Leiter Produces Career-Best All-Around Mark

Senior co-captain Derek Leiter (Lincoln, Neb.) scored four career-bests, including a meet-winning 58.20 in the all-around, to lead the No. 10 Nebraska men's gymastics team (5-5 overall and 2-5 in dual meets) to a season-high team score in a 227.275-224.55 loss to No. 11 Minnesota Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis, Minn.

Leiter produced career-high marks on floor exercise (9.875), pommel horse (9.825) and still rings (9.75)en route to posting the highest all-around score by a Husker since Richard Grace recorded a 58.35 in the 1995 NCAA team finals. Leiter was four-tenths of a point away from the NU school-record mark of 58.55 set by Jim Hartung in 1981. Leiter finished in the top three in every event but parallel bars.

Minnesota's Justin Conner placed second in the all-around with at 55.8. NU sophomore Martin Fournier (St. Hubert, Quebec) finished third with a 54.775, his second-best all-around mark of the season.

"Derek has just exceded all expectations this season," Nebraska Coach Francis Allen said. "He was smoking until the parallel bars. We had changed his routine a bit to push him toward the record, and I really thought he might be able to break it. But Derek was just great. I was really happy with Martin, also. He's getting close to 55, which is what we want him to score. It was a pretty good day for everyone."

Overall, the Huskers tied or established new career highs in a combined nine events. In addition to Leiters' four career-bests, senior Asher Lichterman (Cape Town, South Africa) finished second on parallel bars with career-best 9.625 and tied a career-high 9.775 to win the vault. Sophomore Dusty Jacob (Lincoln, Neb.)produced a career-high mark on parallel bars (9.2) and shattered his previous best on pommel horse with a 9.5. Sophomore Jeff Kelly (Grand Island, Neb.) bettered his still rings career-best by more than two-tenths of a point with a score of 9.3, placing in the top three for the first time in his career.

The Huskers also scored a team-high 38.125 on floor exercise.

NU junior Grant Clinton (Katy, Texas) made his first appearance in over a month, scoring a 9.20 on floor. Clinton has been hampered by back spasms throughout the 2000 season. Allen expects to have Clinton back on four events when Nebraska returns to action March 17-18 when it travels to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.

 

No. 11 Minnesota	227.275
No. 10 Nebraska	224.550

Event Finals Results (Top three finishers):
Nebraska gymnasts in bold.

Floor Exercise
1.	Clay Strother, MU	9.95
2.	Derek Leiter, NU	9.875
3.	Justin Conner, MU	9.675
Pommel Horse
1.	Clay Strother, MU	9.90
2.	Lindsey Fang, MU	9.85
3.	Derek Leiter, NU	9.825
Still Rings
1.	Derek Leiter, NU	9.75
2.	R. Winterbourne, MU	9.6
3.	Jeff Kelly, NU	9.30
	Allen Sopko, MU	9.30
Vault
1.	Asher Lichterman, NU	9.75
2.	Derek Leiter, NU	9.65
3.	Justin Conner, MU	9.425
1.	Justin Conner, MU	9.675
2.	Asher Lichterman, NU	9.625
3.	Bob Goss, MU	9.575
Horizontal Bar
1.	Chad Conner, MU	9.7
2.	Derek Leiter, NU	9.625
3.	Clay Strother, MU	9.3
All-Around
1.	Derek Leiter, NU	58.2
2.	Justin Conner, MU	55.8
3.	Martin Fournier, NU	54.775