Leiter Competes at U.S. Winter Cup Challenge This Weekend

While the rest of the Nebraska’s men’s gymnastics team enjoys its off week, junior All-American Derek Leiter (Lincoln, Neb.) will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the 1999 Winter Cup Challenge, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13, at the All-American SportPark.

Leiter will compete in the second of two preliminary all-around sessions, beginning at 9 p.m. (central time) on Friday, Feb. 12. The top 36 all-arounders from Friday’s two sessions will compete in Saturday night’s finals which begin at 9 p.m.. Leiter, who earned All-America honors at last spring’s NCAA Championships, qualified for this weekend’s competition based on his 19th-place finish at the 1998 John Hancock U.S. Championships last August.

The star-studded field includes 1996 Olympians Blaine Wilson, John Macready and John Roethlisberger, all seven members of the U.S. 1997 World Championships Team and some of the top gymnasts from the collegiate ranks.

University of Nebraska Head Coach Francis Allen, a two-time U.S. Olympic Head Coach, knows that this is an important meet for Leiter in his quest to make the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Allen, who is in his 30th season at Nebraska, has coached nine different Huskers Olympic berths.

“Derek has really geared his training for this meet,” Allen said. “If he wants to earn a spot on the 2000 Olympic Team, this is one of the first steps to accomplish that goal. The top 24 individuals are invited to train this summer and our goal is for Derek to be one of those 24.”

The competition will be used to help select the athletes for various international competitions this spring and summer, including the Visa American Cup (March 4-7) and the World University Games (July 1-13). In addition, up to three athletes who finish in the top 10 positions at the conclusion of the all-around finals and are not already on the U.S. National Team will be considered for addition to the squad.