Hardabura Wins All-Around Title, Huskers Open Season With Second-Place Finish

Despite nearly a year off from competition, Nebraska senior Jason Hardabura won the pommel horse and all-around titles at the Rocky Mountain Open Friday night at Cadet Gymnasium, helping the seventh-ranked Huskers to a runner-up finish in their first meet of the season. No. 3 Oklahoma claimed the meet title with 209.750 points to the Huskers' 200.050. Host Air Force, ranked 15th nationally, finished third with 194.100 points.

Hardabura totaled 51.700 points, bettering Oklahoma's Gabe Hansen (50.050) by 1.65 points. Hardabura's all-around score leads the nation, surpassing Illinois gymnast Leo Oka's mark of 51.250. Hardabura, the 1999 all-around and floor exercise champion had season-ending shoulder surgery last March to repair the tendon that connects his right shoulder to its socket, and had not competed since Feb. 19. The Oakville, Ontario, native used a first-place finish on pommel horse (8.900) and a third-place finish on vault (9.000) to propel him to the title. He also finished fourth on floor (8.950), fifth on the horizontal bar (8.350) and sixth on rings (8.550) to qualify for the individual event finals in five of six events.

"Jason really had a good meet," Head Coach Francis Allen said. "He missed a little on parallel bars, but he didn't panic. This was a very good test for him and for our team. I think they'll take this back to the gym and start hammering it out. This will give them some confidence."

Junior Martin Fournier was also solid for the Huskers, placing third in the all-around (48.700) and qualifying for two event finals. Fournier finished second to Hardabura on pommel horse (8.500) and tied for eighth on vault (8.800). The top eight finishers on each event advance to Saturday's individual competition.

In all, the Huskers qualified five athletes for Saturday's individual event finals, including freshmen Steven Friedman and David Hansen. Friedman finished fourth in three events, scoring a 8.950 on vault, a 8.750 on rings, and a 8.450 on the horizontal bar. The Johannesburg, South Africa, native also tied for seventh on parallel bars with a score of 8.300. Hansen finished fourth on parallel bars (8.350) and tied for fifth on vault (8.850), becoming Nebraska's fifth vaulter to qualify for Saturday's contest.

Josh Rasile was Nebraska's third freshman in the lineup, contributing on five events and finishing in the top 15 on rings (12th, 8.350), vault (12th, 8.750) and parallel bars (15th, 7.800). Both Friedman and Rasile arrived in Lincoln in early January, leaving Allen with doubts as to what kind of a team he had.

"We weren't really sure what we had," Allen said. "We had never seen them. But I can see that those guys are my kind of gymnasts. They're going to be good competitors, and we're going to be a very good team."

Sophomore Ryan Sneed also qualified for the second day of competition. Sneed finished fourth on pommel horse (8.400), and tied for eighth on vault with a score of 8.800. Junior Jeff Kelly competed on rings for the Huskers, finishing tied for ninth with a score of 8.400.

"This went better than what I thought it would," Allen said. "I saw some good things."

The Huskers, who used only four athletes on both pommel horse and high bar, were forced to count a 6.800 on pommel horse and a 6.950 on high bar, but that doesn't worry Allen. Two seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and three freshmen make up the Nebraska roster, and Allen believes that with a little time, the Huskers' scores will improve.

"Down the road that won't happen," Head Coach Francis Allen said. "We'll be replacing the 6.800 with a 9.0. That's a pretty big swing."

This season the NCAA has introduced a new scoring system, resulting in much lower scores. It was apparent Friday as of the 165 scores issued, only nine were 9.000 or higher.