NU Sets School Record in Victory Over Tigers

Columbia, Mo. - Freshman Alecia Ingram (Knoxville, Tenn.) earned top-two finishes in all four events, as ninth-ranked Nebraska women's gymnastics team topped the 197-point plateau for the first time in school history with a 197.025-194.425 victory over Missouri at the Hearnes Center Sunday.

Ingram's performance propelled the Huskers to their record-setting outing, as NU broke the previous school record of 196.875 set twice last season, most recently at the NCAA Region 3 Championships on April 1, 2000. In all, NU hit all 24 routines and scored 49 or better on all four events en route to its third straight victory. Nebraska's team score is the second highest in the nation this season, trailing only the 197.50 by UCLA last week against Utah. The Bruins handed the Huskers their only loss of the season at the Maui Invitational earlier this month.

"Today we showed the quality of the routines and the depth we have," Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig said. "For us to go above a 197 on the road so early in the season is impressive. We wanted to go out and make a statement and we did today. When we had our team meeting last night, we talked about just going out there and focusing on the routines we needed to do, and hitting 24 of 24 routines. We really got a great start and it snowballed from there. The thing about today is that we didn't give away obvious tenths, such as on landings, and the front of our lineup give us a chance to put some good numbers up."

Ingram won the all-around with a score of 39.625, the third-highest score ever by a Husker gymnast, in breaking the freshman all-around record for the second time this season. The rookie set freshman records on vault (9.925) and balance beam (9.925) and also placed first on floor exercise with a 9.875 and second on uneven bars (9.925).

"When the lights come on, she is always ready," Kendig said. "She didn't have a great warm-up, but she came out and did an amazing job today. I was glad to see it because she had her mother and grandparents there and wanted to perform well."

Ingram's heroics overshadowed an outstanding performance by freshman Gina Bruce (Champlin, Minn.) and sophomore A.J. Lamb (Lincoln, Neb.). Making her all-around debut this afternoon, Bruce earned a trio of top-three finishes, tying or setting career highs on all four events, including a runner-up finish on vault (9.90) and a third-place score floor exercise (9.85) en route to a score of 39.325 to place second in the all-around to Ingram.

"Gina really stepped up for us," Kendig said. "We thought she was only going to do two events, but Bree (Dority O'Callaghan) hurt her calf in warm-ups, and Gina goes out and scores a 39.325 in the all-around, including a perfect vault for her (Bruce's vault has a 9.90 start value). She has done that all season for us."

Lamb, who had not competed all season because of a back injury, made her 2001 debut on balance beam, placing second as she tied her career best with a 9.90.

The Huskers started strong and took control from the first rotation, as the Huskers scored a 49.35 on uneven bars, including a first-place score of 9.95 by Julie Houk (Hamilton, Ohio), while the Tigers' score of 48.15 on vault put them over a point behind after one event. In the second rotation, the Tigers scored a solid 48.925 on uneven bars, led by Ann Geiter, who tied for third with NU's Tami Harris (Virginia, Beach, Va.) with a score of 9.875. The Huskers continued to build on their lead, scoring a season-high 49.125 on the event, as the Huskers swept the top three sports, with senior Amy Ringo (Phoenix, Ariz.) placing third with a 9.80.

The Huskers continued to build on the lead in the final two rotations, scoring 49.20 or better on both balance beam and floor exercise. On floor, NU swept six of the top seven spots, including a four-way tie for third between freshman Libby Landgraf (Ft. Collins, Colo.), sophomore Jess Wertz (Lebanon, Ohio), Ringo and MU's Alina Hamm with a score of 9.85. Needing a 49.05 to tie the school record, the Huskers turned in their strongest beam set of the season with a score of 49.35, the second-best total in school history, as all six NU gymnasts scored 9.80 or better. NU swept the top four spots as Ringo placed third with a 9.875, while sophomore Jen French (Greensboro, N.C.) finished fourth with a 9.85.

Nebraska returns home to face No. 10 Oklahoma this Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Devaney Center, beginning at 7:30 p.m.