No. 9 Huskers Head to Minnesota

The No. 9 Nebraska women's gymnastics team returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 18, when they hit the road to take on the Minnesota Gophers for the second time this season.

Action from the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn., is set to begin at 6 p.m. Live stats for Saturday's meet will be available at GopherSports.com, while the competition will also be shown on the Big Ten Network on tape delay on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.

The Huskers own an 8-1 overall record after their first-place showing at the Masters Classic last weekend, where they defeated No. 20 Washington, No. 22 Michigan and Southern Utah with a score of 196.550. Nebraska topped Minnesota in the school's first meeting earlier this season at a quad-meet in Norman, Okla., 196.750-194.625, on Feb. 3. In that meet, true freshman Jessie DeZiel won the all-around competition, while Lora Evenstad (FX), Emily Wong (BB) and Jamie Schleppenbach (V) all captured event titles for NU.

Scouting the Competition: Minnesota
- Head Coach: Meg Stephenson (14th season)
- 2012 Record: 4-5 (4-6 Big Ten)
- 2012 High Score: 195.425 (vs. Gustavus, Hamline, Winona State, 2/11/12)
- 2011 NCAA Finish: N/A

A Glance at the Golden Gophers...
- Minnesota is coming off its best performance of the season on Feb. 11, when they scored a season-high 195.425 and defeated Gustavus, Hamline and Winona State in the Best of Minnesota meet.

- The Gophers are ranked at No. 20 nationally on floor (48.808), No. 21 on vault (48.838) and No. 24 on beam (48.454). Junior Shannon Golich has the 17th-best beam average in the country with a 9.831.

- Sophomore Kayla Slechta had her best performance of the year in Minnesota's last meet, scoring a season-high on three events and winning the all-around with a 39.20. The Gophers won all four event titles at the event, while also posting season-high scores as a team on the bars (48.775) and beam (48.925).

- The Gophers are coached my Meg Stephenson, who is in her 14th season as head coach.

- The Huskers own a 20-9-1 record in the all-time series with Minnesota. The last time the two school met, NU came out on top, 196.750-194.625, earlier this season.

Nebraska's Competition Order at Minnesota
Rotation            Nebraska             Minnesota
1                      Uneven                Bars Vault
2                      Vault                   Uneven Bars
3                      Floor Exercise        Balance Beam
4                      Balance Beam       Floor Exercise

Last Time Out: Huskers Capture Masters Classic Title
Performing in front of 1,407 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the Nebraska women's gymnastics team won its 17th straight Masters Classic title after taking down No. 20 Washington, No. 22 Michigan and Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Nebraska posted a team score of 196.55, finishing ahead of second-place Michigan (195.825), Washington (194.150) and Southern Utah (191.90). The Huskers also posted meet-high scores in the vault (49.50), bars (49.275) and floor (49.375). Nebraska produced six all-around scores for the first time in Head Coach Dan Kendig's 19 seasons.

The Huskers scored the top three all-around scores of the meet, including true freshman Jessie DeZiel, who won the all-around for the fourth time by posting a 39.45. Nebraska also won three of the four event titles, with Janelle Giblin and DeZiel tying for the vault crown, and Lora Evenstad and Giblin finishing in a tie for the bars title. Sophomore Emily Wong won the floor title for the first time this season.

The Huskers got off to a blazing start on the vault, posting six scores above 9.80 en route to a total score of 49.45, which was the second-highest vault score in the Masters Classic history and the highest total this season for the Huskers. Evenstad led the event off with a 9.80 and was followed by a career and season-high 9.90 from Brittany Skinner to get the Huskers rolling. After a 9.875 from Wong, Jessie DeZiel and Giblin both tied their career high with 9.925s. Jamie Schleppenbach scored a 9.825 to round out the first event.

The Huskers, who led after one rotation over Michigan, 49.45-48.80, recorded two career-high scores on the bars and hit all six routines to help them to their 49.275 score. Schleppenbach scored a career and season best 9.775 after a 9.80 from Wong to kick off the event. DeZiel posted a 9.85 before Skinner picked up her second season-high score of the night with a 9.825. Giblin tied a career-high and scored her fourth 9.90 of the season before Evenstad posted a 9.90 of her own to conclude the event.

On the beam, the Huskers responded from a fall in the opening routine to score a 48.45 and keep the lead after three rotations, 147.175-146.850, over second place Michigan. Washington was in third place after three rotations with a 146.050, while Southern Utah sat in fourth with a 143.250. DeZiel led the way with her 9.85, while Wong captured a 9.775 for NU. Skinner scored a 9.75, while Schleppenbach scored a 9.55 and Evenstad posted a 9.525.

The Huskers finished the meet strong on the floor, posting a season-high score of 49.375 and scoring above 9.70 on all six routines. Wong, who took the event title, scored a career high 9.925 to lead NU. Skinner also posted a career high with a 9.875, while DeZiel and Evenstad closed the meet with a 9.825 and 9.90, respectively.

Huskers Post Six All-Around Scores
For the first time in his 18-plus seasons at Nebraska, Head Coach Dan Kendig had all six gymnasts compete in the all-around in the Huskers' last meet against Washington, Michigan and Southern Utah. Jessie DeZiel, Lora Evenstad, Janelle Giblin, Jamie Schleppenbach, Brittany Skinner and Emily Wong all competed in the all-around, while DeZiel took home the crown with a 39.45. Nebraska finished with the top three spots in the all-around, with Wong finishing in second with a 39.375 and Skinner taking home third place with a career-high 39.35.

Earlier this season, the Huskers posted five all-around scores in their season-opener against Denver and have tallied at least three all-around scores in every meet this season.

DeZiel Collects Fifth Straight Big Ten Honor
True freshman Jessie DeZiel continued her impressive streak of Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards on Monday, Feb. 13, collecting her record fifth straight honor. DeZiel was honored after her performance in the Huskers' victory over No. 20 Washington, No. 22 Michigan and Southern Utah at the Masters Classic on Saturday, Feb. 11. Penn State's Sharaya Musser won Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the second consecutive week.

DeZiel won her fourth all-around competition of the season by scoring a 39.450 and posting scores of 9.825 or higher on all four events. DeZiel tied teammate Janelle Giblin for the vault title by tying a career-high 9.925, while posting a team-high 9.85 on the beam to finish in second place. The Rogers, Minn., native finished fourth on the bars (9.85) and eighth on the floor (9.825).

Giblin Dominating on Bars
Junior Janelle Giblin has been dominant on the uneven bars so far this season, scoring a 9.85 or above in all five meets. Giblin has posted four 9.90s to help her earn four event titles in five of the Huskers' competitions. The junior is currently tied with Oregon State's Leslie Mak for the top bars average in the country at 9.89. Entering this season, Giblin's career high was 9.875.

Huskers in the Rankings
After their first-place showing in Masters Classic last weekend, the Huskers have all four events ranked inside the top 25 nationally, including three events ranked inside the top five.

On floor, the Huskers are ranked No. 2 in the country with an average of 49.19, while sitting behind top-ranked Utah, who owns a 49.225 average. The Huskers are the No. 3-rated vault squad in the country with a 49.33 average and No. 4 on the bars with a 49.205 average. NU ranks at No. 23 on the beam.

Individually, Jessie DeZiel is ranked inside the top 25 on all four events, while checking in at No. 8 on the balance beam with an average of 9.855. Lora Evenstad's 9.905 average on the floor places her at No. 2 nationally. Janelle Giblin is the top-ranked bars performer in the country, posting a 9.89 average.

Big Ten Network to Show Huskers
After this weekend's competition, which will air on the Big Ten Network on tape delay (Feb. 24, 7 p.m.), the Huskers meet with Iowa State in Lincoln on Friday, March 16, will also air on BTN on tape delay basis on Saturday, March 17 at 11 a.m. (CT).

The first session of this year's Big Ten Championships on March 24 will be televised on the same day at 6 p.m., and the second session will air live. The championships are being held in Iowa City, Iowa.

Evenstad Leading Huskers on Floor
Senior Lora Evenstad has been one of the top performers in the country on floor this season. The Grand Forks, N.D., native is ranked at No. 2 in the country on the event with an average of 9.905, sitting behind only Jamie Pisani from Arkansas, who owns a 9.925 average.

Evenstad set her career-high earlier this season with a 9.925 and has won three event titles for NU. Evenstad is the only Husker ranked inside the top 10 nationally on floor, while Brittany Skinner ranks just outside the top 10 at No. 12 with a 9.875 average.

Huskers Set to Take on Nation's Best
After their meet against Minnesota this weekend, the Huskers will have three consecutive competitions against teams currently ranked inside the top five nationally. The Huskers will travel to No. 5 Arkansas next Saturday, Feb. 24, before a home meet against No. 2 Florida on Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. Nebraska will then travel to No. 1 Utah for its last regular-season away meet on Friday, March 9.

NU finishes its regular season at home against Iowa State on Friday, March 16 at the Devaney Center at 7 p.m.

Kendig Builds One of Nation's Top Programs at Nebraska
Head Coach Dan Kendig is the all-time winningest coach in the 35 years of Nebraska women's gymnastics history. In 18 seasons at Nebraska, Kendig is 424-164-4 overall and 287-67-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig is in his 29th year of coaching and owns a career record of 534-276-5.

An eight-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to 12 conference championships and three straight regional championships from 2000 to 2002. He was most recently named the 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year.

He has also led Nebraska to 14 NCAA Championship appearances in the past 17 seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011. Kendig was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, a year in which the Huskers finished fourth nationally.

Under Kendig's guidance in 2011, Nebraska finished with a 22-12 overall record. The Huskers took fourth at the 2011 NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, in their 28th straight NCAA postseason appearance, which tied for the highest finish in school history. Five of Kendig's gymnasts --Lora Evenstad (FX), Brittany Skinner (BB), Janelle Giblin (V, AA), Jamie Schleppenbach (V) and Emily Wong (UB) -- earned All-America honors.

All-Americans Ready to Lead Huskers
The Huskers return six All-Americans off a squad that tied the best finish in school history a year ago. Lora Evenstad, Janelle Giblin, Kassandra Nathe, Brittany Skinner, Jamie Schleppenbach and Emily Wong have all earned All-America honors in their careers. In perhaps its deepest event, NU returns four All-Americans on vault, including 2011 first-team honorees Giblin and Schleppenbach. The Huskers return three All-Americans on uneven bars and All-American on both floor and beam.

The Huskers will be without Nathe, who was lost before the season with an ankle injury. It is the second consecutive season Nathe has been lost to injury after sitting out last year with a hurt arm.

Miller, Brink Join Coaching Staff
Assistant coaches Dan Miller and Heather Brink began their college coaching careers when the Huskers took Denver after being hired this offseason. Brink will coach the balance beam, while also assisting with choreography on the floor exercises. Brink was an 11-time All-American at NU and became a two-time national champion in 2000 by winning the all-around and vault title as a senior.

Miller comes to Nebraska after serving as the owner and head coach at Arena Gymnastics in Joliet, Ill. Miller will coach the Husker vault and floor squads. In his career, Miller has coached over 50 Level 10 gymnasts and 16 national qualifiers.