No. 12 Huskers Head to No. 1 Georgia for NCAA Regional

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The 12th-ranked <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska women’s gymnastics team will travel to Athens, Ga., on Saturday, April 8, for its postseason run at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. In what could be one of the most talent-laden regionals around the country, the Huskers -- along with top-ranked Georgia, No. 13 Missouri, No. 22 West Virginia, No. 23 North Carolina and North CarolinaState -- will battle for one of two automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Corvallis, Ore, April 21-23. Nebraska has qualified for the national championships 16 times in program history, including seven consecutive NCAA appearances from 1999 to 2005 and seven Super Six Finals appearances overall.

 

With their second-place finish at the Big 12 Championships (196.275), the Huskers improved to 16-6-1 on the season while scoring a 49.0 or better on all four events for just the third time this season. Nebraska netted four individual conference event titles, as sophomore Emily Parsons captured her second Big 12 balance beam crown in two years with a 9.90, as well as a first-place finish on vault (9.90). Sophomore Desire’ Sniatynski and redshirt freshmanVanessa Meloche also tied for the uneven bars title with scores of 9.85.

 

A Look Back: Nebraska at the Big 12 Championships

?NU garnered four individual conference champion awards, as Parsons won the 46th and 47th event titles of her career with first-place finishes on beam (9.90) and vault (9.90). Parsons was also co-Big 12 beam champion with former Husker Richelle Simpson in 2005.

?Redshirt freshman Vanessa Meloche and sophomore Desire’ Sniatynski tied for the Big 12 bars crown with scores of 9.85 and grabbed All-Big 12 honors. The title was Meloche’s sixth on bars this season and Sniatynski’s second.

?Six Huskers were honored with All-Big 12 awards, which are presented to the top four finishers on each event and the all-around. Parsons earned all-conference nods on vault, beam, floor exercise and the all-around.

?Freshman Kylie Stone was named All-Big 12 in the all-around after finishing fourth and tying her career high of 39.25.

? Junior Stephanie Carter, who placed third on vault, and freshman Tricia Woo, who finished third on beam, also earned all-conference accolades for the first time in their careers.

 

Kendig Builds One of Nation’s Top Programs at Nebraska

Head Coach Dan Kendig is the all-time winningest coach in the 30 years of Nebraska women's gymnastics history. In 13 seasons at Nebraska, Kendig is 301-110-4 overall and 215-41-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig is in his 23rd year of coaching and owns a career record of 414-222-4.

 

A six-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to eight conference championships and three straight regional championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

 

He has also led Nebraska to 10 NCAA Championships appearances in the past 12 seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005. Kendig was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, a year in which the Huskers finished with a final ranking of fourth in the nation.

 

Under Kendig's tenure in 2005, Nebraska finished with a 21-13 overall record. The Huskers placed second (196.30) in the NCAA South Central regional behind Michigan and also placed sixth (196.425) in its seventh consecutive NCAA Championships appearance. Four of Kendig's gymnasts -- Emily Parsons (AA, V, BB, FX), Kristi Esposito (BB), Michele Zabawa (UB) and Desire’ Sniatynski (UB) -- earned a total of seven All-America honors.

 

Kendig is assisted by Danna Durante, who is in her fourth season with Nebraska, and Adrian Burde, who enters his fifth year on the Husker staff.

 

Parsons Featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd

Emily Parsons was featured in the Feb. 6 issue of Sports Illustrated in “Faces in the Crowd” for her career-high all-around performance (39.625) against Michigan on Jan. 13. One of six athletes chosen nationally for the weekly feature, Parsons is also recognized for her Big-12-Gymnast-of-the-Week accolades. The St. Charles, Mo., native earned her fourth Big 12 Gymnast-of-the-Week honors of the year on Feb. 7, and was also named for the weeks of Jan. 10, Jan. 17 and Jan. 31. She has earned a total of six gymnast-of-the-week honors in less than two seasons at Nebraska.

 

The award is the most recent addition to a growing list of conference, regional and national accolades. Parsons’ Feb. 7 recognition also makes her the first gymnast to be named the Big 12’s top weekly performer four times in one season since former Husker Richelle Simpson accomplished the feat in 2003 on her way to the NCAA all-around and floor exercise titles.

 

Super Sophomore Parsons Leads NU in 2006 Season

Emily Parsons is leading the Huskers in 2006, after earning four All-America awards as a freshman in 2005. The St. Charles, Mo., native finished third on floor in the individual event finals at the NCAA Championships to garner first-team All-America honors, while also grabbing second-team accolades on vault, balance beam and in the all-around.

 

In 2005, Parsons was also named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and shared the conference beam title with former Husker All-American Richelle Simpson. In a season that saw Parsons earn two All-Big 12 nods (vault and beam), she went on to claim NCAA South Central regional titles on vault and floor, as well as the all-around crown over 2000 Olympian Elise Ray of Michigan.

 

Parsons’ sophomore season has been just as impressive as her freshman campaign, as she captured the all-around crown against Michigan with a career-high 39.625. Parsons also tied for the vault title with fellow Husker Stephanie Carter (9.90), and added first-place finishes on beam with a career-best score of 9.925 and floor, where she tied her best-ever mark of 9.95. Just one week earlier at the Super Six Challenge in Baton Rouge, La., Parsons earned the vault crown by tying her career high of 9.95, landing in a tie for first place with two-time NCAA vault champion Ashley Miles of Alabama. Parsons’ achievements have garnered her Big-12-Gymnast-of-the-Week honors for the weeks of Jan. 10, Jan. 17, Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.

 

After finishing first on vault and beam at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago, Parsons now owns 47 overall individual event crowns in less than two full seasons at Nebraska.

 

Stone Gives Rock-Solid Performance in All-Around

The Huskers’ meet at PennState on Feb. 10 marked a solid beginning for Kylie Stone, as she captured her first career all-around title (39.25) and tied for the floor crown with sophomore Emily Parsons (9.90). The Calgary, Alberta, native added a third-place finish on bars (9.80) and a fourth-place showing on beam (9.75), while also finishing 11th on vault (9.80).

 

Stone most recently tied her career-best all-around mark at the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln on March 25, finishing fourth to earn All-Big 12 honors. She also placed fifth on vault (9.85), seventh on beam (9.80), 10th on bars (9.775) and 12th on floor (9.825).

 

Stone competed as an all-arounder in her senior elite days at the 2005 Canadian National Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia. Stone finished second in the all-around (36.15) behind Alabama’s Melanie Banville. At the next day’s event finals, Stone captured the silver medal on floor (9.60) and bronze on vault (8.825). She also finished fifth on bars (8.70) and beam (8.55).

 

 

Husker All-Arounders Produce Career Bests

Nebraska has found its core in its all-around competitors this season, as junior Stephanie Carter and sophomores Emily Parsons and Desire’ Sniatynski all produced career-high cumulative scores against Michigan on Jan. 13. Parsons bettered her old career mark of 39.55 set at the 2005 NCAA Super Six Finals by scoring a nation-leading 39.625 in the Huskers’ last meet, while Sniatynski improved her best to 39.20 to finish second. Carter, who was a mainstay in the team’s vault, beam and floor lineups in her first two seasons, has emerged as a strong four-event competitor in 2006, scoring a 39.10 in just her second career all-around appearance at Nebraska.

 

A Bright Future: The New Husker Class Contributes to NU Lineup

Four of Nebraska’s five freshman gymnasts have competed in the 2006 regular season -- redshirt freshman Vanessa Meloche and true freshmen Sabrina Long, Kylie Stone and Tricia Woo. Meloche most recently took home her sixth title at the Big 12 Championship with a score of 9.85 to tie with fellow Husker Desire’ Sniatynski. The Montreal, Quebec, native made her collegiate debut in January by tying for the bars crown at the Super Six Challenge with a score of 9.875 and added a 9.925 against Missouri to nab a second bars title. She later shattered her career best on bars with a 9.95 to earn the event crown at the annual Masters Classic in February.

 

Woo has been crucial to NU’s beam and floor lineups in her own right. The native of Milpitas, Calif., had a spectacular showing in the Huskers’ first home meet against Michigan, earning a 9.875 on beam to finish third and a thundering 9.925 on floor to place second behind event champion Emily Parsons (9.95). Woo won her first career individual event title at Oklahoma, tying with Parsons for the floor crown (9.90).

 

Long has competed on vault, beam and floor throughout the year as well. A native of Tulsa, Okla., and a product of Krafft Academy of Gymnastics, Long has shown steady improvement on vault in her first season. After opening her collegiate career with a 9.60 at the Super Six Challenge, she increased her score almost every week for a month, highlighted by her career-best vault score to a 9.85 at PennState. The 2003 Level 10 Junior Olympic national vault champion, Long also posted a season-high 9.775 on floor against the Sooners in early February.

 

Canadian Duo Headlines Freshman Class

Nebraska’s youngest class includes a pair of Canadian National Team members in Vanessa Meloche and Kylie Stone. Meloche, who missed the 2005 season due to foot and knee injuries that kept her out of gymnastics for the past two years, entered the new season fully recovered and poised to contribute on the uneven bars and balance beam. A seven-year Canadian National Team member, Meloche has excelled on the two events, as evidenced by her 2002 national bars title and a third-place finish on vault and bars at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, that same year.

 

Meloche’s first season has been nothing short of the NU coaching staff’s expectations, as she tied for the Big 12 conference bars title on March 25. Consistently one of the team’s top performers on bars, she began the season by finishing in a four-way tie for first on bars with junior Michele Zabawa (9.875) at the Super Six Challenge and never looked back, scoring a career-best 9.95 at the Masters Classic in February.

 

Headlining the heralded freshman class is Stone, who joined the Huskers after the fall semester. Stone competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and finished 14th in the all-around standings at the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, Calif., making her the highest-finishing Canadian female all-arounder in World Championships history. A native of Calgary, Alberta, she was the 2004 Canadian National all-around, beam and floor exercise champion, as well as a national titleholder on beam in 2003.

 

Three Former Huskers Make Big 12 10th Anniversary Team

Former Nebraska gymnasts Richelle Simpson, Heather Brink and Julie Houk were named to the Big 12 Conference 10th Anniversary Team, the league office announced before the Big 12 Championships. Selected by the Big 12’s head coaches, gymnasts were categorized by event and must have been an event winner at a Big 12 Championship in the last 10 seasons.

 

Simpson, a nine-time All-American, was included on the team three times for her efforts in the all-around, beam and floor. She claimed all-around titles in 2003 and 2005, along with floor and beam crowns in 2002, 2003 and 2005, while also being honored as a 12-time All-Big 12 selection in her Husker career. The 2003 NCAA all-around and floor exercise champion, Simpson helped the Huskers win Big 12 team championships in three out of four seasons.

 

Brink, the 2000 NCAA all-around and vault champion, won seven conference titles in four years at Nebraska, including vault crowns in 1998 and 2000, as well as the all-around (1998, 1999), bars (1997, 1998) and floor (1999, 2000).

 

Houk is Nebraska’s final conference team honoree. A four-time All-American, she captured Big 12 titles on bars in 2000 and 2003. Houk was part of three Big 12 championship teams at Nebraska.

    Event   Gymnast, School                          Event Winner

    AA         Richelle Simpson, Nebraska    2003, 2005

    V           Heather Brink, Nebraska            1998, 2000

    UB       Julie Houk, Nebraska                   2000, 2003

    BB        Richelle Simpson, Nebraska     2002, 2003, 2005

    FX         Richelle Simpson, Nebraska     2002, 2003, 2005

 

Carter, Zabawa Named Academic All-Big 12

Nebraska’s Stephanie Carter and Michele Zabawa were two of 18 student-athletes named to the 2006 Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team, the league office announced. Carter was a first-team honoree as a sophomore and was  named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll each of the last five semesters. Zabawa is an academic all-conference honoree for the first time in her career and is a four-time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll honoree.

 

Scouting the Competition: No. 1 Georgia GymDogs

?Head Coach: Suzanne Yoculan (23rdYear)      ?2006 Record: 21-0

?2006 High Score: 197.625 (at Michigan, 3/11/06)

?2005 NCAA Finish: 1st (197.825)

?Last Meet: at SEC Championship, 3/25/06 (1st/7, 197.275)

Quick Facts about the GymDogs...

?Defending national champion Georgia was ranked No. 1 in 11 of this season’s 12 weekly national polls.

?UGA scored the nation’s best team floor mark with a 49.60 at the SEC Championship last Saturday night en route to its third consecutive and 15th overall conference title.

?GymDog Courtney Kupets was honored as SEC Freshman of the Year, as she is the nation’s top-ranked all-around competitor. Kupets, who was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team and won a bronze medal on bars at the Athens Games, scored a career-best 39.80 earlier this season  at Michigan on March 11.

 

Scouting the Competition: No. 13 Missouri Tigers

?Head Coach: Rob Drass (Sixth Year)      ?2006 Record: 13-11

?2006 High Score: 196.025 (Cat Classic, 2/24/06)                       

?2005 NCAA Finish: Did Not Qualify

?Last Meet: at Big 12 Championship, 3/25/06 (4th/4, 194.85)

Quick Facts about the Tigers...

?Missouri achieved its highest national ranking in program history this year, occupying the No. 7 spot in the Jan. 30 poll.

?MU’s top performer is senior Lauren Schwartzman, who is tied for first nationally on beam with Georgia’s Courtney Kupets.

?Missouri is the nation’s fifth-ranked beam team in the latest national polls, just barely behind Georgia, Iowa State, Utah and Florida.

 

Scouting the Competition: No. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels

?Head Coach: Derek Galvin (24th Year)      ?2006 Record: 17-8

?2006 High Score: 195.325 (at EAGL Championship, 3/26/06)                       

?2005 NCAA Finish: Did Not Qualify

?Last Meet: at EAGL Championship, 3/26/06 (1st/8, 195.325)

Quick Facts about the Tar Heels...

?UNC won its second straight EAGL conference title two weeks ago with a season-best 195.325. The Tar Heels have won three of the last five EAGL team championships.

?North Carolina senior Courtney Bumpers is a two-time NCAA floor exercise champion, as she tied with Alabama’s Ashley Miles in 2004 and won the title outright in 2005. Bumpers was also a first-team All-American on beam in 2003.

?Bumpers scored her ninth career perfect 10.0 to win the NCAA title last season, finishing just ahead of Miles (9.975) and Nebraska sophomore Emily Parsons (9.95).

 

Scouting the Competition: No. 23 West Virginia Mountaineers

?Head Coach: Linda Burdette (31st Year)      ?2006 Record: 22-8

?2006 High Score: 195.10 (vs. OhioState and Iowa, 3/5/06)                       

?2005 NCAA Finish: Did Not Qualify

?Last Meet: at EAGL Championship, 3/26/06 (3rd/8, 194.90)

Quick Facts about the Mountaineers...

?West Virginia finished second at the EAGL Championships two weeks ago with a score of 194.90, which set a season-high road mark.

?The Mountaineers’ top gymnast, junior Janae Cox, finished seventh in the all-around (39.0) at the EAGL meet. Cox qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual all-arounder in 2004 and 2005.

?Freshman Meghan Morris walked away from the conference championship with third-place honors on floor (9.875) and second-place honors on bars (9.85). Morris, who ranks 17th nationally on bars, won EAGL Rookie-of-the-Week awards four times this season.

 

Scouting the Competition: North CarolinaState Wolfpack

?Head Coach: Mark Stevenson (25th Year)      ?2006 Record: 23-8

?2006 High Score: 195.70 (at North Carolina, 2/26/06)                       

?2005 NCAA Finish: Did Not Qualify

?Last Meet: at EAGL Championship, 3/26/06 (2nd/8, 195.075)

Quick Facts about the Wolfpack...

?North Carolina State has finished in the top three at the EAGL Championship a league-record eight times in 11 appearances overall.

?NC State is competing in its 14th NCAA regional in the past 15 years, and the team recorded its highest regional finish (third) in 1993. The Wolfpack most recently finished sixth (193.575) in its 2003 regional appearance.

?Sophomore Leigha Hancock became the first EAGL vault champion in program history two weeks ago after posting a career-high 9.90 for the title.