Huskers Hunt Ninth National Title in Norman

The ninth-ranked <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska men’s gymnastics team travels to Norman, Okla., this week to close the 2006 season at the NCAA Championships held in the LloydNobleCenter on the Oklahoma campus.  Competition begins on Thursday, April 6 with the team qualifier at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. CST, continues on Friday, April 7 with the team and all-around finals, and concludes on Saturday, April 8 with the individual event finals.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Nebraska is one of 12 teams to qualify for the meet and is slated to compete during Session II at 7 p.m. CST on Thursday.  The Huskers will immediately face some of the nation’s toughest programs during this initial rotation including No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Cal, No. 8 Michigan and No. 12 Temple.  The Huskers, who are slated to begin the competition on the high bar and follow through Olympic order, must finish within the top three teams in their session in order to advance to the team finals on Friday.

 

Nebraska is familiar with just two of the five teams in its session, after having competed against both Oklahoma and Cal during the regular season and again at the MPSF Championships on March 25.  The Huskers fell to Oklahoma on four occasions this season and twice against Cal.

 

Of the other three teams, Illinois presents the biggest challenge with an average team score of 213.91, over a full point higher than Nebraska’s best score of 2006.  Despite being ranked just one place higher than the Huskers, Michigan averages a score of 210.07, four points higher than Nebraska.  Temple rounds out the group with a season average of 202.99.

 

Six other top teams will compete in Session I of the team qualifier, including No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Iowa, No. 10 Minnesota and No. 11 William and Mary.  Only Stanford represents the MPSF during this first session, which is otherwise dominated by Big Ten competitors.

 

 

 

Scouting the NCAA Championship Field

Oklahoma Sooners

Head Coach:  Mark Williams

Top Gymnast: Jonathan Horton

Record: 17-0

2005 NCAA Finish:  First (225.675)

As the defending national champions, the undefeated Sooners are undoubtedly the favorites for the NCAA Championship again this year.

 

Head coach Mark Williams has put together a remarkable group of local and national talent that has put Oklahoma at the top of the national rankings throughout the 2006 season behind an undefeated 17-0 record.

 

Leading OU in this effort has been sophomore Jonathan Horton.  In just his second season of collegiate competition, Horton is on his way to the history books as a two-time member of the U.S. National Team and an NCAA vaulting champion.  At the 2006 MPSF Championships, Horton led much of the competition to take second in the all-around all-around honors (54.10) and also won the event title on the floor exercise (9.60) and still rings (9.65).

 

Aside from Horton, the Sooners still have plenty of ammunition, including NCAA All-Americans Jamie Henderson, James Myers and Taquiy Abdullah-Simons.  Henderson won the MPSF pommel horse title in 2005 with a score of 9.625 and has been nominated for the Nissen-Emery Award this season.

  

 

Stanford Cardinal

Head Coach:  Tom Glielmi

Top Gymnast: David Sender

Record: 13-3

2005 NCAA Finish:  Eighth (218.375)

After entering the season ranked sixth in the preseason coaches poll, the Stanford Cardinal have become the surprise story of the season.

 

Stanford has posted big dual wins over national powerhouses like Cal, Michigan and PennState and have put the pressure on the Sooners for the No. 1 national ranking all season.

 

With 12 returning lettermen, the Cardinal are packed with experience.  Leading the way this year is sophomore David Sender, who posted a season-high all-around score of 54.45 at the Pacific Coast Classic on Feb. 27.

 

The Cardinal have a lot to prove at the NCAA Championships this season, after finishing eighth and failing to post a single All-American in 2005.

 

 

Ohio State Buckeyes

Head Coach:  Miles Avery

Top Gymnast: DJ Bucher

Record: 10-1

2005 NCAA Finish:  Second (225.45)

After a disappointing runner-up finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships behind Oklahoma, the Ohio State Buckeyes are looking to oust the Sooners for the top spot this season.  However, OhioState’s lone loss on the season came to the Sooners on Feb. 18 by a score of 215.90-216.55.

 

Despite the loss, the Buckeyes went on to gain wins over Penn State, Michigan and Illinois, in addition to claiming the Big 10 Championship title.

 

Individually, OhioState is led by sophomore D.J. Bucher, who took top honors on the pommel horse at the conference championships with a score of 9.00.  Bucher is also a returning All-Americans for OhioState after tying for fifth on still rings (9.562) and finishing second on the parallel bars (9.637) at the 2005 NCAA Championships.

 

Also helping the Buckeyes in 2006 is junior co-captain Willie Ito.  Ito currently holds the nation’s top high bar ranking with a national qualifying average of 9.58, and also took the high bar title at the Big 10 Championships (9.80).   

 

 

Illinois Fighting Illini

Head Coach:  Yoshi Hayasaki

Top Gymnast: Justin Spring

Record: 10-2

2005 NCAA Finish:  Third (223.70)

After finishing third in 2005, the Fighting Illini have captured yet another solid season in 2006.  Overall, Illinois has earned dual wins over Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa and suffered its only pair of losses to higher-ranked OhioState.

 

Leading the Illini this season for the second consecutive year is senior JustinSpring, who has recently been named a Nissen-Emery finalist.  Spring captured the 2005 NCAA parallel bar title for Illinois and has been named the 2006 Big 10 Gymnast of the Year following his event title on the parallel bars at the Big 10 Championships.  Spring also enters the 2006 NCAA Championships as the nation’s top ranked parallel bar competitor with a national qualifying average of 9.59.

 

As a team, the Fighting Illini lead a very talented collegiate vaulting field as the nation’s top team with a national qualifying score of 36.95.

 

 

Cal Golden Bears

Head Coach:  Barry Weiner

Top Gymnast: Tim McNeill

Record: 11-7

2005 NCAA Finish:  Fifth (222.075)

After struggling to get going at the beginning of the season, the Golden Bears have come on strong of late and are fifth nationally heading into the NCAA Championships.

 

Cal suffered a series of hard losses to rival Stanford in the initial weeks of the 2006 campaign, but have since recovered.  The Golden Bears have improved their team scores over the last month by 10 points and most recently posted a score of 216.45 for third-place at the MPSF Championships.

 

This season, the Golden Bears returned four All-Americans and eight letterwinners.  However, they lost a large part of their floor and vault lineups with the graduation of 2005 NCAA floor champion, Graham Ackerman. But sophomore Tim McNeill has quickly stepped up to fill in for the loss, recently claiming the all-around title at the MPSF Championships over favorite, Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton.

 

In 2005, McNeill earned All-America status on both the pommel horse (4th) and vault (5th).

 

 

Penn State Nittany Lions

Head Coach:  Randy Jepson

Top Gymnast: Derek Helsby

Record: 11-2

2005 NCAA Finish:  Fourth (222.40)

After taking home the NCAA title in 2004, the Nittany Lions dropped to fourth in 2005 and enter this year’s competition as the No. 6 seed.  However, the Nittany Lions have posted important dual wins this season over Michigan and second-ranked Stanford, in addition to owning a respectable season-high score of 216.80.

 

Penn State’s best event is the still rings, where it owns a national qualifying average of 36.925 for the No. 3 spot.

 

PSU is led by a solid core of gymnasts including sophomore Derek Helsby, who is currently ranked fifth nationally in the all-around and is tied for 11th in the still rings.  The Nittany Lions also depend on sophomore Tommy Ramos, who recently captured the Big 10 rings title with a score of 9.55.  The title was his sixth on the event this season.

 

Finally, senior Chad Buczek has been a major force for PennState over the last four years and is one of six NCAA gymnasts up for the 2006 Nissen-Emery Award.

 

 

Iowa Hawkeyes

Head Coach:  Tom Dunn

Top Gymnast: Michael Reavis

Record: 8-10

2005 NCAA Finish:  Seventh (218.725)

The Hawkeyes enter this NCAA Championships the way they left it in 2005, in the No. 7 position.  Iowa missed out on competing in the 2005 team finals by just one point and are looking to rewrite that ending in 2006.  However, in order to do that the Hawkeyes will need to top OhioState, Stanford and PennState, three teams which have posted consistently higher scores than Iowa in 2006.

 

The Hawkeyes are led this season by Nissen-Emery finalist Michael Reavis, whose presence on the floor exercise and vault have been a major boon to the Iowa effort over the last four years.  Reavis earned the national vaulting title in 2005 with a score of 9.55 and earned the Big 10 floor title this season with a season-high score of 9.797.

 

 

Michigan Wolverines

Head Coach:  Kurt Golder

Record: 7-11

2005 NCAA Finish:  Sixth (219.775)

Despite a solid core of gymnasts including Luke Bottke, Gerry Signorelli and Andrew DiGiore, the Wolverines have not been able to achieve the level of success they saw in 2005.

 

After advancing to the team finals last season, Michigan posted a losing season with a record of 7-11 in 2006.

 

However, the Wolverines’ regular-season schedule was one of the toughest in the nation, with duals against Oklahoma, Stanford, Ohio State, PennState and Iowa.

 

At the Big 10 Championships on March 24-25, Michigan finished fourth of six teams ahead of Minnesota and PennState.  Individually, senior Andrew DiGiore claimed his third consecutive Big 10 vaulting title with a score of 9.638.  Based on season averages, DiGiore is Michigan’s most likely candidate to make a run at an NCAA event title this season as he currently ranks second in the nation on the event behind Stanford’s David Sender.

 

Also, Signorelli is a candidate for the 2006 Nissen-Emery Award.

  

 

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Head Coach:  Mike Burns

Top Gymnast: Jake Lee

Record: 4-12

2005 NCAA Finish:  Ninth (217.40)

After ranking in the top 10 in the national team standings for the entire season, the Gophers fell to 10th heading into the NCAA Championships.  The reason for the drop was a sub-par Big 10 Championships performance by Minnesota, which scored just a 205.40 for last place.

 

After the loss of 2005 Nissen-Emery award winner Guillermo Alvarez, the Gophers have had to look elsewhere for support in 2006.  Junior Jake Lee has stepped in to the leadership position for Minnesota and is currently ranked fourth nationally in the all-around.

 

 

William and Mary Tribe

Head Coach:  Cliff Gauthier

Top Gymnast: Ramon Jackson

Record: 10-9

2005 NCAA Finish:  12th (208.525)

The Tribe are making their fourth NCAA appearance in five years in 2006 after finishing 12th overall in 2005.  William and Mary is one of just two ECAC conference teams to qualify for the event along with Temple.

 

At the 2006 ECAC Championships, the Tribe took home the team title for the first time since 1994 and just the third time in school history.  Individually, senior Ramon Jackson earned event titles on the vault (9.30) and parallel bars (9.20).  Jackson is also on the ballot for the 2006 Nissen-Emery Award, which will be given at the NCAA banquet on Wednesday, April 5.

 

 

Temple Owls

Head Coach:  Fred Turoff

Top Gymnast: Sterling Kramer

Record: 10-13

2005 NCAA Finish:  DNQ

Temple is the one new face in the 2006 NCAA Championships, as it claims the final spot in the 12-team field.  The Owls ousted Illinois-Chicago, which held that seed in 2005.

 

Temple is led by a slew of young talent including sophomore Sterling Kramer, who took top honors in the all-around at the ECAC Championships.  Temple’s John Vogtman was also named the 2006 Freshman of the Year at the event.

 

 

NCAA History

Nebraska first found itself in the winner’s circle at the NCAA Championships in 1979.  This success launched a string of consecutive NU titles over the next five years, ending in 1983.  Since then, the Huskers have seen three additional team championships in 1988, 1990 and most recently in 1994.

 

Individually, eight Nebraska gymnasts have captured all-around titles.  Former Olympian and current NU assistant coach Jim Hartung earned consecutive titles in 1980 and 1981; while Nebraska’s most recent all-around victory came from Jason Hardabura in 1999.

 

Although the Huskers failed to qualify for the team finals at the 2005 NCAA Championships, they did send several individuals into the event qualifier.  In all, four Huskers competed in day two of the three-day event, including Mace Patterson, Steven Friedman, Paul Chumreonlert and Stephen T?trault.  Both Chumreonlert and T?trault earned All-America honors during day three, with Chumreonlert finishing fifth on the pommel horse and T?trault finishing fifth on the vault.

 

 

Last Time Out

The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team set season-high scores on the pommel horse (34.75), still rings (34.025) and vault (37.025) en route to a fourth-place (209.725) overall finish at the 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Oklahoma took top honors for the second consecutive year with a season-high score of 219.175, followed by Stanford in second (217.075) and Cal in third (216.45), while Air Force rounded out the field in fifth (184.725).

Nebraska’s team score of 209.725 was its second-highest of the 2006 season behind the score of 212.15.

Individually, senior Derric Wood earned Nebraska’s highest event finish of second on the pommel horse (8.80).  However, his teammates were not far behind as junior Jason Wassung finished third in the same event (8.75), followed by sophomore Stephen T?trault in fourth (8.70).  Wassung also finished fourth in the all-around (52.50), while T?trault followed in fifth (51.05).

Additionally, senior Nic Matthews earned a spot on the podium in the vault with a season-high score of 9.325 for third in the event, while Wassung followed to tie for fourth (9.30) with Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton.

 

Reviewing the Rankings
After posting their second-highest team score of the season at the MPSF Championships (209.725), the Huskers improved from 11th to ninth in the NCAA standings this week.  With the score, Nebraska owns a national qualifying average of 206.58.

 

But perhaps the most impressive rankings news of the week is Nebraska’s jump from eighth to first in the team pommel horse standings.  The Huskers posted a season-and meet- high score of 34.75 at the MPSF Championships to propel them to the top of the national polls with a national qualifying average of 34.28.  This is the first time in 2006 that Nebraska has led an event.  The last time the Huskers topped such a list was in March of 2005, when they headed up the national vault standings over a three week period.

In addition to its success on the pommel horse, Nebraska also ranks in the top 10 on the vault (seventh) and parallel bars (seventh) with national qualifying averages of 36.64 and 34.675, respectively.

Individually, Nebraska also placed its highest number of gymnasts in the national polls this week with the addition of seniors Nic Matthews (18th) and Tony Burtle (19th) to the vault standings for the first time in 2006.

In the all-around, junior Jason Wassung will enter the NCAA Championships as collegiate gymnastics’ No. 7 competitor (51.34), as well as being 14th (8.63) in the pommel horse and 19th (8.75) on the parallel bars.

Sophomore Stephen T?trault holds the No. 10 all-around spot, in addition to ranking seventh (8.78) on the pommel horse.

Senior Derric Wood improved to 13th (8.64) in the pommel horse this week and is also 14th on the high bar (9.17).

Senior Nick Moore fell to 13th on the vault (9.21) after climbing as high as seventh, while freshman T.J. Schmidt claimed the No. 16 spot on parallel bars (8.81) this week.

Overall, the Huskers placed seven of its 11-man roster in the national polls heading into the NCAA Championships.

 

 

Guide to the NQA

The 12 teams that received invitations to the 2006 NCAA Championships were selected based on a national qualifying average as computed by GymInfo.  The NQA was figured by selecting the four highest regular-season scores, counting no more than two home meets, and the highest of these scores was dropped. The conference meet score was then doubled and added to the three remaining regular-season scores. The average of these five scores, which includes the doubled conference score, resulted in the national qualifying average.

 

For the Huskers, this means that NU’s scores of 209.45, 202.9 and 201.1 from the regular-season were added to twice its conference score of 209.725 and the average of these five scores resulted in Nebraska’s ninth-place score of 206.58.

 

 

Conference Clash

Since its inception in 1994, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has posted a competitive presence against the well-established Big Ten.  In fact, in the last 11 years, MPSF teams have taken seven NCAA team titles and six runner-up finishes despite owning half as many programs as the Big Ten. 

 

However, over the last seven seasons, only Oklahoma has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation.  Otherwise, the Big Ten’s PennState and OhioState have made national names for themselves as the teams to beat.

 

But a quick glance at the 2006 NCAA Championship field indicates that the tide may have turned.  With Oklahoma holding steady at No. 1, Stanford chasing at No. 2, Cal at No. 5 and Nebraska in ninth, many of the top teams represent the MPSF. 

 

Additionally, individual MPSF gymnasts hold top seeds in four of the seven events.  Oklahoma boasts the most top spots with sophomore Jonathan Horton on still rings and all-around, followed by Cal’s Tim McNeill on the pommel horse and Stanford’s David Sender on vault.

 

Finally, MPSF programs hold the top national qualifying scores in five of six events.  Oklahoma locked in the No. 1 seed on the floor exercise (36.70), still rings (37.99) and high bar (37.09); Nebraska holds the top spot on the pommel horse (34.28); and Cal is on top in the parallel bars (36.265).

   

 

Bar Beginnings

Nebraska received the high bar slot to begin Session II of the 2006 NCAA Championships on April 7.  Normally one of NU’s lesser events, the Huskers have picked up the pace on high bar this season and posted a season-high score of 36.60 on the event on March 19.  This score is the second-highest on any event for Nebraska this season with its highest score coming on vault (37.025).

 

But perhaps even more important than Nebraska’s starting rotation will be where it ends.  The fifth and sixth rotations for the Huskers will feature the vault and parallel bars, two of NU’s stronger events in 2006.

 

The vault easily showcases Nebraska’s top tier performances with the entire lineup capable of scores in the upper 9.0 region.  Meanwhile, the parallel bars have come on strong in 2006 as the Huskers own a season-high team score of 35.25 and rank seventh in the nation in the event.

 

 

Hacker 9.0

Senior Ray Hacker finally achieved one of his greatest collegiate goals at the MPSF Championships on March 25.  After nearly four years as a Husker, Hacker earned a score over the 9.0 mark with a team-high score of 9.025 on the still rings.

 

Although the score did not place Hacker on the podium in a highly competitive ring field, it did give the Fairfax, Va., native a career best  and 12th place in the event overall.

 

In addition to his scoring accomplishments, Hacker earned the first event title of his collegiate career in 2006 with a first-place showing on the rings against Air Force on March 19.  The fact that the meet was dubbed NU’s Senior Day made the accomplishment that much more poignant.

 

 

Superlative Sophomores

A quick look at the national ranks show a surprising pattern sweeping collegiate gymnastics.  This pattern is that many of the nation’s top gymnasts are only in their sophomore years.

 

In the national all-around ranks, three of the top five gymnasts are sophomores including Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton in first, followed by Stanford’s David Sender in third and PennState’s Derek Helsby is fifth.

 

Additionally, sophomores sit atop the pommel horse, vault and still rings rankings with Cal’s Tim McNeill ranking first on the horse, Sender atop the vault standings and Horton in first on the still rings. 

 

Second-year collegians hold at least two of the top five spots in all six events including a pair of sophomores who earned runner-up positions.

 

The same pattern holds for the Huskers, as sophomore Stephen T?trault is Nebraska’s only returning All-American and also holds NU’s highest national ranking on the pommel horse (7th).  T?trault is also ranked 10th nationally in the all-around.

 

 

Senior Significance

While Nebraska normally relies heavily on its underclassmen, this season the seniors have reclaimed their leadership role. 

Nebraska seniors own five of seven event-high scores for the Huskers, in addition to staking claim to 15 of 18 individual event titles in 2006.

During the regular-season meets, NU seniors accounted for 51 percent of Nebraska’s total team points.

 

At Nebraska’s final regular-season dual against Air Force on March 19, NU seniors claimed all six event titles and represented 116.7 points of Nebraska’s season-high 212.15 team score.

 

Finally, in this week’s GymInfo polls, Nebraska placed four seniors among the nation’s top 20 including Derric Wood on the pommel horse (13th) and high bar (14th) and Nick Moore (7th), Nic Matthews (18th) and Tony Burtle (19th) on the vault.

 

 

Keep on Climbing

Over the last two weeks, Nebraska has done what every program aims to do as it nears the postseason:  improve. 

 

Between NU’s last regular-season meet on March 19 and the MPSF Championships on March 25, the Huskers have set season-high marks on all six events and as a team.

 

Additionally, Nebraska’s 11-man roster notched a total of 19 season-high marks during that time, six of which were also career-highs.

 

Junior Jason Wassung boasts the most improvement over this two-week span with four season-high marks on the rings (8.70), vault (9.30), parallel bars (8.95) and high bar (9.15).

 

Fifth-year senior Tony Burtle has also been impressive, earning a pair of career-high scores on the floor exercise (9.25) and high bar (9.15).

 

 

NCAA on ESPN

Team finals for the 2006 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships will be televised on tape delay on ESPN 2.  The event will air on April 11 at 12:30 p.m. CST.  Any changes in this schedule can be found at www.ncaasports.com/broadcast.