Huskers Take Fourth at MPSF Championship

Norman, Okla. - Despite a strong rally to break the top-three team standings, No. 11 Nebraska took fourth place at the 2010 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship at the Howard McCasland Field House on Saturday night with a team score of 341.650. Oklahoma captured the conference crown for the fifth time in six years with a score of 354.550. Eighth-ranked Cal earned a second-place finish (354.450), while Stanford took third (347.150) and Air Force placed fifth (329.500).

"We started off great and the middle of the meet was great, but we struggled on the last three events," Nebraska Coach Chuck Chmelka said. "It's disappointing because we did so well to start the meet. We just need to do better on floor and pommel horse. We need to hit and do the best we can. Rings was weird tonight too, but we can get that fixed. We have ten days to get everything corrected for nationals. We really just need to fix two events [pommel horse and floor exercise]. I'm really happy with how we did on three events tonight, but we just have to get better heading into nationals."

Nebraska got an early taste of the tough conference judging, as it posted a team score of 61.75 on vault in the first rotation, which was NU's second lowest vault score of the 2010 season. Cory Baumgarten, Bear Danley and Tony Maras each posted solid scores of 15.45 on the apparatus. Danley earned a career-high on the event, blasting his previous career high of 15.25. Hofer also counted top-four for the Huskers with a score of 15.40. After one rotation, NU took an early lead with a team mark of 61.75, while the Sooners were in second (57.80), Cal was in third (57.60), Stanford took fourth (56.45) and Air Force was in fifth (54.55).

Seniors Shanahan and Brule led the Huskers into the second rotation, helping NU to a score of 56.65 on parallel bars. Brule, who took first on parallel bars at NU's last home meet against Minnesota and Iowa, earned a score of 14.30. Shanahan led the way for the Huskers with a score of 14.55, his third highest score of the 2010 season. Hofer and Danley also helped the Huskers with scores of 14.20 and 13.60, respectively. After two rotations, OU overtook the lead with a score of 121.80, while NU moved down to second (118.40), Cal remained in third (115.95), Stanford was in fourth (113.40) and Air Force stayed in fifth (105.25).

NU moved to high bar in the third rotation, earning a score of 57.40 on the apparatus. Shanahan, who has placed first on high bar twice this season, posted a solid mark of 14.45 on the event. Danley (14.35) and Brule (14.30) each posted their second-highest scores of the season, while Rusler wowed his hometown crowd with a routine that earned him a score of 14.30. The Huskers headed to floor in the fourth rotation with a combined score of 175.80 on three events. NU only held a score of 169.05 after three rotations at the 2009 MPSF Championship.

Nebraska pulled together a solid score of 57.50 on floor exercise in the fourth rotation. Brule continued to post high marks for the Huskers, as he notched a career-high floor score of 14.90. Hofer and Shanahan also helped NU out with scores of 14.80 and 14.30, respectively, while Danley counted top-four with a score of 13.50. After four rotations, Cal overtook the lead with a score of 236.40, while OU moved down to second (235.80), NU was in third (233.30), Stanford was in fourth (224.60) and Air Force was in fifth (223.20).

The Huskers had a tough go on pommel horse in the fifth rotation, putting together an abnormally low score of 52.20. NU suffered several falls early in the lineup, however Shanahan stepped up in the final spot of the rotation with a score of 14.00. Hofer earned a score of 13.25, while David Jacobs (12.65) and Danley (12.30) also counted top-four for the Huskers. OU regained the lead after five rotations (297.65), while Cal took second (294.90). A tight race for the third place spot ensued, as Nebraska was just slightly ahead of Stanford, 285.50-284.55. Air Force remained in third place with a mark of 276.45.

With a close competition for the top-three spots, the Huskers rallied to finish strong on still rings in the sixth and final rotation. Seniors Shanahan and Maras posted scores of 14.40 and 14.25, respectively, while Baumgarten (13.95) and Anthony Ingrelli (13.55) also counted top-four for Nebraska. Despite NU's still rings score of 56.15, Stanford's vault score of 62.60 was too much for the Huskers and NU placed fourth in the competition. The Huskers had no individual finishers on any events.

The 2010 MPSF Championship marked the end of a conference era for six Husker gymnasts, as seniors Kyle Shanahan, Tony Maras, Josh Rusler and Daniel Brule have competed at every conference championship since the 2007 season. Senior all-arounder John Robinson has also competed in three previous conference championships, but recently suffered a season-ending hand injury and was unable to compete this weekend. Stefan Wallof, who competed at the championship for the first time this season, will wrap up his career following the 2010 NCAA Championships.

Nebraska's score of 341.650 from the MPSF Championship will be doubled and added to its modified three-score of average of 342.567. The average of those two marks will then determine NU's NCAA qualifying average and decide if the Huskers advance to the NCAA Championship on April 15-18 at West Point, N.Y. The Huskers will learn their NCAA fate early next week.