Huskers Head East for Big Ten Opening Meet

No. 15 Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-5, 0-0 Big Ten)

Saturday, Jan. 19, 12 p.m. CT -- New Brunswick, N.J. (Livingston Recreation Center)

Live Scores: sidearmstats.com/rutgersu/gymnastics/

Huskers Head East for Big Ten Opening Meet

Lincoln, Neb. -- The No. 15 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten), travels to New Brunswick, N.J. to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The meet will take place at the Livingston Recreation Center at Noon C.T.

NU is coming off a win over the Washington Huskies, 195.550-195.250. Nebraska pulled away from the Huskies in the third and fourth rotations to pick up its first victory of the season. Senior Sienna Crouse won the vault event title with a score of 9.85 and the all-around title at a 39.200 score, while Junior Sierra Hassel claimed the balance beam event title with a career high score of 9.90. Junior Taylor Houchin won the uneven bars event title with a score of 9.90 and the floor exercise event title with a score of 9.875. The Huskers are currently sitting at No. 15 in the Road to Nationals poll, as well as No. 24 on vault, No. 16 on uneven bars, No. 13 on balance beam and No. 22 on floor exercise.  Last week, Rutgers  traveled to Bridgeport, Conn. to compete in a quad meet against Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut and Yale. The Scarlet Knights placed third in the event with a team score of 193.175. Junior Kaitlyn Hall claimed first place on vault with a career high score of 9.80, while sophomore Belle Huang placed first on balance beam with a 9.825 score.  Up next, the Huskers return home to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for another Big Ten meet against Illinois on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. before heading to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the Michigan Wolverines on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m.

Season tickets are now on sale. General admission season tickets are $26 for adult general admission, and $14 dollars for youth and senior general admission. Single event tickets are $5 for adult general admission, and $3 for youth and senior general admission. Children six and under may attend the meet for free, as well as NU students with N-card. Tickets include access to both men's and women's gymnastics meets.

Fans can follow the Huskers on Twitter at @HuskersWGym, Instagram at @HuskersWGymnastics and Facebook at facebook.com/NebraskaWGym

SCOUTING RUTGERS Rutgers finished third of four in its last outing, a quad meet in Bridgeport, Conn. against Bridgeport, Southern Conn. and Yale with a score of 193.175. Junior Kaitlyn Hall claimed a first-place finish on vault with a career high of 9.80. Sophomore Bella Huang finished in first place on balance beam with a score of 9.825.

SERIES HISTORY The Huskers lead the all-time series against the Scarlet Knights 10-0 including post season play. The last meeting between the two teams came in 2018 in Lincoln, where the Huskers defeated Rutgers 196.950-194.400. 

LAST TIME OUT The Huskers made their home debut at the Bob Devaney Sports Center for the 2019 season against the Washington Huskies on Jan. 12. Nebraska defeated the Huskies 195.550-195.250. Senior Sienna Crouse won the vault event title with a score of 9.85 and the all-around title at a 39.200 score, while Junior Sierra Hassel claimed the balance beam event title with a career high score of 9.90. Junior Taylor Houchin won the uneven bars event title with a score of 9.90 and the floor exercise event title with a score of 9.875.

UP NEXT The Huskers will return home to the Bob Devaney Sports Center to take on Big Ten opponent Illinois on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Nebraska will then travel Ann Arbor, Mich. for a dual meet against defending Big Ten Champions Michigan on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m.

BEAM SQUAD RANKED NO. 13 IN NATION The Huskers posted their best team score against Washington on balance beam with a score of 49.025.Junior Sierra Hassel lead the way for the Huskers on the event last week against Washington, posting a career high score of 9.90 en route to the event title. Senior Megan Schweihofer added to that with a score of 9.825. Nebraska’s performance increased its team’s average on the event to 49.000 for the season.

NEBRASKA RANKED NO. 15 AFTER WEEK 2 OF COMPETITION Nebraska dropped to No. 15 in the RoadToNationals.com regular season rankings after the second week of NCAA competition. The only Big Ten opponent ranked ahead of Nebraska is Michigan who comes in at No. 9.

HUSKERS PICKED SECOND IN BIG TEN Coaches around the conference have picked Nebraska second in the Big Ten for the sixth consecutive year in the annual Big Ten Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Since joining the conference before the 2012 season, Nebraska has been selected first or second in every preseason poll. The Huskers came in second last season in the Big Ten Championships to Michigan, who is on top of this year’s preseason poll. Illinois comes in third, while Ohio State and Minnesota round out the top five.

STRONG SCHEDULE IN 2019 NU will face 10 teams ranked in the national preseason coaches’ poll top 25 in 2019, including a trip to defending National Champion UCLA and meets with No. 9 Michigan, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 13 Denver, No. 15 Washington, No. 16 Boise State, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 22 Illinois and No. 23 Minnesota. 

CROUSE, Houchin NAMED GYMNASTS TO WATCH Senior Sienna Crouse was selected as one of the 2019 Gymnasts to watch by the Big Ten conference for the second straight year. Sienna Crouse earned first team honors on floor, and second team All-America honors on vault, adding to her first team All-America honors on vault in 2017 and was also first team All-Big Ten, Firs Team Big Ten All-Championships and Academic All-Big Ten last season. Junior Taylor Houchin also joins Crouse as a 2019 Gymnast to watch. Houchin earned first team All-American status on vault, and second-team honors on balance beam, last season, the first of her career. She was also named Big Ten vault co-champion, Second Team All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten.

HUSKERS HOPE TO CONTINUE THEIR EMPIRE The Nebraska women’s gymnastics team finished sixth in the Super Six and returns 11 letter winners and three All-Americans from last season. The Husker squad selects a team motto each year, and in 2019 the gymnasts are #BOE.

STRONG SENIOR CLASS LEADS HUSKERS Nebraska returns two strong seniors for the 2019 season in Sienna Crouse and Megan Schweihofer. A native of Fargo, N.D., Crouse returns as an All-American and one of the Huskers most consistent competitors primarily on vault and floor. Last season she posted the highest vault score by any individual competitor with a 9.9625 during Super Six Finals. Schweihofer is also a returning All-American on floor and is one of the top competitors for Nebraska. Last season, she earned nine event titles. 

TOUTED TRIO OF ALL-AMERICANS TO HELP HUSKERS Nebraska received a total of eight All-America honors in 2018. Graduated senior Grace Williams earned second team honors on balance beam and floor, the first of her career. Seniors Sienna Crouse and Megan Schweihofer earned first team honors on floor, and second team All-America honors on vault, and second team honors on floor and in the all-around respectively. Junior Taylor Houchin earned first team All-American status on vault, and second-team honors on balance beam, the first of her career. Nebraska’s eight All-American honors are the most since 2012, and the two first-team honors mark the first time since 2015 NU had multiple first-teamers.

HUSKERS WELCOME FORMER MPSF CHAMPION MIKE HEREDIA TO COACHING STAFF Mike Heredia joined the Nebraska coaching staff in July of 2018. Heredia was a student-athlete at Nebraska in 2010, competing on floor exercise and vault. He was a letter winner with the Cornhuskers before transferring to Oklahoma where he became an All-American on vault in 2012. As a Sooner he was also a 2012 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion and was part of a team that posted back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2012. While in college, Heredia was a JO Levels 4-10 coach at various gyms including Gym Nevada and Bart Conner for nine season. After graduating, Heredia, joined the Iowa men’s gymnastics team asan assistant coach in 2013. In his one year there, he coached two All-Americans on rings as well as a Big Ten champion on rings. The Hawkeyes also had an All-American in the all-around. At the NCAA Championships, the Hawkeyes finished fifth - their highest finish since 2006. In 2013, Heredia would go on to build Fuzion Gymnastics from the ground up with his wife Jackie where he was co-owner and co-head coach for six years. During that time, Heredia would coach a 2016 JO national Floor Champion, as well as  two level 10 teams to state championships in girls and boys competition in 2018.  During his time with Fuzion Gymnastics, Heredia would graduate 14 athlets who would go on to compete in collegiate gymnastics at various schools including current sophomore, Anika Dujakovich.  Heredia and his wife Jackie have three girls; Norah, Rhyan and Graham and he will serve as bars, vault and floor coach for the Huskers.

HUSKERS INTRODUCE PAIR OF 2019 SIGNEES Interim Head Coach Heather Brink announced the signing of two future Nebraska gymnasts to the 2019 women’s gymnastics signing class. Kylie Piringer (Erya Ramsey, N.J.) and Kathryn Thaler (Katy, Texas) have signed their letters of intent and will join the roster for Nebraska women’s gymnastics’ 2020 season.

CORNHUSKERS GROW ACROSS UNITED STATES Nebraska features just one gymnast from Nebraska in sophomore Rachel Thompson on the 16-gymnast squad. The other 15 Huskers reign from 11 other states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, and New Jersey.

NEBRASKA BOARD OF REGENTS APPROVE NEW GYMNASTICS TRAINING FACILITY The University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved a proposal to build a new gymnastics training facility. The current plan calls for construction of the facility that will be used by Nebraska’s men’s and women’s programs as an addition to the northwest side of the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The facility will include training stations, coaches’ offices and locker rooms for both teams. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 28, 2018 with the project projected to be completed in January of 2020.