NU Advances to Super Six Finals; Six Named All-American

Athens, Ga. - For the third consecutive year, the Nebraska women’s gymnastics team advanced to the NCAA Super Six Finals, by placing third at the NCAA Championship Qualifier in Athens, Ga., Thursday evening. Competing in the evening session in front of a rowdy crowd of 4,523 at Stegeman Coliseum, the Huskers posted a score of 196.200, finishing behind host school Georgia (197.10) and Utah (196.575). Nebraska has qualified for the Super Six four times in school history, with its highest finish coming at the 2000 NCAA Championships, where they finished fourth.

Nebraska Head Coach Dan Kendig said he was happy with how his team performed.

“We really felt coming in, that we were in a really difficult session,” Kendig said. “Overall, I’m pleased with our performance.”

The Huskers started off with a bang on bars, scoring a 49.20, the highest score on the event in the session and the second highest in the competition. Nebraska placed four gymnasts in the top six, including freshmen Tami Harris and Alecia Ingram. Both received scores of 9.875, the highest score of the evening, to tie with Georgia’s Kathleen Shrieves for first place and a berth in Saturday’s individual event finals. Sophomore Julie Houk finished fifth with a 9.85, while sophomore Bree Dority O’Callaghan finished sixth (9.825).

Sophomore Jen French, whose score of 9.85 placed her seventh overall, led the Huskers on the balance beam. Her score also tied for the fourth highest ever recorded by a Husker at an NCAA meet. In all, four Huskers scored 9.80 or better to help the team post a 49.05 on the event.

After a solid performance on floor that saw French and freshman Libby Landgraf earn scores of 9.85, the Huskers finished the evening on vault, one of their best events.

French, who was originally scheduled to compete fourth, started the Huskers off with a solid 9.80. Harris, who injured her Achilles tendon in practice early last week, fought to hold her landing but ended up taking a few steps. Freshman Gina Bruce, who was moved to fourth in the lineup after a spectacular warm up, earned a 9.875 to finish fourth on the event, advancing her to Saturday’s individual event finals. The Huskers’ score of 48.80, was its lowest since Jan. 19, when they scored a 48.55 in a dual with Iowa State.

“Vault was a little rough,” Dority O’Callaghan said. “But I felt the team really pulled together. We were having fun out there and that’s always a plus.”

Individually, six Huskers earned All-America honors. Bruce (vault), Harris (bars) and Ingram (bars), were all named to the first team, while Houk (bars), Dority O’Callaghan (bars) and French (beam) earned second-team honors. Houk also received the honor last year on bars, while it was the first time that both Dority O’Callaghan and French were honored.

UCLA, winners of the afternoon session with a score of 197.625, Michigan (196.525) and Alabama (196.375) will join Georgia, Utah and Nebraska for Friday’s Super Six competition, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.