UNK men, women each ranked second for RMAC tourney

KEARNEY Both Nebraska-Kearney basketball teams will be the second seed in the 2008 RMAC Tournament.

The eight-team event begins this Friday (Feb. 29th) with first round games at campus sites. The RMAC Shootout will then be held March 7-8th (Fri.-Sat.) in Pueblo, Colo.

The UNK women (24-5, 17-2 RMAC) will host Regis (14-13, 10-9 RMAC) at 6 p.m. The game will be followed by the Loper men (15-12, 13-6 RMAC) playing Mesa State (13-13, 10-9 RMAC) at 8 p.m.

At the same time, the RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships will be going on down the hall in Cushing Coliseum.

Tickets for the basketball games are $ 6 (adults) and $ 3 (seniors 60 + and students K-12th grade). In addition, children 5 and under will be admitted for free with the first 200 UNK students, with valid student ID, getting for free as well. After those 200 tickets go, UNK students will have to pay $3.

As in previous years, all seats will be general admission; UNK season tickets and RMAC passes are not good for this event. Tickets are on sale at the UNK athletic ticket office.

UNK's Beranek wins Division II recognition

KEARNEY Nebraska-Kearney sophomore Drake Beranek, Wayne State senior Andrea Schoepf and Chadron State sophomore Sunni Busch are the Nebraska Division II Players of the Week for Feb. 25.

This is the final week the award will be handed out.

Beranek (Ravenna) averaged 22.5 points and 15.0 rebounds last week, helping UNK win two more games and tie for the RMAC's East Division crown.

Scoring 37 of his 45 points in the first half, Beranek had 20 points and 14 boards vs. Regis, then went for 22 points and 16 rebounds against Colorado-Colorado Springs.

For the year, he leads the RMAC in both scoring (20.8) and rebounding (9.4).

Busch (Mission, S.D.) tallied 32 points last Thursday night in a 86-81 win over Colorado Springs. She was efficient from both the field (10 of 15) and line (8 of 9).

Busch finished the year with an 18 point, six assist effort Saturday vs. Metro State.

Finally, Schoepf (South Sioux City) averaged 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists last week as Wayne loss to Minnesota State-Moorhead but upset 5th-ranked Concordia-St. Paul.

She first had 18 points at MSUM, then erupted for career-highs in points (25) and rebounds (12) against the Golden Bears. For the weekend, she was 17 of 17 at the line and also played all 40 minutes in each contest.

NU's Vering named Sullivan Award finalist

LINCOLN The Amateur Athletic Union has announced that former Nebraska wrestler Brad Vering is a finalist for the 2007 James E. Sullivan Award, an honor given each year to the nation's top amateur athlete.

AAU officials, U.S. Olympic Committee members and college sports information directors are among those who vote, but this year fans can cast their ballot online at usatoday.com or text AAUVOTE11 to 44636 for Vering. The fan votes count one-third toward the final tally. Voting ends March 10, with the winner announced April 1.

Vering was chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee as its 2007 Wrestling Male Athlete of the Year after winning a silver medal at 84 kilograms (185 pounds) at the World Championships last September. Vering's performance was the top by a U.S. wrestler at the competition as he led the U.S. Greco-Roman team to its first world title.

A native of Howells, Vering became the seventh national champion in Husker history as he defeated Iowa State's Zack Thompson in a tiebreaker, 2-1, in the finals of the 197-pound bracket in 2000. He is fourth all-time on Nebraska's career win chart with a 124-26 mark from 1997-2001. Vering was a three-time All-American and won the Big 12 Championships twice in his career.

The other Sullivan Award finalists are: Brian Duncan (football), Tim Tebow (football), Jeff Lerg (ice hockey), Robert Pillow IV (basketball), Philippa Raschker (track and field), Angela Tincher (softball), Jonathan Horton (gymnastics), Thomas Finchum (diving) and Jamie Lovemark (golf).

G.I. Islanders win tournament at NWU

The G.I. Islanders 15s Black Team won the gold bracket in a tournament at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln.

Players include: Bria Rasmussen, Julia Ecklund, Anna Scarborough, Ericah Taylor, Hannah Roberg, Emily Steffensen, Kelsie Scheel and Taylor Kinne. The team is coached by Gretchen Kinne.

G.I. Islanders 14 Black wins tourney at UNK

The G.I.Islanders 14 Black Team won the gold bracket at the Runza Rumble at the University of Nebraska at Kearney this past weekend.

Players include: Fallon Kostbahn, Kaley Werner, Emily Weakland, Haley Weakland, Shayla Wichman, Christina Silver, Sydney Hinkle, Lauren Reiman, and Brittany Blase. The team is coached by Kelley Ward and Sarah McKendrick.

Broken Bowl standout White to run for Huskers

The University of Nebraska announced 11 signees Monday to its 2008 class. The men's team will welcome three athletes while the women's team adds eight. The class includes four Nebraska natives, two athletes from Iowa, one from Kansas, two from Canada, one from South Africa and one from Panama.

Broken Bow's Katie White joins Nebraska as a distance runner with a proven record as she is a five-time Class B state champion in track and a three-time Class C cross country state champion. As a freshman she won the 3,200- and 1,600-meter runs at the state track meet, while finishing fourth in the 800 meters. She returned as a sophomore to make a clean sweep of the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Competing with a sprained tendon as a junior, White only competed in five meets. Even with the injury she placed second in the 1,600-meter run and third in the 3,200-meter run at the 2007 state meet.

At the Nebraska Class C State Cross Country Meet, White was a three-time state champion as she won the meet in her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her team placed runner-up in both her junior and senior year.

GINW's Thomson to run at Fort Hays State

Grand Island Northwest senior Chris Thomson will commit today to run cross country and track at Fort Hays State.

Thomson qualified for the state cross country meet the past two years.

Doane's Carlstrom sets GPAC conference record

Regan Carlstrom, a junior on the Doane College track and field team set a Great Plains Athletic Conference Indoor record Saturday at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.

Carlstrom is a 2005 graduate of St. Edward High School.

Carlstrom broke the conference record in the 60 meter dash with a preliminary time of 7.75 seconds and later won the finals with a time of 7.76 seconds. Both times were better than the indoor conference record of 7.81 seconds.

Later in the day, Carlstrom had a short-lived conference record in the 200 meters with a winning time of 25.48 seconds which bettered the old mark of 25.57 seconds. She learned later she was disqualified for running on a line.

Carlstrom will be competing in the NAIA Indoor Nationals March 6-8 in Johnson City, Tenn.

Northwest's Klein to sign with Concordia next year

Grand Island Northwest shortstop Mikaela Klein will sign Tuesday to play softball at Concordia University.

As a senior, Klein set a Class B record for doubles in a season with 18. She hit .456 with 38 RBIs, 39 runs and a school-record three home runs.

Klein was named the first honorary captain of the All-Heartland Softball Super Squad.

Nebraska finishes fourth at GARC Championships

OXFORD, Miss. Nebraska wrapped up the two-day Great American Rifle Conference Championships on Sunday, finishing in fourth place as a team.

With their smallbore score of 2,305 from Saturday and Sunday's air rifle mark of 2,306, the Huskers totaled a 4,611. NU finished behind Army (4,651), Kentucky (4,633) and West Virginia (4,626). Freshman Elisha LaFond led the way in air rifle (585), followed by sophomore Amanda Jeffries' 584. Sophomore Christine Costello contributed a score of 579, while senior Kirsten Weiss posted a 558.

In the individual combined standings, Jeffries took third with a total score of 1,167. Jeffries also earned runner-up honors in smallbore (680) and sixth in air rifle, while LaFond placed fifth in air rifle finals.

UNK falls to SE Missouri State, 6-3, on Saturday

The Nebraska-Kearney women's tennis team gave Division I SE Missouri State a battle Saturday in Lincoln but ending up losing by a 6-3 score.

The Lopers are now 2-2 on the year while the Redhawks improve to 1-1.

In doubles, the No. 3 team of senior Jenna Eichman (Hastings) and freshman Marcelle Strydom (Holdrege) won by a slim 8-7 score. The tables would turn on Eichman in singles as she lost at the No. 5 position to Elise Nattier (7-6, 1-6, 10-8).

Kearney sophomore Kristen Messbarger did improve to 2-0 this spring by beating Julia Masotti at No. 2 singles (6-4, 6-4). Finally, Fremont junior Callie Erickson lost to Taylor Orahood at No. 6 singles by close 7-5 and 6-4 scores.

UNK will have a busy day Saturday, first facing UNO in Omaha at 1 p.m., then travelling over to Lincoln to face Division I Air Force at 6 p.m.

Storm prepares for 'Packed' promotion

KEARNEY The Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League announced Monday that the team will be hosting the second Annual "Pack It In Purple" game on Saturday when the Storm hosts the Omaha Lancers at the FirsTier Event Center.

"Pack It In Purple" is an annual event that is centered around the United Way Foundation. As fans are encouraged to wear purple to Saturday's game, the players will also be wearing specialized purple jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game. In the past seven years, the Storm organization has raised close to $100,000 for the non-profit organization. All of the money from the jersey auction will benefit the United Way of the Kearney Area.

While fans are encouraged to wear purple to this event, the team has produced special "Purple Reign" t-shirts for this event. Fans can pre-order t-shirts and tickets by calling the Storm offices at (308) 338-8809. These t-shirts will also be available at Friday and Saturday night's games.