USGF GYMNASI1CS INTERVIEW
JIM 1981 USGE Gymnast of the Year hopes to compete in Los Angeles at the 84 Olympics. J
im Hartung plans to be competing in Los Angeles at the 1984 Olympics. jim modestly admits he hopes just to be a part of that team and points towards the potential of gymnasts rising through the junior program. In that Olympic year he will be 24 years old, and more than likely will have added many more honors to a list which is already impressive. Some of Hartung's creden tials include - 1980 USA Olympian, 3 time member of the USA World Championships Team (9th AA in 19 79 and vaulting finalist), '81 USGF AA Champion of the USA, defending 2 time NCAA AA Champion, 4 time NCAA individual event Champion - on rings (twice), parallel bars and high bar and he has been named an NCAA All-American 1 7 times in three ' years of COllegiate competition. As a senior this year at the University ofNebraska he will lead the 3 time NCAA Team Champion Cornhuskers in trying to win their fourth title in 4 years 路- an unprecedeJJted accomplishment. In Ft. Collins, Colorado last September jim won the USA World Championships Team Trials, and along with USA teammates Phil Cahoy, Bart Conner, Tim Daggett, Mitch Gaylord, Scott johnson, Mario McCutcheon and Peter Vidmar will travel to Moscow, USSR in late November to defend the USA bronze medal showing at the last World Championships. Jim began gymnastics at age 5 in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska with basic acrobatics at the Dorothy Tokarski Dance Studio. At seven, he moved on to the Sokol Gymnastics Club in Omaha where he began receiving instruction from Phil CallOY, Sr. and Dale Makin. Herejim worked-olIt until age 18, receiving what he says was his "most beneficial training. " He trained in those early years with Phil Cahoy,Jr., and years later they would continue their training togetller as teammates at the University of Nebraska going on to lead Nebraska to a pair ofNCAA Team Chanlpionships. "We were always pushing each other back and forth," explains Hartung. "We had many competitions together. I'd win one and Phil would win the next . .. it helped us improve at a little accelerated rate." In high school, jim competed for OmalJa South and was coached there by former University of Nebraska gymnast Richard
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Baron. He credits his own ability to compete and to compete with consistency to these days . .. "We sometimes had 5 meets in 1 0 days, and this repetition helped me gain a lot of confidence and to compete much better." During his high school career jim believes that one year they had perhaps "the best team in the nation. .. with Phil Cahoy, Chuck Chmelka and Rex MuJcheck." In total jim won 18 Nebraska State gold medals, and was named Nebraska High School Athlete of the Year. During those high school years Jim continued to train at Sokol Omaha where at age 15 he became involved in the USGF junior Olympic Program. In 1975 at dleUSGF junior Olympic Nationals in Iowa City, Iowa, jim placed second in the AA "wi th no really outstanding events." At the junior Olympic Training Camp following the competition jim cited two people who worked with him there - Mas Watanabe and Brent Simmons. In 1977 and '78 the USGF junior Olympic National AA Champion was - jim Hartung. After high school jim was the photo bv Dave l3lack most sought after gymnast in America. With no reservations jim chose the University of Nebraska, coached by Francis Allen and said his "three main reasons were: good faCilities, good coaches and that Nebraska was close to home." Nebraska coach Francis Allen commenting about his Big 8 and NCAA Champion, "He has been the main factor in turning Nebraska 's program from a fourth-ranked team to first when he and (Larry) Gerard competed together in Hartung's freslwJan year. We probably would not have recruited Phil Cahoy if it hadn 't been for him. He has had quite an influence on other people coming to Nebraska. Scotty johnson, as an example, saw jim Hartung compete in Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Open and said to himself at the time, 'Wow. I want to compete on a team that has gymnasts like jim Hartung on it.''' When asked about the future for jim Hartung, Allen replied, "I think '84 will probably be his terminating year for competition. He still has another year or so left in school. We sat down when he first came to Nebraska and decided, 'Let's not hurry through school ... let's not just get a degree, but really get an education and participate in gymnastiCS, USGF GYMNASTICS