2001 Season Review

The 2001 Nebraska women?s gymnastics season was unlike any other. The Huskers knew they had big shoes to fill with the departure of NCAA champion Heather Brink and All-American Nicole Wilkinson, but this group would prove that the strength of the team was far greater than any individual part.

The Huskers reached heights no other NU team had even approached. For the first time in school history, a Nebraska team scored more than 197 points -- not once, but seven times throughout the season. The Huskers broke numerous team and individual records en route to capturing the Big 12 and South Central Regional titles and their fourth berth in the NCAA Super Six Finals, as a school-record six Huskers captured All-America honors.

In addition, the Huskers were also dominant in the classroom as six gymnasts were honored by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches as Scholastic All-Americans, including Bree Dority O?Callaghan, who was also named to the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America team. Rhonda Faehn was also honored by the NACGC as Assistant Coach of the Year.

Ranked sixth in the NACGC pre-season poll, the Huskers didn?t rest on their laurels, as they opened the season with top-ranked UCLA and No. 11 Arizona State in Wailuki, Hawaii, at the Maui Invitational. Several Huskers were forced to mature quickly, as NU was without A.J. Lamb, an All-American in 2000, who was sidelined with a back injury. In addition, Dority O?Callaghan, the 1999 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and Laura Goss, an All-Big 12 performer in 2000, were also limited because of injury. That meant the adjustment period for freshmen Gina Bruce, Libby Landgraf, Tami Harris and Alecia Ingram was over. The four newcomers were immediately pressed into action, and combined to perform 14 of the Huskers? 24 routines, helping NU to a second-place finish.

Ingram wasted little time making her mark, as the Knoxville, Tenn., native edged 2000 NCAA all-around runner-up Mohini Bhardwaj of UCLA for the all-around title.

Ingram?s performance overshadowed a strong showing by Amy Ringo, who set career highs on two events, including a school-record tying 9.95 on the floor exercise to place third. The lone senior on the Husker roster, Ringo also placed second to UCLA freshman and U.S. Olympic team member Kristen Maloney on the balance beam with a 9.925.

After a home-opening win over Oregon State, the Huskers traveled to Ames, Iowa, to face defending Big 12 champion Iowa State in the league opener. The Huskers would prove too much for the Cyclones, as Ingram captured her second all-around title with top-four finishes on all four events, and Ringo earned top-three finishes on all three events on which she competed.

Entering its contest with Missouri, Nebraska solidified its spot among the nation?s elite, topping the 197-point plateau for the first time in school history with a 197.025-194.425 victory over the Tigers in Columbia, Mo. Ingram, who earned top-two finishes on all four events, won the all-around with a score of 39.625, the third-highest score by a Husker gymnast and the highest ever by a freshman.

But Ingram?s heroics weren?t the only highlights of the day. In her all-around debut, Bruce earned a trio of top-three finishes, including a runner-up finish on vault (9.90) and a third-place score on floor exercise (9.85) en route to a second-place finish in the all-around (39.325). Meanwhile Lamb, who had not competed all season because of a back injury, made her season debut on balance beam, finishing second with a 9.90.

A week later against Big 12 rival Oklahoma, the Huskers claimed the top five places on the uneven bars to capture their fourth consecutive meet title. Harris won her first individual title with a 9.875 on bars, while Bruce recorded a career-high 9.85 to tie for second with fellow Huskers Julie Houk, Jess Wertz and Ingram. In addition, Jen French, competing on floor for only the second time all season, recorded a career-high 9.90 to win her first-ever event title.

The Huskers used another dominating bars performance in a quadrangular win over West Virginia, Penn State and James Madison in Morgantown, W.Va. NU placed six gymnasts in the top eight on bars to propel the Huskers to a then-school-record score of 49.60.

The team total of 197.05 was also a school record, but it wouldn?t last long. The Huskers demolished the mark at the Masters Classic two weeks later, where they scored a 197.375 to capture their seventh consecutive Masters Classic title.

After a fine performance on vault, where French posted a career high 9.85, the Huskers headed to bars where Harris unleashed a near-perfect routine. Harris set a meet record with a career-high 9.975, which tied for second on Nebraska?s all-time charts. Lamb also had a strong performance at the meet. Competing on floor for the first time all season, Lamb tied her career high with a 9.925, joining Dority O?Callaghan and Wertz as event winners.

Tenth-ranked Florida was up next for the Huskers, and bars again proved to be the event that separated Nebraska from its opponents. Houk and Dority O?Callaghan tied for the event title with a career-high 9.95, while Ingram and Harris tied for third (9.925). Harris put together an impressive performance in the all-around, tying for first with a career-high score of 39.45.

In a rematch with Iowa State, the Huskers put together their most complete performance of the season, as they concluded their home schedule with a dominating victory at the Devaney Center. Their team score of 197.575 was a Devaney Center record as was the 49.325 they posted on beam.

Behind Ingram?s career-high score of 9.975 on vault, which was also an arena record, and her career high 9.95 on bars, the Huskers extended their home-winning streak to 37. With the bars title, Ingram won every event at least once during the season. In addition, Wertz tied for second on bars with a 9.925, the best mark of her career.

In the Huskers? final regular-season contest, Nebraska put a damper on Arizona State?s senior night, breaking the Sun Devils? home winning streak in a victory at the Arizona State Invitational. The Huskers became the first team since 1996, to defeat the Sun Devils at home, and the only team other than Utah to post a victory at the Wells Fargo Arena in the last nine years.

Despite recording a season-low score on floor, the Huskers rebounded on vault, posting a season-high 49.40. Wertz, the final Husker in the rotation, put an exclamation point on Nebraska?s vault performance, recording a perfect 10.0. Wertz, who joins Brink as the only gymnasts in school history to record a 10.0 on vault, had never before performed the vault in competition. Nebraska also received a perfect vault from Bruce, who performed a handspring front pike, a vault with a 9.90 start value, to receive her third 9.90 of the season.

Riding the high from their dominating performance in Arizona, the Huskers headed to the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla., looking to recapture the conference crown they lost last season. Nebraska left nothing to chance, posting a school and conference record score of 197.65.

NU?s score marked the fifth time during the season it had broken the school record and seventh time it had topped 197.0 points in a meet, a feat that had not been accomplished in the program?s first 25 years.

The meet was one of many firsts, as Dority O?Callaghan scored the first-ever 10 on the uneven bars in Big 12 history to win the event title and tied the school record on beam. The Huskers? bar score of 49.725 was a school record, as Husker gymnasts occupied four of the top five spots.

The Huskers came from behind in the last event - the balance beam - by shattering the school record with a team score of 49.625. Five Huskers finished in the top eight, including Dority O?Callaghan, who scored a 9.95 to tie the school record and tie for first in the event. Lamb also scored a 9.95, a career high, while French tied a personal best with a 9.925 to place fourth. Wertz led the Huskers on vault, as she tied Iowa State?s Shelly Kringen for the title with a score of 9.875.

Following the competition, Ingram was selected as the Big 12?s Newcomer of the Year and Gymnast of the Year by a vote of the league?s head coaches. The honor marked the first time in Big 12 history that a freshman had won both awards.

In all, eight Husker gymnasts combined for 11 All-Big 12 honors. O?Callaghan (bars, beam), Ingram (bars, vault) and Lamb (beam, floor) each came away with two honors apiece, while Houk and Harris earned the honor on the bars. In addition, French (beam) Landgraf (floor) and Wertz (vault) each earned the honor in one event.

Following their record-setting performance at the conference championship, the Huskers had two weeks to prepare for the South Central Regional, the meet that would determine which two teams would advance to the NCAA Championships. The Huskers started off well but found themselves in a difficult situation when they got to the balance beam. After Nebraska?s fourth and fifth competitors fell during their beam routines, the pressure was on Ingram, NU?s final competitor. Early in the season, Ingram had struggled on beam at home, counting falls in the Huskers? first two home meets. After recording a 9.90 at the Masters Classic, she tied her career high with a 9.925 against Florida and followed with a 9.90 against Iowa State. With a berth to the NCAA Championships on the line and the Huskers trailing Oklahoma, the pressure was intense. Ingram responded by nailing her routine, scoring a 9.85 to tie for second on the event.

But the best performance of the night may have belonged to Harris, who tied her career high on floor with a 9.925 en route to capturing her second all-around title of the season.

Carrying an 11-meet winning streak into the NCAA Championships, the Huskers needed to finish among the top three teams in their session to advance to the Super Six Finals. The Huskers did just that as they captured the third and final qualifying spot with a score of 196.200, advancing to the final round of the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive year.

At the qualifier, Nebraska again relied on its strong bars lineup, posting the highest bars score in the session. The Huskers placed four gymnasts in the top six, including Harris and Ingram, who tied for first earning berths in the individual event finals. Houk and Dority O?Callaghan placed fifth and sixth, respectively, to capture second-team All-America honors.

French, whose score of 9.85 placed her seventh overall, led the Huskers on the balance beam, while Bruce shined on vault, finishing fourth with a 9.875 to earn a berth in the event finals.

In the final day of team competition, Nebraska sat in fourth place after two events. Following their second bye, the Huskers posted their highest score of the evening with a strong showing on their best event, the uneven bars. Ingram posted a 9.875, a mark equalled by Dority O?Callaghan.

Entering the final rotation, Nebraska sat in fourth place with a 147.375-147.25 lead over Alabama, and was five-tenths of a point ahead of sixth-place Utah, but the Huskers were forced to count a fall, as the last two competitors were unable to stay on the balance beam.

With Nebraska?s stumbles on beam, and a spectacular performance by Alabama on floor, the Crimson Tide edged the Huskers for fourth place. Utah, which struggled all evening with at least one gymnast falling on each event, had a strong showing on the uneven bars and pulled even with Nebraska, marking the second time in an NCAA Championship that the Utes have tied the Huskers. In 1997, Utah tied Nebraska in the qualifying round, with the Huskers winning the tiebreaker.

Individually, Ringo in her last collegiate meet was solid for the Huskers, recording an impressive 9.85 on the balance beam to post the best score of any Husker on the event. In addition French, who earned second-team All-America honors on beam in the qualifying session, was a key contributor, posting scores of 9.825 on beam and floor, and scoring a solid 9.775 on vault.

In all, the 2001 season was one of the most successful in school history, as Nebraska defeated 22 straight opponents, including eight ranked in the top 15, en route to capturing its 16th league crown and third regional title.