Five Huskers Continue to Hunt All-America Honors

West Point, N.Y. - The Nebraska men's gymnastics team placed ninth overall at the 2010 NCAA Championships, while five Nebraska gymnasts will move on to compete in the event qualifier on Friday, April 16, at the Holleder Center at 6 p.m. Central in West Point, N.Y.

As a team, Nebraska made a tough push to move into the top-three team qualifiers. However, Nebraska posted a score of 343.100 as a team, which was not quite enough to make the top-six teams to vie for the 2010 NCAA Championship. The Huskers earned a fourth-place finish in the team qualifier, while earning a ninth-place finish in the championships. Michigan topped the qualifier with a score of 359.800, while Oklahoma placed second (356.400) and Cal placed third (355.000). Michigan, OU, California, Stanford, Illinois and Ohio State will all vie for the 2010 NCAA Championship title tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Central.

"We ended ninth as a team," Nebraska Coach Chuck Chmelka said. "We came in seeded 10th, so I think that's a nice improvement. We had to count one miss tonight and had a hit percentage of 77%. We got a little dinged up in warm-ups, which hurt us. I think we did pretty good. We'll just know that next year when we're competing against the best teams we need to stick our landings and be even more prepared."

Although Nebraska will not move on to the finals as a team, there will still be a strong Husker presence at Friday's competition. The top-three event finishers not on a team advancing to the team finals earn the right to continue on to the event qualifier on Friday night.  

All-arounders Kyle Shanahan and Andreas Hofer both made the all-around finals and will vie for All-America honors on Friday, April 15, at 6 p.m. Central.

In addition, three other Huskers will represent Nebraska at the 2010 NCAA individual event qualifier, which will be held on Friday at 6 p.m. also. Ringmen Tony Maras and Anthony Ingrelli look to advance to Saturday's event finals on still rings, while senior Daniel Brule earned a spot in the event qualifier on parallel bars for the first time in his career. The event finals will be held on Saturday, April 17, at 6 p.m. Central.

The Huskers marched to floor exercise in the first rotation, only competing five gymnasts on the event. Sophomore Josh Dilworth suffered an injury during warm-ups and was forced to scratch both of his events (floor and vault). The Huskers struggled to stay on the floor early in the rotation, but Hofer sparked the team with his stellar routine, which earned the Germany native his second-best score of the season with a 14.95.  Shanahan followed suit with a solid score of 14.75 on the event, helping the Huskers better their conference floor score of 57.50 with an NCAA team score of 57.55. After the first rotation, Nebraska was in third place behind OU (64.60) and Michigan (59.70).

After sitting out with a bye in the second rotation, senior co-captain Tony Maras started NU off on pommel horse with a career-high score of 12.80. The senior leadership continued, as Josh Rusler earned his second-best score of his career with a 13.30. Hofer and sophomore David Jacobs also put together strong routines with scores of 13.65 and 13.00, respectively. Shanahan ended the Nebraska pommel horse routines on a high note with a season-high score of 14.20. Nebraska had struggled on pommel horse for much of the season, but was able to pull together when it counted most to earn its third-best season score on horse with a 54.15.

The Huskers moved on to still rings in the fourth rotation, earning their third-best team score of the season on the event with a 57.75. Hofer kept up the momentum for NU with a score of 14.25, his third-highest score of the 2010 season, while Maras posted his third-best score of the season with a 14.60. Despite dismount troubles late in the season, ringman Anthony Ingrelli kept his dismount safe to earn a spot in the event preliminaries with his second-highest score of the season with a 14.95. After four rotations, Michigan took the lead with a score of 180.200, while Oklahoma was close behind with a 180.150. Minnesota was in third (176.650), while Cal took fifth (117.450). Nebraska and Iowa sat in the bottom two, with scores of 111.700 and 109.300, respectively.

Nebraska struggled on vault in the fifth rotation, only pulling together a score of 61.40, its lowest score of the 2010 season. The top-four scores to count for the Huskers came from Baumgarten (15.40), Maras (15.50), Hofer (15.60) and Shanahan (14.90).

Despite early struggles on parallel bars, Nebraska rallied together at the end of the lineup to earn a score of 56.25. Brule earned his second-highest score of the 2010 season with a 14.40, while Hofer and Shanahan notched solid scores of 14.55 each. Heading into the final rotation, Oklahoma led the standings with a 298.000, while Michigan was close behind in second (296.300). Cal was in third (296.150), while Minnesota was in fourth (294.55). Nebraska and Iowa were in the bottom two, 287.100-282.500.

The Huskers put up a score of 56.00 on high bar in the final rotation, which was not enough to overcome tough scores posted by Michigan, Oklahoma, California

Two Husker seniors ended their Nebraska careers tonight, including Stefan Wallof and Josh Rusler. Both gymnasts were strong leaders and contributors to the Nebraska gymnastics program.

Floor Exercise
Michael Heredia - 13.20
Cory Baumgarten - 13.75
Daniel Brûlé - 14.10
Andreas Hofer - 14.95
Kyle Shanahan - 14.75

Pommel Horse
Tony Maras - 12.80
Bear Danley - 10.55
Josh Rusler - 13.30
Andreas Hofer - 13.65
Kyle Shanahan - 14.20

Still Rings
Stefan Wallof - 13.10
Cory Baumgarten - 13.25
Andreas Hofer - 14.25
Tony Maras - 14.60
Kyle Shanahan - 13.95
Anthony Ingrelli - 14.95

Vault
Cory Baumgarten - 15.40
Tony Maras - 15.50
Michael Heredia - 14.55
Andreas Hofer - 15.60
Kyle Shanahan - 14.90

Parallel Bars
Bear Danley - 11.60
Stefan Wallof - 12.75
David Jacobs - 11.55
Daniel Brule - 14.40
Andreas Hofer - 14.55
Kyle Shanahan - 14.55

High Bar
Bear Danley - 13.80
Josh Rusler - 13.90
David Jacobs - 12.85
Daniel Brule - 13.20
Andreas Hofer - 13.90
Kyle Shanahan - 14.40

NU Event Scores
Floor Exercise - 57.55
Pommel Horse - 54.15
Still Rings - 57.75
Vault - 61.40
Parallel Bars - 56.25
High Bar - 56.00