Huskers to Host Mastsers Classic

This season the Nebraska womens gymnastics team has been extremely successful on the road, breaking the school record for team score in consecutive away meets and setting a new school record on uneven bars. The Huskers will attempt to duplicate their road success this weekend in Lincoln, when they host the 12th Annual Masters Classic on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Unlike in past years, this years meet will be held at Pershing Auditorium instead of at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the Huskers home facility. Both the mens gymnastics meet on Friday and the womens meet on Saturday were forced to move to Pershing because the Devaney Center is booked solid this weekend with mens and womens basketball games and the Big 12 Conference Indoor Track and Field meet.

For the 8-1 Huskers, Saturdays meet concludes a tough month of February. With No. 12 LSU, No. 21 Denver and No. 23 North Carolina State in town for the Masters Classic, of the nine opponents Nebraska has faced this season, eight have been ranked in the top 25.

The Huskers enter this weekend fully rested after taking last weekend off, marking the longest break of the season for the Huskers. The time off gave several Huskers a chance to recover from nagging injuries, and this weekend may see the return of sophomore A.J. Lamb to the all-around. Lamb, who earned first-team All-America honors on floor last season, has been limited by a sore back and has competed only on beam this season.

Nebraska has also been bolstered by the return of sophomore Bree Dority OCallaghan. OCallaghan has competed on bars and beam for the Huskers this season, but missed Nebraskas meets with Missouri and Oklahoma because of injuries. OCallaghan made a triumphant return in the Huskers last meet, a quadrangular with West Virginia, Penn State and James Madison. The Kearney, Neb., native tied with teammate Tami Harris for first place on the uneven bars, with a career-high score of 9.95.

Scouting the Opposition
In Nebraskas second quadrangular in as many meets, the Huskers will face three teams ranked in the top 25, including 12th-ranked Louisiana State. The Huskers have only faced LSU in the regular season on two occassions, with LSU leading the series 1-0-1. The last time the two teams met was in 1980, when LSU pounded the Huskers 141.2-133.55.

The Tigers, coached by D-D Breaux, are coming off an impressive 196.475-195.625 win over No. 7 Florida. LSU recorded its highest scores of the season on beam (49.100) and floor (49.500) en route to its best score this season.

LSU captured every event title except vault, led by junior Beth Boudreaux. Competing in only the second all-around competition of her career, Boudreaux won the beam posting a 9.90 en route to winning her first ever all-around title (39.425). Boudreaux currently owns the 17th-best all-around average this season at 39.212.

Junior Nicki Arnstad, who is ranked 10th in the floor exercise, posted a career-best 9.975 against the Gators. The Tigers also received a career-high performance from junior Maria Degteva, who posted her fourth career 9.925 on the uneven bars. Degteva is ranked 19th (9.867) in the event.

No. 21 Denver is also coming off a victory. The Pioneers downed No. 23 Kentucky 195.100-194.475 Feb. 16. Led by freshman Ashley Shibles record-setting performance in the all-around, the Pioneers managed the victory despite competing only five athletes on floor. Shible scored a 39.575 in the all-around, eclipsing the record she set a week earlier. Shible, who is ranked fourth on the vault (9.887) and has posted a perfect 10.0 this season, has captured five vault titles in six attempts.

North Carolina State, which re-entered this weeks poll at No. 23, posted a season-best score of 196.150, the fourth highest total in school history, in a triangular with Air Force and North Carolina on Feb. 17. The Wolfpack won every event title, led by junior Kelli Brown. Brown took first on vault (9.875), bars (9.95) and floor (9.95), all season-high scores.

Senior Monica Berry, who is ranked second nationally on the balance beam (9.883) won her fourth beam title with a 9.875. Led by Berry, the Wolfpack owns the highest event ranking of any NU opponent, with a sixth-place ranking on beam (48.858).

Huskers Remain Perfect at Home Under Kendig
The Huskers have won 33 straight regular-season meets at the Devaney Center, including all 28 under head coach Dan Kendig. The last time the Huskers did not win a regular-season home meet was at the 1993 Masters Classic. The only times Nebraska has not taken first at home under Kendig were the 1995 Midwest Regional, when Nebraska finished second to NCAA champion Utah, and at the 1999 Region 3 Championships when the Huskers finished second to NCAA runner-up Michigan. This season the Huskers will have a new home stat to add, as 2001 marks the first time Nebraska will compete at Pershing Auditorium.

Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig
University of Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig reached a milestone last season, becoming the winningest coach in school history. Kendig now has a 131-27 (.829) record in eight seasons at Nebraska, passing Rick Walton, who compiled a 121-52 (.628) record from 1984 to 1993.

A six-time conference coach of the year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to six straight conference titles (1994-99) and five NCAA Championship appearances in the past six seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999 and 2000. He was selected as the Region 3 Coach of the Year last season, guiding the Huskers to a 25-5 regular-season record and a No. 5 national ranking.

Kendig is assisted by third-year coach and former U.S. Olympian Rhonda Faehn.

Noting the Huskers
* - Nebraska scored 49 or better on all four events for the eighth time in school history last weekend at the West Virginia Invite.

*- Nebraskas bars score of 49.600 last weekend broke the school record of 49.475 set last season at the 2000 NCAA Region 3 Championships.

*- Alecia Ingram leads the Huskers with seven individual victories this season, in addition to four all-around titles. Ingram has captured four vault titles, two beam titles and one floor title.

In all, eight different Husker gymnasts have won at least one event title this season. Other individual event winners this year include Amy Ringo (3), Tami Harris (2), Julie Houk (2), Gina Bruce (1), Jen French (1), A.J. Lamb (1) and Bree Dority OCallaghan (1).

*- Nebraska has dominated the Big 12 Gymnast-of- the-Week honors this season, as freshman Alecia Ingram was honored for the week of Feb. 13. Ingram became the first two-time winner this season, capturing her first nomination Jan. 16. Senior Amy Ringo was also honored for the week ending Jan. 23.

Next Week
The Huskers continue their homestand when they return to the Devaney Center to face Florida March 4 at 2 p.m.