The contest will be held Friday at the Alamodome. This year marks the first time in the game's long history that it will be played on the same floor as the Final Four. Admission to the all-star game, which includes only seniors who have exhausted their collegiate eligibility, is free to the public.

Maric is one of 22 seniors expected to participate in the event sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He is the fourth Husker selected to compete in the all-star game, but the first since Eric Piatkowski played in the 1994 contest. Chuck Jura (1972) and Rich King (1991) also played in the game following their Husker careers.

Maric finished his career as one of the top players in Nebraska history, posting 1,630 points, 1,015 rebounds and 145 blocks over the past four seasons. He ranks fifth all-time in the Husker record book for points, second in rebounds and sixth in blocked shots. He is also second in free throws made and attempted in his career, while his career rebounding average (8.38) is the eighth highest all-time at Nebraska.

Maric is only the third player in the history of the Big 12 Conference to record at least 1,600 points and 1,000 rebounds. He joined the elite company of Kansas' Nick Collison and Missouri's Arthur Johnson as Maric posted 15 double-doubles on the year. Maricfinished with 39 double-doubles in his career to rank second in Nebraska history and fifth in the Big 12 record book.

Asa senior, Maric held team highswith 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, one of only three players in the Big 12 Conference to average a double-double on the season. Maric's 335 rebounds in 2007-08 tied the NU single-season record while he became only the second player in Nebraska history to record 1,000 rebounds in a career.

While the final rosters have not been set, Maric is slated to be among by an impressive cast of seniors. Alsoexpectedto compete this weekend in the all-star gameare faces familiar to Husker fans in Texas A&M's Joseph Jones, Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee and Oregon's Marrty Leunen. A total of 22 players will compete in the contest, with 11 on the National All-Starssquad coached by Clemson's Oliver Purnell and 11 on the National All-Stars coached by South Carolina's Dave Odom.

Bison/Runza all-star team tryouts to be Sunday at GISH

Tryouts for the 2008 Bison/Runza all-star basketball team will be on from 6-8 p.m. Sunday in the west gym at Grand Island Senior High. It is open to any current 8th or 9th grade male basketball player. You need to pre-register for tryouts. For more information, please e-mail Coach Penas at dpenas@gips.org or go to www.nbda.net.

* COLLEGE WRESTLING

Manning named Big 12 Coach of the Year

LINCOLN The Big 12 Conference has named Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning the 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year, the league office announced today.

Manning, in his eighth year at NU, has led the Huskers to new heights, particularly during the 2007-08 season. Manning has accrued a 109-42-2 record in duals, including 14-3 and 3-1 in the Big 12 last season. Under Manning, the Huskers nearly went undefeated in the conference for the first time in their 98-year history. The year's highlights include a second-place finish at the National Duals in January before defeating Oklahoma State for just the third time in school history on Jan. 20. Manning also collected his 100th career dual win at Nebraska against Northern Colorado.

Manning balanced that regular season success with an impressive run in the postseason. The Huskers finished second at the 2008 Big 12 Championships, matching their best finish as a team and earning 62.5 points in the process, their most ever. The team capped its season with a fourth-place showing at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, its highest showing since 1993. The Huskers crowned five All-Americans, the most in a single year at NU for Manning, and the most for Nebraska since 1995. Manning has coached 22 Huskers to All-America status and led NU to four top-10 team finishes.

The award is decided by a vote of the conference coaches. This is the first conference honor for Manning.

* GYMNASTICS

Fields set for NCAA regional championships

LINCOLN The NCAA sent out its invitations for the women's gymnastics regional championships on Monday afternoon, setting the six-team field, which includes No. 15 Nebraska, at the NCAA Southeast Regional. Competition will be hosted by the University of Florida at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla., at 6 p.m. April 12.

Nebraska, which is 10-7 on the season and ranked 15th nationally, will face No. 3 Florida, No. 9 UCLA, No. 21 North Carolina State, No. 25 West Virginia and North Carolina. The competition also includes five all-around competitors and one individual event specialist per event. The top two teams and the two all-around competitors who are not part of an advancing team will receive an automatic berth to the 2008 NCAA Championships hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., April 24-26.

As the regional's No. 3 seed, Nebraska will compete in Olympic order, beginning on vault, followed by a bye, bars, beam, bye and floor.

NU's trio of competing All-Americans seniors Emily Parsons and Desire' Sniatynski and junior Tricia Woo will lead the Huskers into the Southeast Regional after combining for five All-Big 12 honors last week. At the Big 12 Championships, Woo captured the beam crown for the first Big 12 title of her career.

Tickets for the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship are available by calling the Florida Athletic Ticket Office at 1-877-428-6742 or online at www.gatorzone.com.

* VOLLEYBALL

G.I. Vikes team wins regional tournament

The G.I Vikes 17s volleyball team won the 17s Gold Regional Volleyball Tournament Sunday at the Volleyball Center in Omaha.

The team went undefeated in pool play and beat Premier 17 Gold and XTreme 17-1 in the tournament to win the championship.

Team members were: Melissa Costello, Katie Rauert, Jenna Rouzee, Shayna Schacher, Kayla Faaborg, Kyla Havranek,Taylor Johnson and Amber Riedy. The team is coached by Dave Rouzee and Pam Schacher.

South Central 15 Black team wins regional title

The South Central 15 Black volleyball team completed its season March 30 by winning the Great Plains Silver Regional Volleyball Tournament in Lincoln. They also finished first place at the Hogan's Challenge Silver Tournament in Kearney on March 9 and the Hastings College Bronco Gold Tournament on Feb. 10. Team members are: Brooke Henry (Loup City), Emilea Harrahill (St. Paul), Bree Soto and Angie Bowers (Wood River), Kelsey Rouse (Shelton), Ava Mackey (Heartland Lutheran), Claire Bergen (Sutton), and Megan Nelson (Burwell). The team is coached by Brittni Meyer and Jami Kezeor.

* USHL

Storm giving prizes to one-millionth fan

KEARNEY The Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League are anticipating their one-millionth fan to walk through the doors of the FirsTier Event Center on Friday, April 4th. After seven seasons and 28 home games this year, the Storm has welcomed 999,404 fans through the doors of the FirsTier Event Center.

To help celebrate this historic event, the Storm has partnered with Viaero, the Nebraska Lottery, Crossroads Ford and FirsTier Bank to put together an exciting prize package for the one-millionth fan. Included in this package is a Rocky Mountain vacation with Colorado Rockies tickets, a $500 gas card from Crossroads Ford, a Viaero phone package, one-hundred Nebraska Lottery scratch tickets, a pair of Storm hockey season tickets for 2008-2009 and the earned interest on one million dollars for one day courtesy of FirsTier Bank.

Anyone with a ticket to the game on Friday is eligible to become the one-millionth fan. Each person will have to register at a designated table on the concourse on the night of the game. The one-millionth fan will be randomly selected from the registrations.

For further information or tickets, call (308) 338-8011 or log on to stormhockey.com.

* COLLEGE GOLF

HC men finish ninth at Kansas competition

The Hastings College men competed at the Bethel College Spring Invite, where 22 teams from 18 colleges participated over the weekend.

The first day was played at the Hesston Muni Course, where the Broncos shot 313 in wintry, cold conditions to tie for 14th place. On day two, the Broncos shot the fourth best score on the Sand Creek Station Course in Newton, Kan, moving from Saturday's standing up to 9th overall

The event was won by Southwestern College with two-day total of 577. The Broncos were lead by Nathan Gile, who fired a 151. The overall medalist was Noah Smithson of Newman University, who shot a 138.

* POOL

Local players place in APA Cancer Benefit event

Five area pool players were among those awarded prize money for placing in the $1330 American Poolplayers Association (APA) 8-Ball Fun & Cash Cancer Benefit Tournament on March 29 at Gibby's in Grand Island.

Scott Weber of Grand Island, along with three other players, finished in a tie for ninth place and were awarded $30 each for their efforts.

Finishing in a fifth place tie and collecting $55 each were four players including Rick Williams and Billy Freeman, both of Grand Island, along with Tom Carruth of St. Libory.

Scott Carlson of Grand Island finished in a third place tie with one other player and collected $150 for his efforts.

The tournament hosted 32 players from all over Western Nebraska and was open to active APA Pool League players. The bracket gave players a chance to play others at or near their own skill level which allowed players of all abilities to win prize money.

There was a $5 entry fee and the tournament paid $1240 in prize money to the top 12 players.

All entry fees were donated to benefit cancer research. By the end of the day $360 was raised for the cause.

* TRACK & FIELD

UNK wins eight events, has five national qualifiers at Hays meet

The Nebraska-Kearney track and field team began the spring season by winning eight events (five women, three men) and having five NCAA provisional efforts at the Alex Francis Classic this past weekend in Hays, Kans.

Several distance races were run Friday night with the rest of the non-team scoring meet on Saturday. Besides Fort Hays State, other schools in attendance were Baker, Benedictine, Bethany, Colorado College, Colorado Mines, Kansas Wesleyan, Colby C.C., Hutchinson C.C. and Pratt C.C.

On the women's side, York senior Jacquelyn Dibbern dominated the 3,000-meter steeplechase, running an 11:11.75 to not only win by nearly 30 seconds but also provisionally qualify for the NCAAs.

Kearney junior Kelli Dring didn't earn an NCAA mark this weekend but she did win the 100 hurdles (15.08) and long jump (18-0.25) while placing second in the high jump (5-2.25).

Next, Gothenburg sophomore Kiley Peterson was runner up in the shot put (45-7.25), a throw that is an NCAA provisional toss.

It was a banner day for the Loper throwers as three men surpassed the NCAA provisional standard as well. The trio included Kansas sophomore Brandon Karlin in the discus (1st/176-0) and Ashland senior Jarrod Holz (2nd/164-7) and Fairbury freshman Drew Onnen (3rd/160-1) in the discus.

Overall, UNK placed second through fifth in the men's discus.