Nebraska Tested by Top Teams at MPSF Championships

The 10th-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team jumps into postseason action this weekend, as it heads to Berkeley, Calif., for the 2007 MPSF Championships on Saturday, March 31 at 9 p.m. Central. Tickets are available through host institution Cal-Berkeley by going to CalBears.com or by calling 1-800-GO-BEARS. Fan unable to attend the event can follow the action by watching Live Stats, which will be made available shortly before the meet begins. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Including the Huskers, four of the nation’s top 10 teams will compete in the meet, including No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 California, which hosts the contest. Sixteenth-ranked Air Force rounds out of the MPSF field.

 

Not only are some of the nation’s strongest teams vying for the MPSF title, but also many of college gymnastics top individual competitors will be present, including top-ranked all-arounder David Sender of Stanford. Additionally, the meet will also host the nation’s No. 1 ranked individuals on the pommel horse (Tim McNeill, <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Cal), still rings (Alex Schorsch, Stanford) and high bar (Dylan Carney, Stanford).

 

Nebraska brings a fair share of competition to the conference finale, including senior all-arounder Jason Wassung, who is currently ranked fourth nationally and second in the MPSF behind Sender. Sophomore T.J. Schmidt will also be a strong force for the Huskers, as he enters the meet ranked sixth nationally and third in the MPSF on the pommel horse, and 11th nationally, third in the MPSF, on the parallel bars.

 

As a team, the Huskers start the postseason after setting a season-high score of 207.75 for a win over Air Force to close the regular-season on March 17. With the win, Nebraska improved to 3-9 on the season and 3-6 in the MPSF.

 

Since joining the MPSF conference in 1994, NU has captured two team titles in 1997 and 1999. After 1999, Oklahoma notched six of the last seven conference championships, including back-to-back titles leading up to Saturday’s meet.

 

Individually, Nebraska is looking for its first event title at a conference championship since Josh Rasile took top honors on the vault in 2002. Likely candidates include Schmidt, Wassung and junior Stephen T?trault. Wassung finished fourth in the all-around last season, followed by T?trault in fifth and both will be vying for the top tier this weekend. After a solid debut season, Schmidt did not finish among the top three in any event at the 2006 MPSF Championships, but after tallying at least one event title in all but one meet this season, the Blair, Neb., native could be NU’s best bet for an event title this weekend.

 

Following the 2007 MPSF Championships, Nebraska will wait to learn if it has qualified for the NCAA Championships, which features the nation’s top 12 teams in three days of competition in University Park, Penn., April 12-14.

 

Scouting the MPSF Field

 

?? No. 3 Oklahoma

2007 Record: 11-2

Head Coach: Mark Williams, 8th Year

All-Americans Returning/Lost: 12/2

Top Returner: Jonathan Horton

2006 MPSF Finish (Score): First (219.175)

2006 NCAA Finish (Score): First (221.40)

 

A Quick Look at the Sooners

With six MPSF team titles in the last seven seasons, the Oklahoma Sooners are undoubtedly the favorites in this weekend’s competition. However, the Sooners haven’t put together quite as impressive a season as the previous two years leading up to their last two national titles, leaving them vulnerable to give up their conference crown in 2007.

 

Oklahoma is 11-2 on the year, dropping meets to Big Ten heavy hitters OhioState and Michigan earlier in the year. While OU posted a season-high mark of 220.50 in its final regular-season win over Iowa on March 17, the Sooners have been less than consistent this season, dropping as low as a 210 at times in 2007.

 

?? No. 4 Stanford

2007 Record: 11-2

Head Coach: Thom Glielmi, 5th Year

All-Americans Returning/Lost: 5/1

Top Returner: David Sender

2006 MPSF Finish (Score): Second (217.075)

2006 NCAA Finish (Score): Second (218.375)

 

A Quick Look at the Cardinal

After earning runner-up finishes to Oklahoma at both the MPSF and NCAA Championships last season, the Stanford Cardinal are looking to oust the dominant Sooners in 2007. Stanford has a golden opportunity to capture just its second MPSF team title in 2007, as the Cardinal are less than a point off OU’s season average. Additionally, Stanford’s roster has secured the top national rank in three events heading into the competition.

 

The Cardinal are toughest on the still rings, averaging a score of 37.40, but are also strong on the floor exercise (36.433) and high bar (36.40). Stanford starts its rotation on the floor exercise, giving it the chance to start and end with solid scores. The last time the Cardinal captured a team title was in the conference’s inaugural season in 1995.

 

?? No. 8 California

2007 Record: 6-5

Head Coach: Barry Weiner, 17th Year

All-Americans Returning/Lost: 6/0

Top Returner: Tim McNeill

2006 MPSF Finish (Score): Third (216.45)

2006 NCAA Finish (Score): Fifth (215.00)

 

A Quick Look at the Bears

Cal hosts the MPSF Championships in 2007 and enters the meet without having seen competition since March 10. The Bears were scheduled to take on PennState on March 17, but were forced to cancel the meet due to inclement weather. Despite their drought from competition, the Bears finished the regular season with a 213.00-212.30 upset over OhioState on March 10.

 

California is led by defending MPSF all-around champion Tim McNeill, who currently holds the top spot nationally on the pommel horse after taking the NCAA crown on that event last year.

 

?? No. 16 Air Force

2007 Record: 0-12

Head Coach: Kip Simons

All-Americans Returning/Lost: 0/0

Top Returner: Greg Stine

2006 MPSF Finish (Score): Fourth (184.725)

2006 NCAA Finish (Score): DNQ

 

A Quick Look at the Falcons

The only MPSF squad not to get a win in 2007, the Air Force Falcons will likely spend the league championships working on improving their team score and qualifying individual athletes to the NCAA Championships.

 

Junior Greg Stine is Air Force’s top prospect for a top-three finish and a trip the national championships. He is currently ranked 18th nationally in the all-around and could put up strong scores on the vault and still rings.  

 

Husker History at the MPSF Championships

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first recognized men’s gymnastics in 1995 and has since become home to five programs across the western half of the United States.

 

Stanford took top honors at the MPSF Championships during the first year, the only time in conference history for the Cardinal. Stanford also won an NCAA title that year.

 

Since then, every team but Air Force has gathered at least one MPSF team title, with Oklahoma leading the way with seven, including the 2006 crown. At the 2004 MPSF Championships, Cal broke the Sooners’ five-year sweep of the conference title.  The win was Cal’s third in MPSF history.

 

Over the last 12 years, Nebraska has claimed two MPSF titles, one of which it shared with Oklahoma in 1999. This was the last time Nebraska finished first and the Huskers have not managed to place higher than third overall since.

 

Individually, NU has placed at least one gymnast in the top spot in an event in seven of 12 MPSF Championships.  However, the Huskers have failed to claim a single conference title since Josh Rasile’s 2002 vault finish.

 

Last year, Nebraska finished fourth (209.725) after posting season-high scores in three events and capturing the runner-up spot on the pommel horse with a second-place finish by Derric Wood (8.80).

 

Additionally, Jason Wassung finished fourth in the all-around (52.50), followed by Stephen T?trault, who placed fifth (51.05).

 

Switching it Up

This week, the GymInfo national rankings went through the second of three changes this season, adopting a modified three-score average. Until March 19, national rankings for both teams and individuals had been determined based on a true three-score average. After that date however, the rankings changed to a modified average which recognized the top four scores counting no more than two home meets and drops the highest mark. The average is then calculated from the remaining three. Although the switch did not affect Nebraska’s team standing, it did make some difference in the individual ranks, moving senior Jason Wassung into third in the all-around, while dropping junior Stephen T?trault to 11th. Additionally, Wassung fell out of the high bar rankings and sophomore T.J. Schmidt moved up to 11th on the parallel bars.

 

Once the conference championships have been held, the rankings will change once again, to determine a team’s national qualifying average. The NQA is computed by doubling the conference meet score and adding it to the modified three-score average.  The average of these five scores, which includes the doubled conference score, will be the national qualifying average. For an individual, his score in the conference event finals can replace a regular season score.

 

Husker Injury Update

An injury-plagued lineup will continue to hound Nebraska at the MPSF Championships, as five Huskers are still battling back to health.

 

Most noticeably absent from the NU lineup is freshman rings specialist Tony Maras, who broke his hand several weeks ago and has since been removed from competition. Although Maras will not make the conference meet, his return for the NCAA Championships in two weeks is still hopeful.

 

Additionally, three of Nebraska’s all-arounders, John Robinson, Josh Rusler and Kyle Shanahan, will see limited competition at Cal. A rough landing during a floor routine injured both Shanahan’s right and left ankles, and the Huskers weren’t sure if the Monument, Colo, native would make it back this season. However, Shanahan has competed on the pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars and high bar for the Huskers in the last month and will continue to do so at the MPSF Championships.

 

Robinson will also be used on a majority of events, while Rusler will return to the floor exercise, as well as competing on the vault and high bar, two events where Nebraska is struggling to find depth.

 

Makin’ His Move

With so much of the Nebraska lineup sidelined with injury, sophomore James Mauldin has made his move back into the NU rotation. After not competing on a single event for five weeks, Mauldin stepped in on the pommel horse, still rings and parallel bars for NU against Iowa on Feb. 24 and has since been a consistent force in all three events.

 

In Nebraska’s last regular-season dual, Mauldin brought his skills to a new level, tallying career-high marks on the pommel horse (8.40) and still rings (8.50). The Racine, Wis., native’s scores brought him yet another achievement as he reached the podium for the first time in his career with third-place finish on the pommel horse.

 

Triple Threat

The Husker trio of senior Jason Wassung, junior Stephen T?trault and sophomore T.J. Schmidt bring more than experience to the Nebraska roster this season; they bring results. In seven meets this season, these three returners have accounted for more than 60 percent of NU’s team points production, or 980 of 1,625.55 total points. That total has continued to rise over the last several weeks as the three gymnasts have consistently presented top performances in Nebraska’s home duals.

 

Wassung, the team’s only consistent all-arounder, is responsible for almost 24 percent by himself and has counted all but three routines toward the Husker team score.

 

In addition to the team contribution, Wassung, T?trault and Schmidt’s performance has paid individual dividends as well. Together, they own 18 of 20 event titles for Nebraska, with Schmidt leading the way at 10.

 

MPSF Honors

Junior Stephen T?trault earned the MPSF’s final Gymnast of the Week honor following his notable performance to end the regular-season against Air Force. In the meet, T?trault marked a season-high score of 52.00 in the all-around and took home event titles in vault (9.00) and high bar (9.05). It was the first vault title for the Lincoln, Neb., native since he earned All-America honors on the event in 2005.

 

With T?trault’s award, Nebraska ended the season with three MPSF Gymnast of the Week selections, the second highest total of any team in the conference.

 

Sophomore T.J. Schmidt started things out for the Huskers by earning his award on Jan. 22, followed by a Gymnast of the Week nomination for senior Jason Wassung on Feb. 27.

 

Nebraska ties Oklahoma as the only two teams in the league to have three separate athletes selected as gymnasts of the week.

 

Watching Wassung

In his final season with the Huskers, senior Jason Wassung has proven he is a competitor to watch.

 

Following the regular season, Wassung has finished either first or second in the all-around in every meet, including earning three all-around titles. Nebraska’s only fourth-year competitor, Wassung has also set career-high marks on the parallel bars (9.40) and high bar (9.40) in 2007, and owns an event title on each apparatus.

 

The Lincoln native owns a season-high all-around mark of 52.95, which he earned against Minnesota on March 11. The score tops his all-around high of 52.50 in 2006 and improved Wassung to fourth in the GymInfo national rankings, where he has remained for three consecutive weeks.

 

Overall, Wassung has counted for more than 24 percent of Nebraska’s points production this season, marking team scores for all but three routines. His performance has not gone unrecognized, as he was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Co-Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 27. He is also a five-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

 

Schmidt Hits

In his second season at Nebraska, sophomore T.J. Schmidt has consistently surpassed expectation.

 

During the regular season, Schmidt set career high scores nine times, besting his own high scores on floor exercise (8.85), pommel horse (9.25), still rings (8.95) and parallel bars (9.35). Schmidt’s success is not simply a case of making the leap from an often times limited freshman campaign to that of a more experienced sophomore. In fact, the Blair, Neb., native earned his share of the spotlight even in 2006 as NU’s top parallel bars specialist, earning a team-high score of 9.10 and advancing to the event preliminaries at the NCAA Championships. Instead, Schmidt’s outstanding start could more accurately be attributed to hard work and determination.

 

The Blair, Neb., native owns a team-high 10 event titles this season, five on pommel horse and five on parallel bars. However, Schmidt has taken both crowns in the same meet only twice this season, most recently against Air Force to close the regular season on March 17. He also owns a team-high score of 9.25 on the pommel horse, which he set against Stanford on March 4.

 

Schmidt debuted at 13th on the pommel horse in GymInfo event rankings this season and this week improved to the sixth-place spot. He is also ranked 11th on the parallel bars.

 

T?trault Makes Big Return to Husker All-Around Group

After a Jan. 20 injury took junior Stephen T?trault out of the floor exercise and vault lineups, his return to the all-around was always highly anticipated by the Huskers. But what Nebraska didn’t expect was that the Lincoln, Neb., would come back even better than before his setback.

 

In his first meet back on all six events against Iowa on Feb. 24, T?trault put together one of his best performances of the season. The 5-8 all-arounder landed then season-high scores on the floor exercise (8.90), still rings (8.65), vault (8.55) and all-around (51.80), and earned his first event title of the season with a career-high mark of 8.95 on the parallel bars. It was the first time the Lincoln, Neb., native had bettered a career high since his freshman season in 2005.

 

T?trault continued to improve against Stanford on March 4, setting a season-high mark on the pommel horse (9.15) for third place. He closed the regular season in high style, setting season-high scores on the vault (9.00), high bar (9.05) and all-around (52.00) in the win over Air Force, earning event titles on the vault and high bar.

 

The 5-8 all-arounders performance has resulted in success on the national field, as this week T?trault is ranked 12th (51.467) on the GymInfo polls.         

 

Last Meet Repeat: Huskers Sweep Falcons in Final Home Dual

In a fitting finale to the 2007 regular season, the No. 10 Huskers set a season-high mark in topping No. 16 Air Force, 207.75-190.10 at the DevaneyCenter on March 17. Nebraska swept the top-three spots on three of six events in the win, while senior Jason Wassung notched the fifth all-around title of his career (52.40).

 

Nebraska captured the top three places on the pommel horse, vault and high bar against the Falcons, making it the first time the Huskers had swept any event this season. Junior Stephen T?trault and sophomore T.J. Schmidt each captured a pair of event titles in the win. T?trault’s came on the vault (9.00) and high bar (9.05), giving him his second and third titles of the season and a season-high all-around score of 52.00. Schmidt gained his fifth crowns on both the pommel horse (9.20) and parallel bars (9.25).

 

Nebraska came out exceptionally strong on the floor exercise to start the meet, earning a team score of 35.00, just shy of its season high of 35.25. Senior Jon Charter made his final performance at the DevaneyCenter a good one, as he set a career-high mark of 8.70. Schmidt also notched a career best of 8.85 for second place in the event.

 

NU’s top scores continued to come on the pommel horse in the second rotation, beginning with a career best of 8.40 from sophomore James Mauldin for third place. Mauldin, who reached the podium for the first time in his career, was followed by a solid mark of 9.10 from T?trault for second before Schmidt took the title with a score of 9.20.

 

Still without its top ringman Tony Maras, who is out with a broken hand, Nebraska moved to the still rings in the third rotation. Mauldin again kicked off the event for the Huskers, improving to two-for-two on career-highs for the night with a career best of 8.50. Schmidt also continued his impressive evening, placing second with a mark of 8.90.

 

The Huskers struggled through the vault rotation, an event that has lost considerable depth due to injury in the past two weeks. However, T?trault, an All-American on the vault, was able to post a season best of 9.00 for his first event title on the vault since 2005. Wassung added a season best of 8.90 for second, while sophomore Eric Daigle and freshman John Robinson tied for third (8.15) to give the Huskers their second event sweep of the meet.

 

The Huskers posted a solid score of 34.75 on the parallel bars, behind the ever-present force of Schmidt, who earned his second event title of the meet with a score of 9.25. Schmidt was followed by Wassung (8.80) in second.

 

The Huskers capped off the regular season on the high bar, as T?trault earned his second event title of the evening with a season-high score of 9.05. Wassung also gave a memorable performance in his final routine at the DevaneyCenter for a score of 8.95 and second place on the event.

 

Huskers Draw Largest Crowd of 2007

Nebraska’s home opener against Oklahoma on Feb. 2 featured a crowd of 4,125 fans, the largest crowd to view an NCAA men’s gymnastics meet during the entire regular season. In fact, the mark is more than double any other dual in the nation and is rivaled only by the West Point Open, which combines attendance over a three-day period.

 

T?trault Selected to Inaugural Husker 24

Nebraska junior Stephen T?trault was honored on Feb. 16 by the Nebraska Alumni Association as a member of the inaugural Husker 24, an award that recognizes students for displaying the association’s core values of leadership, service, integrity and spirit.

 

T?trault was among 24 University of Nebraska juniors to receive the honor. He was chosen from a group of 65 nominees who were nominated by a faculty or staff member. The inaugural group was recognized with at a banquet with the winners later being awarded a Nebraska Ring at the annual Nebraska Ring Ceremony in April.

 

T?trault is a 2005 All-American for Nebraska, and competes as an all-arounder for the Huskers this season. The Lincoln, native also serves as the men’s gymnastics Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative and is a member of the 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Academic All-Conference team. 

 

T?trault was among six Husker student-athlete selected for the honor, including Sarah Pavan (volleyball), Mark Hightower (baseball), Meghan Hungerford (soccer), Imke Reimers (women’s tennis) and Issar Yazhbin (track and field).