It was a great match,” Nebraska Assistant Coach Hayden Perez said. “Mary competed hard, and both players played at a high level. It came down to a few key points in both sets. Mary will take the summer to get healthy and is already talking about next year.”

The 2012 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Year heads into the offseason after producing a school-record 56 combined singles (30) and doubles (26) victories in 2011-12. Her 30 singles wins marked the second-highest total in school history, trailing only her 36 as a freshman in 2008-09.

We are waiting for results from the NCAA Track and field tournaments where we have Huskers participating. An update on this will be in the next few days.

Our first year in the BIG TEN? Hey for being the new kids on the block, I believe we did pretty darn good. Following the results of the NCAA Track and Field we will run down the years results and start to get excited about the next round of our introducing the old guard of the B1G who the Huskers are; like in football, volleyball, soccer, cross-country and then diving into the winter sports with a new coaching staff for men’s basketball and women’s rifle, swimming and diving, gymnastics and bowling.

Stay with us and keep checking back on SOAZ4NE.ORG to learn what is happening between seasons for news of the Big Red.

You know one thing that I have learned lately, is that I do like to go shopping with my wife, especially when I wear one of my Nebraska shirts. It is surprising how many times people have come up to me and introduced themselves as also being Husker fans. Remember, our membership is not restricted to just Alumni. Heck I was born in Colorado and went to college at Valparaiso, Indiana. But I do bleed red with every loss and yell “Go Big Red” at every event.

So good buddies, when your out on the town, wear your Husker wardrobe and lets work to build our membership and have more fun cheering on our favorite Big Red School.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert.

　

　

　

　

　

 

B1G BASEBALL TOURNEMENT _Columbus, OH.

 

Game One:

The Huskers took a quick 1-0 lead in the second inning but Michigan State got two in their half of the third. The Huskers came back with one run to tie it. But the Spartans were not down as they added one in each of the 4^th and 5^th but 5 runs in their half of the 6^th and another one in the 7^thgame Michigan State had a 10-2 lead going into the top of the ninth.

With one out Freshman Pat Kelly and Mike Pritchard drew back to back walks. Chad Christensen then flew out for the second out and the fans seemed to concede the game to MSU. Richard Stock extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a single after going 0-for-4 in his first four plate appearances. Josh Scheffert then stroked a double for one run and Rich Sanguinetti was hit-by-pitch to load the bases.

Reliever Joe Zwierzynksi then hit Kash Kalkowski and walked Austin Darby to put two more more on base and leave them loaded for Kale Kiser. Tony Wieber entered the game and Kiser ripped the first pitch he saw into the right-center-field gap to clear the bases and the score was now UNL 9 – MSU 10.. The senior moved to third on a wild pitch with Kelly at the plate and was 90-feet away from tying the game. Kelly put a charge into a 2-2 pitch, but the Spartans Ryan Jones made the catch of the game. The ball was hit straight at him but over his head. A leap and an extended reach brought the game to a close.

With the loss, the Huskers moved into the losers bracket in this two loss tournament. These two teams set a tournament record for the most hits ever, The 17 Spartan hits were added to the Husker’s 12 for a total of 27.

Its not surprising that this game would turn into a slug fest. Nebraska ranks first in just about every category offensively and Michigan State is third in just about every category.

Game Two:

The Huskers kept the attack going following their 7 inning run against Michigan State as they added 18 more hits and scored 12 runs to take down the Penn State Nittney Lions 12-3 and lived for another day.

Junior Ryan Hander threw a gem for the Huskers, as the righty gave up just two earned runs over a career-high 6.1 innings of work, while striking out a career-high seven. After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, Hander retired seven straight Nittany Lions and faced just nine combined hitters in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

Freshman Pat Kelly went 4-for-5 and knocked in 5 runs for a career high. Rich Sanguinetti and Richard Stock both had three hits and Chad Christensen smacked one over the wall and deep into the right field stands for his 10^th HR of the year. Stock kept his 18 game hitting streak going with a lead off single in the 2^nd inning and along with Michael Prichard’s 25-game hitting streak earlier this season, it marks the first time in school history that a pair of teammates have each produced hitting streaks of 20 game or more in the same season. Pritchard’s streak is the third-longest streak in school history and Stocks is tied with Jeff Hedman (1998) and John Cole (2001) for the sixth longest streak.

The Huskers gave up a 1^st inning run and waited till the fourth inning to start their barrage. They tied the game in the 4^th added then added 3-5-3 runs in the next three innings before giving up a single run in the bottom of the ninth.

Other B1G games.

No. 6 Ohio State pounded out 12 runs against the Nittney Lions on Wednesday and their loss to UNL on Thursday dropped them out of the tournament.

Today No. 2 Indiana knocked out a 6-4 win over No. 5 Michigan State who now joins Nebraska at 1-1. The Hoosiers rallied with four runs in the 8^th for the win. A game currently being played is No. 6 Ohio State and No. 1 Purdue, the regular season conference champion. At the end of two innings the Boilermakers are leading 2-1.

Tomorrow the Huskers will play the lowest seeded looser of either No. 5 MSU or No. 6 Ohio State if they should loose. If OSU wins, the Huskers will play MSU. Now don’t forget all of these tournament games will be on the Big Ten Network. Tomorrow’s Husker game will be at 9 AM, so don’t forget to tape it if you cant play hokey from work.

And hey, if you want to see these first two games, I have them taped. The entrance fee into my luscious viewing arena is a couple of cold ones,

Good news for Husker fans, it looks like the B1G Tournament will venture to Omaha in 2014. Wow, big Ten Championships and then the NCAA Championships. Could you ask for any thing more.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

 

　

 

They went 5-2 in their last seven games …

…and wound up fourth seed for the B1G Baseball Tournament. In the final conference game the Huskers finished with a 7-3 win over Michigan and a 14-10 conference record for the season and an overall 34-21 record for new coach Darin Erstad.

After splitting the first two games of the series, 15-2 and 5-6, the final game was a tight one. With runs in the second and third innings the Huskers took a 2-0 lead and held that until the bottom of the seventh.

Senior Dexter Spitsnooble had his best game but didn’t get credit for the win. Throwing for a strike out with two down  a wild pitch on a third strike swing spoiled his performance. The batter bet the throw to first and then three straight hits earned the Wolverines a 3-2 lead.

UNL came back strong in the eighth with three runs and then two more in the ninth to seal a 7-3 and a fourth seed in their first Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska will take on Michigan State on Wednesday and you can catch the game on Husker Radio but tune into the Big Ten Network as every game will be on TV. The Husker game is scheduled for 10:05 on Wednesday.

The only other sport to report on is tennis, both men and women. The women won one match in the regional’s but lost the second to finish their season.

Nebraska women’s tennis coaches Scott Jacobson and Hayden Perez and the Huskers’ top player Mary Weatherholt were recently honored with Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Regional awards.

Coach Scott Jacobson claimed the first Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year award of his career. Jacobson, who has guided the NU program for 21 years, led the Huskers to the most successful season in school history in 2012. Jacobson captured his first Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year award after leading the Huskers to a 24-5 overall record that included a 9-2 Big Ten mark. He was previously the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2010.

Perez, who has served as an assistant under Jacobson for six years, added ITA Central Region Assistant Coach-of-the-Year accolades for the third time in his career. Perez also won the award in 2007 and 2010. Perez has helped coach the Huskers to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Weatherholt earned the ITA Central Region Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship award. Weatherholt has been the top player for the Huskers in 2012, rolling to a 30-10 singles record and 26-6 doubles record. She has been ranked as high as No. 40 in the ITA rankings, and is No. 47 going into the NCAA Championships.

Weatherholt holds the school record for season combined wins with 56 in 2012, while ranking No. 2 on the NU career charts with 93 singles wins. In her first season in the Big Ten, Weatherholt was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year in women’s tennis, while earning unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honors. Weatherholt joined NU men’s tennis player Christopher Aumueller in a Husker sweep of the ITA regional awards.

Aumueller earned the ITA Central Region Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award and the ITA Central Region Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award. As a senior, Aumueller captured first-team All-Big Ten honors and finished with a 18-14 singles and a 27-9 doubles record. He finished the season ranked No. 75 in the ITA rankings. He also received the Big Ten Men’s Tennis Sportsmanship Award and academic All Big-Ten honors in 2012. Aumueller notched 76 career wins and finished No. 4 in the NU record book.

The Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award recognizes outstanding individuals who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.

The Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award is the ITA’s longest running award and goes to an NCAA Division I men’s player who displays sportsmanship, character, excellent academics and has had outstanding tennis playing accomplishments. The award was established in 1969 in memory of Osuna, who was killed in a plane accident at the age of 30. Osuna is one of the all-time great collegiate tennis players, winning three NCAA doubles titles (1961-63) and the 1962 NCAA singles title as part of USC teams many consider to be the greatest of all-time.

Just an interesting bit of trivia.

Did you know that in the last 49 years there has been a total of 23,706,977 fans who have filled the Memorial Stadium during those football seasons?

Nebraska may be located in Middle America, but no one’s even come close to the Cornhuskers’ level of consistency at Memorial Stadium, the only facility in the history of college football that’s been sold out for 50 consecutive years. The magic Bob Devaney brought to Lincoln enabled Nebraska’s turnaround from being the countries worst team from 1941 to 1961 to having the most wins of any team since then.

Randy York again lets us in on a little more history of this place that “Bob Built.”

Read about it at Huskers.com.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

It was Seniors day…

…and the fans had a record-setting turnout for the Husker softballers. Well actually the attendance for the final game was the third largest in Husker History. Where they did set a record was the tailgate party.

The Huskers unofficially set a new record for the World’s Largest Softball Tailgate on Saturday, the third game, drawing 1,752 fans to the event. Illinois held the record with 1,445 fans in attendance at its 2007 World’s Largest Softball Tailgate.

Yep, another proof positive that Nebraskans do love their Huskers.

With six seniors playing their last game in the Scarlet and Cream, the Huskers won two of the three games against Wisconsin.

Friday was a double-header and on the line was the Nebraska softball team’s nation-leading 16-game home winning streak. Clutch hitting by the Badgers produced a 3-1 win. Nebraska had its chances but just couldn’t get the hits when needed.

The second game was started off with the Badgers racking up 4 runs in the first inning. Wisconsin only had one hit in this inning but a pair of errors a wild pitch and two walks lead to the scoring. In the bottom of the third, the Huskers came to life and tied the game at four all.

After the poor start, sophomore Tatum Edwards only allowed three base runners the rest of the game and that hit in the first inning was the only Badger hit the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, two runners got on base with a hit and a walk. A ground out let both runners advance and then up comes Tucson’s Matte Fowler, a true frosh. Like this young lady has done a number of times before , a sharp single up the middle scored to runs and the Huskers went back to the win column 6-4.

On Saturday, the record-setting game was featured with the great pitching by senior right-handed Ashley Hagemann. She had a three-hitter giving up only one run and striking out six ending her career 23-17 for the year.

The Huskers took a quick 1 run lead in the first then added three more in the fifth before Wisconsin got their only run in the sixth.

For the season, the Huskers finished in third place, 14-9, in conference standing. Michigan took first(18-5) and Iowa was second at 16-8.

Junior Brooke Thomason earned the seventh weekly Big Ten Player-of-the-Week for the Huskers. This was Brooks 2^nd conference award and she went 4-for-7 for the weekend also knocking in three RBIs and scoring one run.

In addition, Ashley Guile earned one award and our two pitchers, Tatum Edwards and Ashley Hagemann each earned a pair of Big Ten Pitcher-of-the-Week awards this spring.

Over on the other diamond the men took three straight from the Badgers. True freshman, Pat Kelly, lead the Huskers going 8-18 for the week with two home runs, and 15 total bases. This was his second such award.

In the series opener on Friday night, Kelly hit a two-run homer that proved to be the eventual game winner in a 4-3 NU win. Kelly moved to the leadoff spot in game two of the series and was 4-for-5 at the plate. He broke a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday with a solo home run that carried Nebraska to an 8-7 victory. Kelly added a double on Sunday in the Huskers 6-5 win for his 15th extra-base hit of the season. In 18 at bats for the week, Kelly struck out just one time and is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak.

With the three game sweep, the Huskers moved into a tie for fourth with Michigan State at 12-9. Purdue (16-5) leads the conference and Penn State and Indiana are tied for second at 13-8.

Nebraska hits the road for its final three games of the regular season when it pays a visit to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face the Michigan Wolverines for a three-game series.

Track and Field: It was the last day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at the University of Wisconsin. The Husker women were down 111-110 to Ohio State entering the final event of the day. The Husker men led Wisconsin 114-113.50 heading into the final event. Dreams of two more Conference championships was on every Big Red athlete’s mind.

The women could not edge past the Buckeyes in the final race, as the Ohio State women claimed the women’s title with 117 points and the Huskers tied with Illinois for second-place with 110 points. The men could not overcome the effort by the host Badgers and fell to second in the team standings as Wisconsin won the men’s team title with 121 points and Nebraska totaled 115.50 points.

All total the Huskers walked off with six individual gold medals. Anna Weigandt won the triple jump. Marusa Cernjul captured the high jump and Ashley Miller won both the 1,500 meters and 800 meters.

For the men, Miles Ukaoma took home his first conference title with a personal-best time in the men’s 400 meter hurdles. Bjorn Barrefors won the 2012 Big Ten men’s decathlon title with a record-breaking 7,897 points, earning the first decathlon title of his career. With his point total, he broke the Nebraska school record of 7,707 points

Men’s Gymnastics: Nebraska freshman Grant Perdue became Nebraska’s 47th All-American in men’s gymnastics since 1975, posting a 15.40 on floor exercise to finish fourth at the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships. Perdue’s honor is also Nebraska’s 174th All-America award since 1975. The native of Sugar Land, Texas earned a 15.40 on the event for the third time this weekend, a Nebraska program record on floor exercise. The Husker team finished the season with a ninth-place performance at the NCAA Championships, posting a team score of 340.550.

Husker sports are winding down now. Four baseball games and then the B1G tournament but there will be lots of action on the Big Ten Network so stay tuned in.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert.

 

 

　

　

　

　

　

　

The Hoosiers Are Not Very Hospitable

Both the guys and the gals went to Bloomington to play a little ball, six games all total. So what did the Hoosiers do? They won five out of the six. That really smarts. And it was loosing at a time the Huskers could lease afford to.

Going in the Husker Ladies were a half game behind Michigan who was in first place. But there is one thing about diamond games. Its good to get runners on base and get your hits. But if you cant get them to turn the corner at third and head home your not going to win the game.

Game one. Three walks in the first inning and then a tripple game Indiana a 3-0 lead. Another walk in the bottom of the sixth lead to a 4-0 lead. In the top of the seventh, Courtney Breault hit a two run homer to put the Husker on the board, but that’s was all.

Nebraska out hit the hosts 7-2.

Game two. More scoring by Indiana without hits. One run in the first without a hit. And then added two more runs in the third with only one hit.  Indiana added two more in the 5^th and another in the 6^th to match UNL’s first score it was all over with a second loss of 2-6. Again the Husker out hit the hosts 9-7 but left 6 on base.

Game three. For the third straight game the Huskers out hit Indiana but the hosts won the scoring 4-2. All total the Huskers out hit the Hoosiers 24-15.

A double and then a bunt put two on and then a homer gave Indiana a 3-0 lead, the third time the Huskers trailed after the first inning. Finally getting runners home the Huskers brought in two runs in the second but that was all for the game as Indiana added one more in the 4^th.

Nebraska dropped to 12-8 (31-21) and are tied with Wisconsin for fourth place and three games out of first with only 4 games to play.

Freshman Kyle Kubat had control over Indiana in the men’s first game, striking out seven and only allowing 4 hits in just short of seven innings. Chad Christiansen, Kash Kalkowski and Josh Scheffert each hit a HR as well as each having three hits. Michael Pritchard continued his hitting streak.. The final score was Nebraska 13 and Indiana 2.

With a double header on Sunday the Huskers jumped off fast taking a 3-1 lead but in the bottom of the fourth, Indiana tied it at 3 all. They kept on scoring and built up a 7-3 lead before UNL scored one in each of the last two innings. Indiana won 7-5 to tie the series one game each.

The Huskers are the top hitting team in the conference and in game three they continued with 11 hits for 6 runs but that wasn’t enough as Indiana produced 9 runs on 16 hits.

Sophomore Michael Pritchard increased his hitting streak to 24 games with a one-out single in the top of the third. The hit moved Pritchard one game ahead of Curtis Ledbetter (2003 – 23), as Pritchard now has the fourth longest streak in NU history since 1958 and is one game behind Derek Dukart’s 25-game streak from 1994.

UNL starter Zach Hirsch was relieved in the second after Indiana had 4 straight singles with two outs and picked up 4 runs to make it 6-1. The Huskers could never catch up after that although they did have the tying run at the plate in the eight inning.

The Huskers are now 9-9 in conference and 29-18 for the year. Nebraska sits in 7^th place.

Golf: Senior Madeleine Sheils will represent the Nebraska women’s golf team at the 2012 NCAA Central Regional May 10-12 at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. Sheils earned an individual at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.

The native of Boise, Idaho, closed the regular season by tying for third (76-71-71-218) at the Big Ten Tournament in French Lick, Ind., April 27-29. Sheils earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after helping the Huskers to a sixth-place finish in their inaugural trip to the Big Ten Tournament.

Sheils closed the regular season with Nebraska’s top stroke average (74.24), which ranks as the third-best season average in school history. She produced nine top-25 finishes in 11 tournaments, including seven top-10 showings.

Senior Scott Willman was also selected to compete in the NCAA Regional at Norman, OK. Willman becomes the third consecutive Husker men’s golfer to compete at the NCAA Regional’s with his 2012 invitation. Last year, then-senior Andrew Wyatt tied for 41^st at the NCAA Colorado Regional, shooting 218 over three rounds. In 2010, Brandon Crick competed at the NCAA West Regional, where he tied for eighth at 215 strokes.

The senior led the Huskers in nine out of 11 tournaments during the 2011-12 campaign, earning a team-best 73.03 stroke average. In addition, all of Willman’s 34 rounds on the season counted toward the team total as he posted 15 subpar rounds. He earned nine top-20 finishes, with his best a tie-for-fifth at the Jackrabbit Invitational. Willman was named Big Ten Player of the Week on two occasions during the spring.

Junior Jordan Reinertson was awarded one of 12 Big Ten Sportsmanship Awards, the conference announced Tuesday. Reinertson, a Gibbon, Neb., native, led the Huskers at the Big Ten Championship over the weekend, tying for 28^th. He shot 308 over four rounds at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick.

The student-athletes chosen to earn the awards are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Track and Field: It was a n ice way to close the outdoor season at home for the Nebraska Invitational. The Huskers took home 14 titles on the day.

The women started off sweeping the top three spots in the hammer throw. Carlie Pinkelman, little sister to Husker Shot Putter Luke Pinkleman, with a career best 52-1 ¾ took first. Veronica Grizzle was second at 51-0 ¾ and Annie Jackson with 50-9 1/4.

A week after winning the event at the Drake Relays, Morgan Wilken won the women’s discus with a throw of 170-5 (51.94). Mara Griva took home the women’s long jump title with a season-best leap of 20-8. Anna Weigandt won the women’s triple jump with a leap of 42-4.

Patrick Raedler won the men’s triple jump with a personal-best leap of 52-4 1/2. Chris Phipps finished second with a jump of 51-1 1/2 and Bobby Carter took third with a personal-best mark of 50-2 1/2.

In the women’s 100 meters, Mara Weekes finished first with a personal-best time of 11.57. Weekes won the women’s 200 meters with a personal-best wind-aided time of 23.66. Tim Thompson finished third in the men’s 100 meters with a personal-best time of 10.38.

Blaire Dinsdale won the women’s 800 meters with a personal-best time of 2:06.87, while Erica Hamik took second with a time of 2:09.00.

Katie White won the women’s 1,500 meters with a personal-best time of 4:35.52, while Sarah Plambeck finished third with a personal-best time of 4:41.67. On the men’s side, Trevor Vidlak won the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:56.63. Connor Gibson posted a time of 9:19.37 in the men’s steeplechase for first.

Mila Andric and Greta Kerekes finished first and second, respectively, in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Andric posted a time of 13.91, while Kerekes finished with a time of 14.25. Andric took the 400 meter hurdle title with a season-best time of 59.19. Ellie Grooters also recorded a season-best time with a mark of 59.91 for second. Miles Ukaoma finished third in the men’s 110 meter hurdles with a personal-best mark of 14.07.

The women’s relay team of McCarty, Weekes, Kerekes and Lewis won the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 46.41. The men’s team of Thompson, McKenzie, Carter and Phipps finished second.

The Huskers will now travel to Madison, Wis., for the 2012 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships next weekend. Remember the women are the current Indoor Champions. Hey lets add an outdoor title to.

Nebraska track and field senior Ashley Miller has been elected to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Hall of Fame.

Miller, a native of Tipton, Iowa, has led the Huskers in her senior season, most recently breaking the Drake Relays 1,500 meters meet record and winning the event title. She opened her final outdoor season at Nebraska with a personal-best time of 2:03.33 in the 800 meters at the Sun Angel Classic, finishing as the top collegiate runner. Her time was third all-time in the Nebraska record books, and she currently ranks third nationally and first in the conference in the event. She ranks third all-time for the 1,500 meters in the Husker record books and is seventh in the NCAA.

We are winding down on Husker Sports, a few more softball and baseball games, some regional golf and NCAA tournaments, but we are still represented in all fields by our great athletes.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

Mother Nature Really Cost The Huskers

If you remember last week I laid out the schedule for the remaining softball games and said the schedule certainly favors us. The standings showed Michigan and Wisconsin in first with the Huskers one game behind.

Well the right teams won this weekend, but the Huskers didn’t get to play their final game against Michigan State. Mother Natures washed it out.

The Huskers took the double header on Saturday, and though MSU hasn’t won a conference game, the Saturday games were tight, right down to the wire, with the Huskers needing to sweep the series.

The score was tied 3 all going into the bottom of the sixth. Ashley Guile’s 2 run single drove in two runs to win the first game 5-3.

Thirteen hits by the Huskers, but they left 11 runners on base. This win marked the 15^th straight win at Bowlin Stadium. Eight of Nebraska’s nine starters had a hit, including two-hit games from Guile and fellow senior Nikki Haget, junior Courtney Breault and freshmen Jordan Bettiol and Mattie Fowler. Breault also drove in a pair of runs, while Fowler, Guile and junior Brooke Thomason each produced one RBI.

Senior right-hander Ashley Hagemann (22-14) earned the win while battling through a complete-game effort. Hagemann allowed three runs on eight hits, striking out 10 and walking three.

In the second game the Huskers made it 16 in a row in another close game. There was only one inning when any one scored and that was the bottom of the 4^th. Tucson freshman, Mattie Fowler did it again with a three run homer. This tall lanky player has really delivered in four different games to head a Husker win. Mattie started at third base but then switched to short stop. It seems like ever since then, her total contribution, defense and offense, has increased tremendously.

Now these two wins were very important as co-first place leaders, Michigan and Wisconsin each split their double headers with Illinois and Purdue. Then on Sunday, both teams lost again so now the standing are even more crowded with Michigan, Nebraska and Purdue leading with 12-5 records and Wisconsin in fourth place at 12-6.

Moving over to the 90 foot mound, the men took the first game of their double against Cal State at Bakersfield. NU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on four hits, including a leadoff double by Richard Stock. The Husker bats then fell silent and managed just four hits over the next eight innings, before coming up with back-to-back singles in the 11^th that gave the Huskers a 3-2 win.

Michael Pritchard extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth. Pritchard is now tied with Jeff Hedman (1998) and John Cole (2001) for the fifth longest hitting streak in school history since 1958.

NU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on four hits, including a leadoff double by Richard Stock. The Husker bats then fell silent and managed just four hits over the next eight innings, before coming up with back-to-back singles in the 11th.

In the second game, it was all the Roadrunners as they carved out a 10-2 win. Junior right-hander Brandon Pierce (5-2) took the loss, suffering his first defeat since Feb. 9. Pierce’s personal five-game winning streak was snapped, as he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits over 5.2 innings. Sophomore Jon Keller pitched the final 3.1 innings, allowing two runs on only two hits. With the loss, Nebraska fell to 28-16 on the year.

A sophomore from Omaha, Michael Pritchard finished 1-for-3 to extend his career-long hitting streak to 21 games.  Senior Kale Kiser, who produced the game-winning single in the 11th inning of Nebraska’s game-one victory, added two hits of his own as part of a 3-for-3 effort that included an RBI. The Huskers were only out-hit 10-8 in the loss, but stranded eight runners.

Needless to say, the men were also washed out for their single game on Sunday. They were also cancelled Friday night causing the double header on Saturday.

Golf: It was the first B1G tournament for both the women and the men and played simultaneously at French Licks Resort in Indiana, but on separate courses.

The women teed off on the Donald Ross course and Senior Madeleine Sheils found it to her liking. Her closing two rounds of one-under-par 71’s, matched with her opening round of 76 netted her a third place finish at 218, only one stroke out of second and 2 shots out of first. It was Nebraska’s best individual finish at a conference tournament since fellow Idahoan Elli Brown took third at the 2007 Big 12 Championships.

Michigan State claimed the Big Ten team title with a three-round score of 885, which included a final-round 295. Purdue, led by Gonzalez’s 69, produced Sunday’s best round with a 291 to climb into second place at 895.

Nebraska registered Sunday’s third-best team round with a 297 to finish in sole possession of sixth place at 908, marking NU’s best score in history at a conference tournament. Ohio State took third at 898, while Michigan finished fourth (900) and Illinois fifth (906) just two strokes ahead of the Huskers.

Nebraska senior Kayla Knopik (Papillion, Neb.) added a top-20 showing for the Huskers by finishing 17th at 227 after a final-round 77. Sophomore Steffi Neisen (New Prague, Minn.) added a tie for 25th with a final-round 76 to finish at 230.

Fellow sophomore Katelyn Wright (Incline Village, Nev.) finished strong by producing Nebraska’s third-best individual round of the tournament with a 73 on Sunday. Wright climbed into a tie for 48th at 237. Senior Katie Keiser (Gothenburg, Neb.) managed a 79 in the final round to tie for 57th (241), while sophomore Remylee Molyneux (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) settled for an 83 to finish in 64th (246).

The men played the Pete Dye course but didn’t have much luck  finishing 12^th in the field. Jordan Reinertson lead the men with a 28^th singles finish of 308 with the team total of 12251 for four rounds.

Illinois won the title with a four round team score of 1175 with Indiana coming in second at 1178.

Tennis: Both the men and women bowed out of the Conference Championships.

The men faced number 1 seeded Ohio State and lost 4-0 in the first round. The Buckeyes swept the doubles winning all three for 1 point and then won the first three singles to clinch the win. Now Nebraska will wait to see if they an at large invite to the NCAA tournament.

The 17^th nationally ranked women’s team dropped a 4-2 battle against No. 30 Purdue.

The fourth-seeded Huskers (23-4, 9-2 Big Ten) won the doubles point over the fifth-seeded Boilermakers (16-6, 6-5 Big Ten) but faltered on the singles courts, winning only one of the five singles matches played.

The ladies too, will also wait see if they receive an invite to the NCAA tournament.

Before the tournaments the Big Ten announced the Tennis All-Big Ten Teams with the Huskers being favorably acknowledged.

Fot the men, Senior Christopher Aumueller named on the First-Team along with receiving the Sportsman Award. Senior Benedikt Lindheim was named on the Second-Team All-Big Ten team.

For the women, two athletes and head Coach Scott Jaobson took home awards. Redshirt junior Mary Weatherholt was named Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Year and was also a unanimous First Team selection. Junior Patricia Veresova received Second-Team honors and Coach Jacobson was awarded Big-Ten Co-Coach of the year alongside Michigan’s Ronnie Berntein.

Weatherholt’s award of Athlete of the year honors her performance of 10-2 Big Ten singles out of the No. 1 position and a 9-1 conference mark in doubles. Her 29 singles wins this season are currently third all-time at Nebraska, and her career singles win mark of 92 is second all-time. Weatherholt also took home one of 12 Big Ten Sportsmanship awards.

Track and Field: Over at the Drake Relays in Iowa, Iowa native Ashley Miller won the women’s 1,500 meters with a record breaking time of 4.15.61.With the mark, she broke the Drake Relays 1,500 meters record, previous set last year by Stephanie Morgan of Illinois at 4:15.90. Miller currently ranks fifth in the nation in the event.

Patrick Raedler finished fourth for the Huskers in the men’s triple jump, posting a personal-best leap of 50-7 ½. On the women’s side, Anna Weigandt finished second with a personal-best leap of 42-9 1/2 bettering her previous best of 41-4 1/2. Mara Griva took fourth with a season-best jump of 42-5 ½. Victoria Zimmerman finished sixth in the hammer throw, recording a mark of 191-6.

On the track, Tim Thompson posted a sixth-place finish in the men’s 100 meters, notching a time of 10.55. Miles Ukaoma finished second in the men’s 400 meter hurdles with a time of 50.71. The winner, Carson Banks of Mississippi, finished with a time of 50.70.

　

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Big Games This Weekend As Conference Schedules Are About Ended

　

Women’s Gymnastics: After securing their 28th consecutive post-season appearance with their placement in the Salt Lake City Regional, the Huskers advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 21st time in school history. Nebraska had advanced to the Super Six finals 10 times in program history and tied for its highest finish in school history in 2011, when they took home fourth place in Cleveland, Ohio.

The No. 6 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team was unable to advance to the Super Six finals at the 2012 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships on Friday afternoon, finishing in fifth place in the first semifinal at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. Needing to finish in the top three to advance, NU posted a 196.625. UCLA (197.400) finished in first, followed by Utah (197.200) and Stanford (197.125). The Huskers finished the season with a 24-7 overall record.

Although the Huskers team season came to an end on Friday, several Huskers earned All-America honors and advanced to the individual event finals on Sunday. Freshman Jessie DeZiel was a first-team All-American on floor and in the all-around, while also earning second-team honors on the vault. Emily Wong took home first-team honors on beam, while Janelle Giblin was a first-team on vault. All of the Huskers’ first-team All-Americans competed in the individual event finals. Giblin was a second-team honoree on the uneven bars and Wong finished on the second team on floor and in the all-around.

The Husker gymnasts completed their season Sunday afternoon at the individual event finals. The Huskers captured three top-10 finishes on three separate events, including a pair of sixth-place finishes for Janelle Giblin on vault and Jessie DeZiel on floor. Emily Wong finished in 10^th place on the beam.

DeZiel capped off an amazing true freshman season by posting a 9.90 in the last routine of the competition. The first-team All-American in the all-around and floor had one of the most decorated debut seasons in Nebraska history. The Rogers, Minn., native was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and won six all-around titles. DeZiel finished 11^th overall in the all-around standings at the NCAA Championships.

Giblin had a near-perfect first vault which resulted in a 9.875 and scored a 9.65 in her second attempt, which was good enough for sixth place and an average of 9.7625. The first-team All-American had a brilliant season and was ranked inside the top five nationally for much of the 2012 season on vault and bars.

Wong scored a 9.825 on her beam routine and finished the in tenth place on the event to give the Huskers three top-10 finishers. The sophomore All-American was one of the top beam performers in the country and was the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional beam champion.

Softball: The team steps away from B1G competition this week as they vist Creighton on Wednesday. In the home and home series, UNL topped Creighton 3-0 and are looking to make a sweep of the series.

In B1G standings the Huskers (10-5) are in 4^th place behind Michigan (12-3), Wisconsin (11-4) and Perdue (10-4).

The remaining scheduled certainly favors the Lady Huskers as they take on Michigan State (0-15) and Indiana (7-8) before the big match-up with Wisconsin. The Badgers must face Purdue and Michigan before coming to Lincoln.

Purdue, besides the Badgers, will also square off against the Wolverines and needless to say that sets up Michigan playing against both the Boilermakers and the Badgers.

So Lady Huskers, the stage is all set for you to snare another B1G title to join the Volleyball team and the Women’s Gymnastics and complement the Conference runner ups of the Women’s Basketball team.

The Huskers won 2 out of 3 at OSU and did it with big hits and big thrills. In the first game, 11-2 for the Huskers, the offense tied its season high with four homers. The sophomore twins, Tatum and Taylor Edwards and junior Brooke Thomason hit the big ones with Tatum getting one more.

In the second game of the double header, the teams were tied 2 all in extra innings. That’s when freshman Mattie Fowler from Tucson, came to bat in the 8^th inning. Fowler produced a one-out, RBI single against Ohio State to drive in the winning run and notched the 750^th win for Coach Rhonda Revelle.

It seems like in the clutch, particularly in the eighth inning, Mattie is the one you want to come to the plat. Against Minnesota she had a one run single to win the game in the 8^th and then against UNO she scored the game winning run in the top of the eighth.

Don’t forget to tune into Big Ten Network for the softball game against Michigan Sate on Saturday at 11:00AM our time

Women’s Tennis: Another women’s team is right in the midst of a battle for top honors. And it is a close one. Again the Michigan Wolverines are tied for first with Northwestern at 10-1 but right on their tail are Illinois and Nebraska at 9-2 but unfortunately the conference schedule is over and its on to the Conference Tournament.

Up in Madison the 18^th ranked Huskers downed the Badgers 6-1 and set a school record for the most wins in a season, 23-3.

The Huskers earned a first-round bye, and will play the winner of Thursday’s match between fifth-seeded Purdue and 12th-seeded Michigan State. Nebraska’s opening match of the 12-team tournament will be held on Friday, April 27, at 9 a.m. (central) at the Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Men’s Baseball: Sitting in fourth place at 8-7 the host Huskers only salvaged a single win from front running Purdue. In the series opener at Hawk Field, Purdue jumped to a 4-0 lead early but the Huskers tied it 5-5 in the fourth. A Purdue HR in the fifth lead to an eventual 8-5 win for the Boilermakers.

In front of a season-high crown of 6,257 fans, the Huskers evened the series at 1 game each as a slug fest ended in a 13-11 Husker win.

Richard Stock led the Huskers with three runs and continued to hit the cover off the ball with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate, including his second home run of the season, to raise his batting average to a scorching .439 during Big Ten play. Josh Scheffert, Kale Kiser and Cory Burleson each had two hits on the afternoon, while Kiser and Pat Kelly both drove in a pair of runs. With a RBI single in the fifth, Michael Pritchard extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

In the final game the Huskers Richard Stock went 3-4 and Pritchard extended his hitting streak to 18 games.

Purdue added one run each in the first two innings and then pounded out 4 in the fourth, due to a three run homer, to take a 6-0 lead before 6,014 fans. The Huskers responded with 4 runs in the their half but that was all as Purdue add two more runs in the last three innings to go home with an 8-3 win.

Men’s Tennis: The No. 71 Nebraska men’s tennis team dropped its first match of the weekend to No. 35 Minnesota on Friday afternoon, 7-0. The loss drops the Huskers to 10-13 on the year with a 3-7 record in Big Ten play. Minnesota improves to 12-6 with a 7-3 record in conference action.

Nebraska started off the match dropping the doubles point and was only able to win one match when UNL’s duo of Christopher Aumueller and Stefan Gollner defeated the Minnesota’s squad. 8-7.

Unable to send its seniors off with a win on Sunday afternoon at the Nebraska Tennis Center as they were defeated by the Wisconsin Badgers, 4-3. With the loss, the Huskers finish the regular season with a 10-14 record while going 3-8 in Big Ten Conference action. The Badgers finished the year 12-11 with a 4-7 conference record.

The Huskers next match will be in the Big Ten Championship in Chicago, Ill. The tournament begins on Friday.

Women’s Golf:  The women’s team ventured to Columbus, Ohio for the Lady Buckeye Invitational. The 11-team tournament field included eight Big Ten teams (Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State) as a preview of next week’s Big Ten Championships in French Lick, Ind. Baylor, Iowa State and Kent State round out the talented tournament field.

The first day saw the field go 36 holes in absolute punishing scoring conditions in the afternoon. Only one person in the entire field was able to match par for the two rounds. Husker Madeline Sheils notched a 4 over 76 in the first round but went to an 81 in the second round. Her best time came in the first round on the 13^th hole. This is a 166 yard par three and Madie scored an ace. The next day she added another 76 to finish tied for 17^th.

Ohio State won the tournament, beating Michigan State by 16 strokes and Iowa State finished 3 while the Huskers finished in 9^th place.

Men’s Golf: While the guys were not scheduled to play this weekend, they still managed a big win. The Nebraska men’s golf team earned its second consecutive Herman Award for highest team grade-point average at the 22^ndannual Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet on Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

“This is a great honor,” Head Coach Bill Spangler said. “Winning this award is always one of our goals and to do it two years in a row is a tremendous achievement.”

The men’s golf team earned a GPA of 3.509 for the year, bettering its 3.422 GPA last year. Nine student-athletes were named to the UNL Student-Athlete Honor Roll for their work in the classroom during the fall 2011 semester.

The men’s golf team returns to the course at the Big Ten Championship, April 27-29, at the Pete Dye Golf Course in French Lick, Ind.

Men’s Gymnastics:

Freshman Grant Perdue became Nebraska’s 47th All-American in men’s gymnastics since 1975 on Saturday night, posting a 15.40 on floor exercise to finish fourth at the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships. Perdue’s honor is also Nebraska’s 174th All-America award since 1975.

The night’s competition was split into two flights, with floor exercise, still rings and pommel horse running in the first flight. Perdue was slated to compete last of the ten competitors on floor exercise. With the two lowest marks of the evening at 14.90 and 14.50, Perdue took to floor knowing he would have to top those two scores to earn All-America status.

The freshman overcame the pressure perfectly, sticking a clean routine and picking up a score of 15.40 for the third time this week to finish fourth overall and earn All-America honors in his first season of competition at Nebraska. Perdue’s award gives head coach Chuck Chmelka his second All-American since taking the helm of the Nebraska program in 2010.

The Huskers finished the season with a ninth-place performance at the NCAA Championships, posting a team score of 340.550 on Thursday afternoon in Norman. Perdue was the lone Husker to qualify for event finals at the NCAAs after four NU competitors qualified for the event semifinals on Friday evening.

GBR

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

 

　

　

　

A Midwest Weekend…

And that it was. Mother Nature had more to say what was going on than the sports schedule. While there was a massive unfavorable expression of her power, there were not that number of people lost in this overpowering collection of  storms. Thank you God.

A number of you have e-mailed me with the sorrow of our not getting to see the replay of the Red-White game. But we weren’t the only ones disappointed. There was a total of 7 B1G spring games. Three of them were canceled.

Bo Pelini had a team meeting and discussed the possibility of playing the game on Sunday. However there was to many conflicts affecting the players ranging from personal commitments, education, family and others, so it was decided to abandoned that thought.

Our Membership Chairperson, Shirley Dowling, and her family were in Lincoln to see this sold out game. I only hope they took advantage of the other Big Red activities over the weekend, such as volleyball, soccer and tennis, which we will discuses later.

So lets get into the big weekend for Husker sports.

Volleyball: The Nebraska volleyball team remained undefeated in the spring season with a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-9, 25-22) of North Dakota State Saturday afternoon in front of a roaring, sold-out crowd at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk, Neb. This was scheduled for after the football game.

Earlier the Huskers had displaced the Wichita State team in an old fashioned side-out scoring 15-4, 11-15, 15-6 the previous weekend. Side out scoring is when you only win a point when it is your serve.

In a match decided by side-out scoring, the Huskers were led by Morgan Broekhuis, who had 13 kills on 37 attacks. Hannah Werth notched 12 kills and 22 digs on the night, while Lauren Cook tabbed 39 assists. Lara Dykstra had 20 digs and Hayley Thramer finished with seven blocks, as the Huskers notched 95 total digs. Nebraska out-blocked Wichita State 15.5-7.5 and hit .209 as a team.

In the opening of the spring season, our team ventured to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Wahine. Volleyball is highly loved in that state and in front of a sellout crowd the Huskers topped Hawaii 24-23, 25-16 and 25-16.

Now the trip to Hawaii was especially exciting for Hanna Wirth the senior leader on the team. Hanna completed a 30 foot dive into the ocean to show leadership. If you want to read about it go to Randy York Archives and see what this was all about. Its well worth the read.

So the defending Big Ten Champions have had a good pre season schedule, going 3-0. Without a doubt the other Big Ten schools will be looking to down the defending up start champions, who on the schools first try garnered a Big Ten Championship.

Women’s Tennis: Going into Fridays matchup the second place Huskers took on the first place Wolverines. Michigan, rated #14 meet a highly challenging Husker team, rated #17, that was out to take over first place in the Big Ten Conference. The final score, 6-1 loss, does not really explain the intensity of this match up.

The Wolverines won all three double matches but it was close. Mary Waterhole /Pattricia Veresova lost their tough match 8-6. Madeleine Geibert/Steafanie Weinstein battled right down to the last serve before loosing 9-8 with the set being settled in a tight 10-8 playoff.

In singles, Janine Weinreich was the only Husker to win her match. Patricia Veresova, Madeleine Geibert and Stefanie Weinstein all came close forcing their matches to the full three sets.

The No. 17 Nebraska women’s tennis team downed Michigan State on Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-1. The match was a strong bounce back for the Big Red after the team suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of No. 14 Michigan on Friday.

The Huskers (21-3, 7-2 Big Ten) swept doubles play and five of six singles positions, with Michigan State’s (8-12, 0-9 Big Ten) only point of the day coming in No. 2 singles with Nebraska’s Patricia Veresoma winning the first set but then was forced to retire after loosing the second set.

The Huskers’ win gives UNL its 21st team victory this spring. That total is second all-time in Nebraska program history and trails the No. 1 mark (22, 2010) by only one victory.

In league standings Michigan and Perdue are tied for the lead at 8-1 and Nebraska and Illinois tied for 3^rd at 7-2.

The No. 68 Nebraska men’s tennis team dropped the first of its two weekend matches on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 22 Michigan Wolverines were victorious, 4-3. The disappointing loss drops the Huskers to 10-11 on the year and 3-5 in Big Ten action. Michigan improves to 14-5 and 7-1 in conference action.

The Wolverines swept the three doubles matches to take the first point and then the battle started on the singles. UNL won the first one and UM the second and third matches. UNL won two our of the next three to split the singles 3 each..

The No. 68 Nebraska men’s tennis team dropped its second match of the weekend as it was defeated by the No. 69 Michigan State Spartans, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers are now 10-12 on the season with a 3-6 record in Big Ten action. Michigan State improves to 16-10 and 5-5 in Big Ten play.

The Huskers got off to a good start winning all three doubles, but that was only worth 1 point.

It’s the singles that really count, and the Spartans swept the singles with only Robert Schulze winning his match 6-3,3-6, 6-1. MSU had already won the first four sets to assure them of the win.

Softball: The Lady Huskers went to Iowa City riding a 5 game win streak and sitting in 2^nd place in the Conference standings. They came back loosing two out of three and really couldn’t blame anyone but themselves.

Senior Ashley Hagemann pitched the last four innings, picking up the win. Sophomore Tatum Edwards started and finished three innings allowing 1 run and two hits. Ashley finished the game giving up three runs on five hits.

In the second game the Huskers helped the Hawkeyes in the first inning. Scoring three runs in the first, Iowa could only hit one ball out of the infield. The Huskers allowed eight batters to walk to first, and two more hit batsmen also got the free trip. Then the last run was scored on a botched squeeze play.

Big Red tied the game in the third but Iowa scored two in the fourth again only hitting one ball out of the infield. Another score was credited to another Husker error following a successful double steal.

The Huskers again answered and tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth, before junior Courtney Breault’s solo home run gave NU a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. But in the final frame, the Huskers failed to record an out as Nebraska walked a pair of batters and hit a third to account for three of the Hawkeyes’ five base runners.

With the bases loaded and none out, senior right-hander Ashley Hagemann walked Brianna Luna with the bases loaded to force in the tying run. Melanie Gladden then ripped a game-winning, walk-off, RBI single past junior Gabby Banda at third that scored pinch-runner Sydney Reynolds with the game-winning run. The Huskers lost for just the second time in 18 games this season when leading after six innings of play.

The Sunday afternoon game ended in much the same way. Falling behind 4-0 the Huskers rallied for four scores in the fifth to tie the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Iowa scored twice to take a 6-4 lead and that’s the way it ended.

In this game Iowa only scored one earned run, the other five were gifts from the Huskers. Taylor Edwards led Nebraska with two walks and two RBIs on the day, while Gabby Banda went 2-for-4. Overall, the top three hitters in the Husker lineup combined for four of Nebraska six hits and all four RBIs.

The Huskers 8-4, are now tied for third with Wisconsin with Michigan 11-1 in first and Purdue 9-2 in second.

Baseball: Friday nights three game series opener went to Ohio State who  continued their 7 game win streak pounding the visitors 10-2.

Ohio State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first on just three hits to give starter Jaron Long, who threw his second complete game of the season, a big cushion on the mound. NU’s Tyler King struggled in his first career conference start, as he retired just one, walked three and hit two Buckeyes, before Tyler Niederklein came in and got the Huskers out of the frame.

Josh Scheffert was a bright spot for NU offensively on the night with a 2-for-4 performance; hitting one home run and driving in two. Kyle Kubat also threw well in relief, as the freshman put up three-shutout innings with three strikeouts.

Kale Kiser, Kash Kalkowski and Josh Scheffert were the big guns in the Husker 5-4 win over Ohio State in the first game of a double header on Sunday after Saturdays game was rained out. These three accounted for all five scores with Kale and Kash hitting two run HRs and Josh adding a single run blast. UNL scored two in the second on Kiser’s bash but OSU got 3 and then added another in the third to take a 4-2 lead.

When Rich Sanguinetti was hit by a pitched ball in the fifth, Kalkowski tied the game with his HR. Scheffert lead off the eighth inning with his second home run of the weekend to put NU up 5-4.

Along with his fifth home run of the season, Kiser added a pair of singles and reached base all four times he came to the plate, as he was HBP in his other at-bat. Scheffert also put together a multi-hit game with two hits, while five different Huskers were HBP.

In the second game of the double header, bats were blasting balls all over the place as the Huskers rocked for a 17-9 win.

Josh Scheffert powered the Huskers with a 3-for-6 performance, as the junior hit a home run in his third straight game and drove in a career-high seven runs; topping his previous high of four. Richard Stock was also tough on the Buckeyes’ pitchers with a career-high four hits, including his team-leading 10th and 11th doubles.

Scheffert ended the week going 7-for-14 with three home runs, one double and 10 RBI’s to make a strong case for his second Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award this season, which he did win as qwas announced today.

Both teams scored a run in the second and Ohio added another in the third to take a short time lead. Husker bats pounded out 7 runs in the 4^th and added 5 more in the 5^th to go up13-2. Nebraska added 3 more in the 9^th and then OSU got back in the scoring column by adding 5 in their half, but not enough to overcome that big lead.

The Huskers now stand in 3^rd place in the conference with their 7-5 record and 25-13 overall. Perdue leads 10-2 followed by Minnesota 6-3.

Bowling: The Nebraska bow ling team’s bid for a fourth NCAA title ended Friday evening, as the Huskers lost to Maryland Eastern Shore in the semifinals of the NCAA Women’s Bowling Championship in Wickliffe, Ohio. The Huskers, who fell one round short of the NCAA finals for the second straight season, dropped a 4-1 decision to UMES to end the 2011-12 campaign.

The Huskers dug too deep of a hole in the semifinals, dropping the first three matches by scores of 182-222, 148-181 and 171-206. The Huskers stayed alive in the best-of-seven format, winning the fourth contest by a score of 178-172, but were unable to sustain the momentum, dropping a 227-226 outcome in the fifth and final game.

With this year’s finish, the Huskers placed third for the fourth time in the NCAA’s nine years of championship competition. Nebraska, which leads all programs with three NCAA titles, has now finished third or better in each of the last four years and eight times since women’s bowling became an NCAA sponsored sport in 2004.

Rifle: The Nebraska rifle team shot 2,345 in air rifle on Sunday to go along with Saturday’s 2,313 smallbore score, which earned third place for the Huskers at the GARC Championships. Nebraska shot a combined score of 4,658, which was a season high.

“I am so pleased with how the team did,” Head Coach Morgan Hicks said. “After we didn’t qualify for NCAAs and knew we had had a rough two matches in Alaska, the team was ready for redemption. We knew we were capable of shooting these scores. We finally were able to put it together all on the same day. What a way to end the season!”

Janine Dutton led the Huskers in air rifle on Sunday, shooting 593 and finishing third overall. Her score was a season high for the junior. Dutton had the seventh-highest combined score at the GARC Championships with her 1,170 total.

Gymnastics: The ninth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team saw several strong individual performances Friday night but were unable to capitalize as a whole, finishing in seventh with a team score of 340.700 at their first Big Ten Championships.

No. 4 Illinois took home their fourth consecutive conference crown on the night, posting a team score of 352.950. Eighth-ranked Michigan pulled off an upset to capture the conference runner-up crown (351.850), while No. 1 Penn State came in third (350.000). No. 5 Minnesota took home fourth overall (345.800), No. 6 Ohio was fifth (343.650), No. 11 Iowa sixth overall (342.800) and Nebraska came in at seventh.

Three members of the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team qualified for the individual competition of the Big Ten Championships. The top ten highest scoring athletes on each event qualified to participate in the individual competition at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Sophomore Eric Schryver led the way for the Huskers, finishing third in the conference on pommel horse. Junior Wyatt Baier finished in seventh on vault, and freshman Josh Ungar notched a ninth-place finish on high bar. In addition, senior Andreas Hofer was honored as a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.

The night began with competition on pommel horse, floor exercise and still rings. Schryver was up first for Nebraska, competing third on pommel horse. The 19th-ranked sophomore had a excellent showing on the event, posting a score of 14.20 to finish third overall. Schryver led the event until being edged by the final two competitors on the night.

The NCAA has announced the 12 teams that have qualified for the 2012 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships. The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team is seeded 10th overall with a qualifying score of 341.587 and will compete in the first session of the qualifier, beginning at 1 p.m. CST on Thursday, April 19.

The Huskers will join No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 8 California and No. 11 Iowa in the first session. The field will look familiar to the Huskers, who have faced every team in their qualifier so far this season. The second qualifier will begin at 7 p.m. CST on Thursday night and will consist of No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 9 Temple and No. 12 Air Force.

Track and Field: The Nebraska track and field team wrapped up competition at the K.T. Woodman Classic on Saturday on the campus of Wichita State University. The Huskers came away with eight event titles on the day, including sweeps in the pole vault and shot put.

Breanna Bussel also took home her first event title of the outdoor season, finishing first in the pole vault. She notched a personal-best vault of 13-7 ¼. Maggie Maher tied for second in the event with a vault of 12-5 ½., also a personal best mark.

Nebraska went on to sweep the pole vault titles as Nate Polacek came in first on the men’s side with a personal-best vault of 17-7 ¾. Craig Driver finished fourth with a personal-best mark of 16-6 ¾.

The Huskers swept the top three spots in the women’s shot put as Annie Jackson won the event with a season-best throw of 51-00. Veronica Grizzle finished second with a season-best throw of 50-02 3/4 and Carlie Pinkelman took third with a mark of 48-8 ¼.

Luke Pinkleman claimed the men’s shot put title with a throw of 63-04, setting a new personal-best mark and completing the sweep for the Huskers. He also finished second in the men’s discus with a mark of 167-0. 5. Carter Wasem posted a second-place finish in the men’s hammer throw, after finishing with a mark of 185-00.

Morgan Wilken tabbed another victory in the discus as she finished first with a personal-best throw of 175-03. Jackson came in sixth, finishing with a throw of 152-00 . Jade Siegel notched a second-place finish in the hammer throw with a mark of 184-09, and Mary Morales was fourth with a personal-best throw of 172-02.

Marusa Cernjul tabbed her first event title of the outdoor season, recording a leap of 5-8 (n the high jump. Travis Englund finished fourth in the men’s high jump with a leap of 6-6 3/4 (2.00), tying his season-best mark.

Ellie Grooters notched a second-place finish in the 400 meter hurdles, recording a time of 1:02.21. The women’s 4×400 meter relay team of Butler, Grooters, Monique Lewis and Weekes finished first as the team posted a time of 3:50.58.

Golf: The Nebraska men’s golf team shot 306 at Finkbine Golf Course on Sunday at the Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational to finish 10^th.

The Huskers ended the 54-hole tournament at 889 strokes. On Saturday, NU opened with a 292 in the first round before a 291 in the second round, finishing the day in sixth. The Huskers’ 10^th-place result marks their third top-10 in the last four tournaments.

Scott Willman led the Huskers, tying for 11^th. The senior carded a 2-over-par 74 in the final round en route to an even-par 216 total. Willman fired a 72 in Saturday’s opening round before a 2-under-par 70 in the second round, which was also played on Saturday.

Jordan Reinertson earned the best finish of his Husker career, tying for 28^th. The junior from Gibbon, Neb., finished the tournament with a 6-over-par 78 on Sunday en route to his 221 total. On Saturday, Reinertson fired an opening-round 69 before shooting a 74 in the second round.

Manuel Lavin tied for 39^th at 226 strokes for the tournament. The sophomore posted an 80 in the final round to go along with his 74 and 72 on Saturday. Meanwhile, Ross Dickson and Neil Dufford shot 230 and 236, respectively. Both players shot 77 on Sunday as Dickson tied for 51^st and Dufford finished 59^th.

GBR

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

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Husker Ladies Do It Again

Ranked sixth in the nation, the women’s gymnastic team captured their first Big Ten Women’s Championship at Iowa City and they did it in style.

With a score of 197.100, the Huskers finished ahead of second-place Ohio State (196.225) and third-place Minnesota (195.95). Michigan (195.875) and Illinois (195.85) rounded out the top five. Nebraska improves to 19-2 on the year and remained perfect on the season competing away from the Devaney Center. The Huskers’ score of 197.100 is tied for the sixth-highest away meet score in school history.

Sophomore Emily Wong led the champions with a career high all around score of 39.60 which is the third highest all-around score in school history. A conference-leading five Huskers were named to the Big Ten All-Championship team for finishing in the top three of an individual event or in the all-around. Jessie DeZiel (FX, AA), Jamie Schleppenbach (V), Emily Wong (BB, FX, AA), Lora Evenstad (UB) and Janelle Giblin (UB) were all recognized on the team. Also after the meet, DeZiel was recognized as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Head Coach Dan Kendig was honored as the Big Ten Coach of the Year. Kendig is now an eight-time conference coach of the year award winner.

The Nebraska women’s gymnastics program had five gymnasts earn a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten team on Monday, March 28, when the conference released its winter honorees. In order to earn the honor, a student-athlete must be a letterwinner in at least their second year of competition and carry a cumulative 3.0 GPA.

Senior Lora Evenstad, junior Janelle Giblin and sophomores Deanna Barmore, Jamiee Schleppenbach and Emily Wong were all named to the team. A total of 48 Nebraska student-athletes were honored while 615 earned the honor from around the conference, including 50 women’s gymnastics athletes.

Evenstad, who is dietetics/nutrition, exercise and health sciences major, is now a three-time academic all-conference honoree after being named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team in 2010 and 2011. Giblin brought home her second conference honor and is majoring in speech-language pathology at NU. Both Barmore and Wong earned their first conference honor after being named a NACGC Scholastic All-American in 2011, while Schleppenbach was named to the team as she goes for her degree in advertising and public relations.

The Huskers return to action next Saturday, April 7, when they start NCAA Regional action at the Salt Lake City Regional.

Women’s Tennis is another group of ladies having a terrific season. Ranked No. 18, the tennis team (18-2, 4-1 Big Ten) took down the No. 46 Nittany Lions of Penn State (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) on Sunday by a score of 6-1. The win marked NU’s seventh victory over a ranked opponent this season.

With Madeleine Geibert’s singles win, the senior from Ludwigshafen, Germany broke the school record for career combined wins, capturing her 173rd victory during her time at Nebraska. The previous record was held by Sandra Noetzel, who posted 172 career wins from 1996-2000. Madeline has 6 more conference matches and the Big Ten Championships. Not counting the Big Ten meet, she has 10 more matches to play so she can set quite a record.

Mary Weatherholt was named the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the week and was her first honor. Weatherholt posted an overall record of 4-0 as she helped the Huskers to a 5-2 upset of No. 14 Northwestern. The 58th-ranked native of Prairie Village, Kan. scored wins over 16th-ranked Kate Turvy of Northwestern (6-1, 6-2) and 92nd-ranked Allison Falkin of Illinois (6-3, 6-2) in No. 1 singles.

In doubles action, Weatherholt partnered with Patricia Veresova in No. 2 doubles to post wins over Northwestern’s Turvy and Belinda Niu (8-3) and Illinois’ Chelcie Abajian and Breanna Smutko (8-4). Weatherholt is now 17-0 this spring in singles play, including a perfect 14-0 record alongside Veresova.

Bowling season ended with the team winning its final regular season competition, the Music City Classic, held in Smyrna, Tenn. The Huskers defeated Arkansas State, 4-3, in the event’s baker format finals.

Nebraska entered Sunday’s final round as the three-seed and was paired with four-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first match of the day. The Huskers were able to find a way to take care of business against FDU, winning the match, 4-2. Nebraska then swept the two seed, Central Missouri, 4-0. The Huskers then faced off with top-seeded Arkansas State in the bracketed finals to determine the event’s winner. The match went all seven games, with Nebraska overpowering the Red Wolves in the end, 4-3.

Kristi Mickelson earned a first-place finish individually and the event’s MVP award during Saturday’s competition. Mickelson shot games of 185, 188, 258, 235, 238 and 234 for a 223 average and 1,338 total pinfall through the event’s six traditional games. Liz Kuhlkin finished twelfth individually as well, rolling her way to a 1,181 total pinfall through six games for a 196.8 average. Nebraska set a blistering pace on Saturday, going 6-0 in team games on the afternoon and 13-2 overall to set up Sunday’s tournament title.

The Nebraska bowling team will take part in its ninth-straight NCAA Championships from April 12-14 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Huskers have a history of strong performances at the NCAA Championships, including three national titles since 2004, the event’s inception. The Huskers most recently took home the NCAA Championship in 2009.

Women’s Golf: For the ninth year the women’s golf team has visited the Mt. View Invitational and for the 9^thyear they have been housed by Big Red Fans in SaddleBrooke.

It’s a tradition and we really enjoy it as does the team and coaching staff.

Because of the hospitality of 70 some couples in SaddleBrooke, this tournament has grown into a major event for any number of schools. This year was no exception as in addition to Nebraska‘s 5^th place finish, we also had Ohio State 3^rd place, Indiana 4th and Northwestern along with old Big 12 friends from Iowa State, who finished second, Kansas and Kansas State, Missouri and Texas Tech who finished first.

For the Huskers they all did great. Madie Shiels and Stefi Neisen were the leaders for the Husker 5^th place finish.

Madie, a senior from Idaho, had a career best four-under par 212 (69-73-70) and finished sixth which was also her sixth top ten finish for the year. Madie is also toying with the idea of going pro after graduation and playing in the Cactus Tour here in Arizona.

Stefi, a sophomore from Minnesota who, when she stands side ways almost throws a shadow, shot a school record 66 in the second round. She finished with 215 (75-66-74), her third top 10 finish for the year.

I followed Stefi around in her record round. On the ninth hole she hit a 60 yard wedge right just short of the hole for an eagle three and then on the 12^th, her second shot hit about three feet behind the pin and backed up to within 15 inches. On number one she easily birdied (she started on 4) and number 2, the number one handicap, hole she calmly hit her second shot, from about 160 yards out, 8 feet short of the hole and sank it to go 6 under.

Kayla Knopik and Katelyn Wright both added final-round 75′s to help the Huskers record a solid team score of 294 on Saturday.

The Huskers, who won this tournament on 2008, concluded the tournament with a season-best 54-hole total of 878 (295-289-294). Knopik, a senior from Papillion, Neb., finished in a tie for 32nd (74-74-75-223). Wright, a sophomore from Incline Village, Nev., tied for 58th (79-76-75-230). Senior Katie Keiser rounded out Nebraska’s top-five golfers in 86th for the tournament (77-82-85-244).

San Jose State’s Jennifer Brumbaugh claimed medalist honors with an impressive, seven-under-par three-round total of 209 (69-67-73). Jennifer, who also had a hole-in-one on 13, defeated Northwestern’s Lauren Weaver in a playoff, after Weaver scored the course for a 209 of her own (69-71-69).

Texas Tech captured the team title with a three-round total of 858 on the 6,227-yard, par-72 layout of the Mountain View Golf Course. The Red Raiders closed the tournament with an even par 288 on Saturday. Now you figure it out, 288 x 3 = 864., so as a team they were how many under par? That’s a total of the low four scores for each round.

One thing about Husker Fans is their reputation of traveling to events. That really holds true for the parents of these young ladies. Now I have extended an invitation to all of you to attend, and I will continue to do so. When your wearing red its very easy to become acquainted with the parents and believe it or not an opportunity to have lunch with them or just chat throughout the tournament. It is crazy fun for all and the players love seeing red on the sides of the holes.

Softball: Going into their three game series against the golden Gophers they were 3-0 in the B1G and riding a 9 game win streak for a 20-12 record.

Two big innings for the Gophers proved to much for the Huskers in the first game. With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Minnesota scored 6 runs to take the lead. While the Huskers came back in the top of the 7^th, to tie the score, the hosts again pounded out another 6 to finish with a 13-7 win.

The second game of the day Nebraska took a quick 5-0 lead in the first inning but gave up 5 runs in the 4^th, 2 in the 5^th and one more in the 6^th to lose 8-5.

The final game on Sunday the Huskers avoided giving out those big scoring innings but had to go one extra inning for their win. Tucson freshman Mattie Fowler delivered a two-out, RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to lift the Nebraska softball team to a 5-4 extra-inning win at Minnesota.

Offensively, Fowler finished 2-for-4, while senior Nikki Haget added two hits of her own, including one of Nebraska’s four doubles. Taylor Edwards added a double and two RBIs, while her twin sister Tatum Edwards scored twice.

The Huskers are now in fourth place, tied with Iowa at 4-2 behind 5-1 Michigan and Ohio State and the conference leaders Purdue who are 6-0. The Huskers have two big meetings in mid April with the Hawkeyes and the Buckeyes the next week. Those to match ups will go a long way to determine the Husker season. Their schedule does not pair them off with either Purdue or Michigan.

Track and Field: The Nebraska team wrapped up competition at the Arkansas Spring Invitational on Saturday with four event titles. The Huskers saw Greta Kerekes earn the 100 meter hurdles crown, Mara Griva claim the women’s triple jump title, Miles Ukaoma finish with the 400 meter hurdles title and Chris Phipps claim the men’s long jump crown.

Phipps earned the first outdoor title of his senior season with a jump of 25-4 1/2 (7.73) in the long jump. Bobby Carter followed his lead, finishing in fourth-place with a leap of 24-3 1/2 (7.40). On the women’s side, Anna Weigandt finished in a tie for fourth, recording a jump of 18-2 1/4 (5.54).

The Huskers swept the top two spots in the triple jump as Mara Griva claimed the event title with a leap of 42-2 1/4 (12.86) and Anna Weigandt finished second with a personal-best jump of 41-3 1/4 (12.58). The Husker men finished with three athletes in the top five spots in the men’s triple jump standings. Patrick Raedler finished second with a leap of 50-6 3/4 (15.36), Corey Winston took third with a mark of 47-9 (14.55) and Travis Englund finished fourth notching a personal-best jump of 46-11 3/4 (14.55).

Miles Ukaoma provided highlights on the track for the Huskers, posting his second-straight outdoor title of the season with a first-place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 50.72, narrowly missing setting a personal-best time.

Greta Kerekes followed Ukaoma’s lead with her first event title of the season. Kerekes notched a time of 13.93 in the women’s 100 meter hurdles to take top honors.

If you’re a field and track fan, you can see the Huskers in action in Tempe this weekend for the Sun Angel Classic. The meet will be on campus at ASU.

Baseball: A complete game from Northwestern’s Zach Morton was too much for the Nebraska baseball team (19-11, 3-3 Big Ten) on Sunday afternoon at Rocky Miller Park in a 6-1 loss to the Wildcats. After winning on Friday night, the Huskers dropped the final two games of the three game series to lose their first conference series.

Friday the Huskers won 7-4 with Richard Stock and Pat Kelly providing the big guns. Stock hit a triple and two singles driving in 2 runs. Kelly added a homer for one of his three hits and also drove in 2 runs.

Tom Lemke started for the Huskers and went 6.0 innings in the win to improve to 3-2 on the season. The junior righty gave up three runs on the day, all in the third inning, while putting up zeros in five of his six innings.

On Saturday, a season-high six errors from the Husker defense combined with 12 strikeouts from the NU offense resulted in a 8-4 loss to Northwestern, None of the Wildcats’ eight runs were earned off the Husker pitching staff, as the Huskers out-hit the Wildcats on the afternoon, 7-6

The Husker hitters struggled against freshman starter Brandon Magallones, the reigning Co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, who improved to 5-0 on the season with 10-strikeout performance over 8.0 innings of work.

Trailing 8-1 going into the ninth inning the Huskers did muster a little offense scoring 3 runs off Magallones until he was relieved.

Sunday’s game saw the Huskers getting just 6 scattered hits and one run for the day. After being sent down in order in the first three innings, Michael Pritchard worked a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth and moved into scoring position at second a slow grounder up the first-base line by Rich Sanguinetti. Nebraska then caught a break on a wild pitch, that allowed Pritchard to move to third with Christensen up. The wild pitch came back to hurt the Wildcats, as Pritchard scored on a RBI groundout by Chad Christensen to the second baseman, tying the game at 1-1.

The Huskers are now 19-11 and 3-3 in the B1G for the year. Michael Pritchard is tied for 7^th in conference only batting with a .391 and team mate Richard Stock is 10^th hitting .388.

Men’s Gymnastics: The No. 9 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team posted new season-high team scores on four events, paving the way for a season-best score of 349.600 to defeat No. 12 Iowa on Senior Night in Lincoln. Nebraska’s 349.600-343.350 victory which also featured eight personal-best scores for Huskers in front of a senior night crowd at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

NU picked five event titles on four event titles. Freshman Grant Perdue picked up a new personal-best score at 15.30 to capture the floor exercise title. Junior Wyatt Baier added a title on vault, with a new personal-best and season-leading score of 15.40. Wyatt Aycock was tops on pommel horse on the evening with a 14.80 while also tying with teammate Andreas Hofer and Iowa’s Mitchell Landau on parallel bars (14.65).

Next stop is the Big Ten championship at Iowa City this weekend. The 9^th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers will face seven conference foes in team competition on Friday before competing in individual competition on Saturday night. Both days of action will be broadcasted live on BTN and BTN2Go.com. Both days TV coverage will be at 5 PM.

If you have never attended a gymnastic event I would suggest you tune in as these events are fantastic. We attended many of them while living in Lincoln.

Men’s Golf: Senior Scott Willman tied for sixth at the Denver Desert Shootout at Goodyear, Az. on Saturday, leading the Nebraska men’s golf team to a tie-for-11^thfinish. The Huskers shot 289 in the final round for a season-low 54-hole total of 871.

Nebraska posted 288 in Thursday’s first round and 294 in Friday’s second round. Wichita State took home the team championship, shooting 836 over three rounds to edge out Brigham Young by two strokes.

Willman paced his way to a 1-under-par 71 on Saturday en route to a three-round total of 209, which is his season best.The tie-for-sixth result marks his second straight top-10 finish as well as his seventh top-20 finish of the season in eight stroke play appearances.

Manuel Lavin tied for 67^thafter shooting 1-over-par 73 over the final 18 holes. The sophomore, who has competed in every tournament for the Huskers this season, had a 76 on Thursday and a 74 on Friday. Lavin compiled 223 strokes for the tournament.

Other Husker scores include Jordan Reinertson 220 (76-74-70); Ross Dickson 224 (74-75-75); Neil Dufford 224 (71-78-75) and Ryan Grassel 234(75-75-84) who competed as an individual.

　

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

 

　

　

　

　

　

　

HUSKER LADY ATHLETES

   ARE NUMBER ONE.

I don’t know where the term, distaff side, came into practice, but the athletic Husker Ladies are far from the distaff side of Nebraska Athletics. Lets review where they all stand with regards to accomplishments in their first year of the Big Ten Conference.

Soccer: The Nebraska soccer team saw its 2011 season come to a close with a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Gophers. Sophomore Stacy Bartels tied a career high with two goals to lead the Huskers, while junior Jordan Jackson also added a goal for NU.

Nebraska juniors Morgan Marlborough and Jordan Jackson each earned All-Big Ten honors. Marlborough was a first-team pick at forward, while Jackson was a second-team selection at midfielder. Sophomore Stacy Bartels was also honored as Nebraska’s nominee for the Big Ten Soccer Sportsmanship Award.

Marlborough ranked second in the Big Ten this season in both points (2.56) and goals (2.56) per game, while also ranking in the top ten in assists with 0.33 per game.

Nebraska junior defender Ari Romero has been named to the Mexican National Team’s Under-20 team that will compete at the upcoming CONCACAF Championships in Panama City, Panama. This will be Romero’s second CONCACAF event of 2012, as the she was a member of the Mexican Senior National team that completed in January at the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia. Romero is one of five under-20 players that was named to both rosters.

Women Track and Field: The Nebraska women’s track and field team completed the 2012 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in historic fashion with a 114.50-106 win over defending champion Ohio State. The 2012 Championship makes the Huskers back-to-back indoor conference champions as they captured the Big 12 Indoor Conference Championship in 2011.

The win also adds to the historic 31-year resume of Head Coach Gary Pepin, who now holds 68 conference titles dating back to his first Big Eight win at the 1981 indoor meet.

Following the women’s conference win, Coach Pepin was acknowledged as B1G coach of the year. Additionally, the Huskers saw three female student-athletes earn All-Big Ten first-team nods as Breanna Bussel, Mara Griva and Ashley Miller received accolades.

Volleyball: The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team (24-3, 17-2) clinched the first Big Ten Conference title in school history with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-19) sweep of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Nebraska has now captured 32 conference titles overall.

“This is not an easy conference to win,” head Coach John Cook said. “We did it while dealing with a lot of things, but through the leadership of our captains, we found a way to come together and hang tough. We had to outlast all these other teams, a new coaching staff and had some big-time players to replace.”

The Nebraska volleyball team saw its season end shorter than it has in 18 seasons, while Kansas State advanced as far as it ever has in the NCAA Tournament, as the unseeded Wildcats upset the second-seeded Huskers, 3-2.

The Nebraska volleyball team had four players earn all-region honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Junior Gina Mancuso was named to the 14-member Mideast Region first-team, while sophomore Morgan Broekhuis, junior Lauren Cook and junior Hannah Werth were named honorable mention. Mancuso, who was named a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten pick, has been key for the Husker offense and defense in 2011.

Gymnastics: With youth in the lead, Coach Ken Kendig scheduled a match against the No.1 squad, the Florida Gators. The results for the No. 6^thranked Husker squad was three of the four event titles and had two gymnasts tie for first place in the all-around in its196.95-196.825 loss to the No.1 Florida Gators at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in front of 2,472 fans.

Jessie DeZiel and Emily Wong both won the all-around with scores of 39.45, while also tying for the floor title. Janelle Giblin and Lora Evenstad posted 9.925s on bars to capture the event title and Jamie Schleppenbach and Jessie DeZiel won the vault title with a pair of 9.90s. The Huskers outscored the Gators on the vault, bars and floor as a team.

“It’s kind of bittersweet obviously, not coming out on top,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said. “We never counted a major mistake today, for starters. We left a lot of tenths out on the floor, but we never counted a major mistake.”

True freshman gymnast Jessie DeZiel was awarded with the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award on Monday, a day after tying for first place in the all-around in Nebraska’s loss to No. 1 Florida. The Rogers, Minn., native has now won seven Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards and nine individual conference honors after capturing Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 16 and Feb. 20.

Following that loss Sophomore Jamie Schleppenbach won two event titles and took home the all-around crown while leading the No. 6 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team to victory over the No. 7 Utah Utes, 197.600-197.450, in Salt Lake City Utah. The Huskers improved their overall record 11-2 on the year and finished the regular season with an undefeated away meet record for the first time in school history.

Following the big Utah win, Jamie Schleppenback and Jessie DeZiel swept both weekly conference awards for the big Ten. Jamie was named Big Ten Gymnast of the week for the first time and Jessie won her eighth Freshman of the Week award. That was the second time the Huskers have won both weekly titles.

Softball: The Huskers were scheduled to appear in Sunday’s championship game, but that contest has been cancelled due to the threat of inclement weather. Nebraska will take a 13-12 overall record heading into today’s  home opener with South Dakota.

Now that might not be considered as a big won-loss record, but consider that the Lady Huskers have faced nine higher racked teams.

By the way today’s game with South Dakota starts at 3:PM and again will be on audio on Huskers.com. It’s a double header with the second game 30 minutes later.

Ashley Hagemann posted another impressive pitching performance as the Nebraska softball team held on for a 4-2 win over Loyola-Chicago on Saturday afternoon to close out a 3-1, weather-shortened weekend at the Mizuno Classic.

Women’s Golf: OK, golf is not considered a big sport in Nebraska, I mean what with the corn fields, etc. but Head Coach Robin Krapfl has added a number of outstanding competitors. While the team may not have competed in a team effort, individuals have done very well.

Katelyn Wright  finished off the best tournament of her collegiate career with a career-best 71 in the final round to lead the Nebraska women’s golf team at the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Ariz. Wright’s career-best round allowed her to finish with a career-best tournament score of 218 (73-74-71) and close in 15th place. Wright shattered her previous career-best 54-hole tournament score, which came with a 228 at the 2010 Alamo Invitational.

Earlier, Madeleine Sheils fired an even-par-72 in the final round to finish in eighth place individually at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic at the Rio Mar Country Club. Sheils’ 72 marked the third-best round of the day by any golfer in the 84-player field and allowed her to finish with a four-over-par, 54-hole total of 220. The senior from Boise, Idaho, finished seven strokes back of individual medalist Marta Silva Zamora from Georgia, who won the title with a three-round total of 213.

The Husker Ladies will be in Tucson, more specifically, the Mountain View Golf Course at SaddleBrooke starting March 23-24^th/ They would love nothing more than to see a good number of Husker fans cheering them on. Don’t forget this date. Its time to bring out those Big Red shirts, hats, and whatever and lets cheer them on.

Tennis: A recent heading on a Huskers.com post was “Nebraska Welcomes Ranked Opponents:. But then they don’t treat them very nice. The recently the No. 32 ranked Huskers welcomed No. 58 Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 30 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes.

They won both matches.

Back in January, the ladies took on No.24^th Arkansas and No. 12 Northwestern. They split these but the loss to Northwestern was a very tight 3-4 loss. Another ranking match was against Wyoming which they also won. All total they have 4 wins against ranked teams in their 14-1 record for the year and 1-1 in Big Ten play.

Senior Madeleine Geibert is closing in on a school record for career combined wins, that includes singles and doubles. The record is 172 and she is now in second place with 164 wins and there are just five matches left.

Head Coach Scott Jacobson is looking for important wins in the next matches The two wins over Iowa and Tulsa raised his number of wins to 297 and he is getting close to the 300 career victories. Now the Huskers are entering into B1G play with ten matches in line.

Basketball: Four games in four days. The last one going two overtimes. They just fell a little short but they did record a Big Ten Tournament runner-up and a slot in the 2012 NCAA tournament where they will play their old rival, Kansas in the first round play in Little Rock Arkansas.

“I’m excited for our players and our program,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said during the team’s selection show watch party at the Hendricks Training Complex. “We’re excited to be going to Little Rock, which is a drivable distance for our fans. We obviously know the Kansas program very well and have great respect for them and the Big 12 Conference. We know it will be a great challenge, but we’re looking forward to being back in the tournament.”

Nebraska, in its first year in the Big Ten, was one of a conference-record seven teams to earn bids in the NCAA Tournament, while Kansas was one of seven Big 12 schools to claim spots in the 64-team field.

At the beginning of the season, it was hoped that the “Connie Clan” go do well, but no one ever expected the finish that ended Nebraska’s venture into the Big Ten with a 24-8 record.

Sophomore Jordan Hooper became Nebraska’s first first-team All-Big Ten award winner in women’s basketball when she was named to the five-player all-conference team by both the coaches and media.

Hooper was joined on the all-conference teams by Husker teammates Lindsey Moore (2nd), Emily Cady (HM, All-Freshman) and Kaitlyn Burke (Sportsmanship). While all of the honors are Nebraska’s first conference honors in the Big Ten, they mark the ninth consecutive season that the Huskers have claimed multiple all-conference awards under Coach Connie Yori.

Nebraska March Madness action starts Sunday at 5:30 PM. As of this time there is no scheduled coverage by B1G or on other TV coverage. But there is one way to tune in and that is the radio broadcast on Huskers.Com.

Yes, I would say that Nebraska has a bunch of high achievement oriented lady athletes.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert