King Selected As Nissen-Emery Award Finalist

Lincoln, Neb. - Senior Kyle King has been selected as a 2018 Nissen Emery Award finalist, announced this week by the College Gymnastics Association. This prestigious award is college gymnastics’ highest honor and is presented annually to an outstanding senior collegiate gymnast.

“It’s a huge honor to be selected as a finalist for the award,” King said. “I never thought of myself as someone getting that award, so to be a finalist brings me joy and inspires me to keep pushing for other great achievements.”

A Mesquite, Texas, native, King has been a leader for the Huskers since he first stepped onto campus his freshman year. In his first season at Nebraska, King competed in all seven regular-season meets and in the postseason. In postseason competition, King was a frontrunner on vault and floor. He earned a berth into the 2015 Big Ten Championships event finals competition on both events, taking the bronze medal for his season-best vault performance of a 15.10. King also qualified to the event semifinals at the NCAA Championships in Norman, Okla., placing ninth for his 14.65 vault.

This season, King returns as one of two All-Americans on the team and was listed as a Big Ten Gymnast To Watch. King has led the Huskers to many milestones this season, including a first-place Rocky Mountain Open finish for the first time since 2000 and a first-place finish at the Arnold Classic for the first time in school history. King’s season highlights include a score of 15.10 on vault at Oklahoma and a career-high 13.40 on high bar against Iowa.

“This is a huge honor for Kyle,” Head Coach Chuck Chmelka said. “All of his hard work and dedication is paying off and I am so happy and proud of him.”

Along with King, finalists include Sean Melton (Ohio State), Joel Gagnon (Minnesota), Brandon Ngai (Illinois), Hunter Justus (Oklahoma), Robert Neff (Stanford) and Austin Hodges (Iowa).