Huskers Post Season Bests in Victory over New Mexico

Behind the highest regular-season road score in school history, the eighth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team improved to 9-2 on the season with a 230.15-223.575 victory over No. 14 New Mexico Sunday afternoon in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Huskers’ season high broke the previous regular-season record of 230.125, set at Iowa last season as NU set team highs on pommel horse (38.825), still rings (38.80) and parallel bars (38.50) en route to the victory over the Lobos, which fell to 6-9 on the season.

Nebraska gymnasts took the top three positions in the all-around as sophomore Jason Hardabura (Oakville, Ontario) won his sixth all-around title of the season with a score of 58.075, the fourth score of 58 or better this season. The sophomore from Oakville, Ontario, tied for first on floor exercise with New Mexico’s Justin DeLaHunt (9.65), and was second on pommel horse (9.775), still rings (9.75) and high bar (9.75).

Junior All-American Derek Leiter (Lincoln, Neb.) earned runner-up honors for the third-straight meet with a score of 57.60 tying his career high set last season in a triangular meet against the Lobos and Oklahoma. Leiter placed first on vault with a career high of 9.90, tying former NCAA champions Jim Hartung and Steve Elliott for the third-highest score in school history. Leiter also set or tied career bests on parallel bars (9.85) and pommel horse (9.80), winning both events, and on still rings, where he was fifth with a score of 9.65.

Sophomore Grant Clinton (Katy, Texas) also turned in a strong performance in the win, taking first on high bar with a 9.875 and finishing tied with senior Jim Koziol (Omaha, Neb.) for third on still rings with a 9.70, setting career bests in both events. In addition, freshman Martin Fournier (St. Hubert, Quebec) was third in the all-around with a career-high score of 56.40, placing third on high bar (9.65) and fourth on parallel bars (9.40), while junior Blake Bukacek (Lincoln, Neb.) was third on pommel horse (9.65) and parallel bars (9.55).

“We were pretty darn good today,” said Nebraska Coach Francis Allen. “This is our first really good road score this season and it came at the perfect time. We wanted to send a message with our performance today. We hit 81 percent, so we have some things to work on for the postseason. Hopefully, we will continue the improvements next weekend at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.”

The Huskers return to competition next Friday, March 26, when the Huskers travel to New Mexico for the 1999 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Norman, Okla. The Huskers, who finished first in 1997, will be looking for their second MPSF title in three years.

Team Scoring
1. Nebraska 230.15
2. New Mexico 223.575

All-Around
1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 58.075
2. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 57.60
3. Martin Fournier (Nebraska) 56.40

Floor Exercise
t1. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.625
t1. Justin DeLaHunt (UNM) 9.625
3. Lateef Crowder (UNM) 9.55

Pommel Horse
1. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.80
2. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.775
3. Blake Bukacek (Nebraska) 9.65

Still Rings
1. Lateef Crowder (UNM) 9.85
2. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.75
t3. Jim Koziol (Nebraska) 9.70
t3. Grant Clinton (Nebraska) 9.70

Vault
1. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.90
2. Lateef Crowder (UNM) 9.65
3. Asher Lichterman (UNM) 9.55

Parallel Bars
1. Derek Leiter (Nebraska) 9.85
2. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.70
t3. Blake Bukacek (Nebraska) 9.55
t3. Lateef Crowder (UNM) 9.55

Horizontal Bar
1. Grant Clinton (Nebraska) 9.875
2. Jason Hardabura (Nebraska) 9.75
3. Martin Fournier (Nebraska) 9.65