Nebraska Advance Into Super Six Finals

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - After capturing both the 2002 Big 12 Conference and Northeast Regional titles the Nebraska women's gymnastics team will now focus on the NCAA Championship crown. Nebraska advanced to the Super Six Finals for the fourth consecutive year after finishing third in their qualifying session Thursday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Ala. On the strength of strong performances on vault and bars, Nebraska finished third with a score of 196.575, while Utah took first (196.775) and Georgia (196.65) second. Michigan finished fourth (196.175) followed by LSU (195.85) and Arizona (194.975). All three qualifying teams were also in the 2001 Finals. The remainder of the field will be determined in the evening session, which features Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA, the 2000 and 2001 champions.

Nebraska Head Coach Dan Kendig said he was pleased with his team's performance and happy that Nebraska was able to advance in a session that featured four of the final six teams from the 2001 championships.

"I think all the teams in this session really did a tremendous job," he said. "We just seem to keep getting a little bit better, a little bit better and a little bit better, and I'm just really proud of their effort. It's one of those sessions when you knew you were in a meet, and you knew that there was no way you were going to move on with a mistake. Our team did really a terrific job, and I'm really proud of them."

Nebraska started the competition on floor posting a 49.075 led by sophomore Richelle Simpson's 9.875. The Huskers then headed to vault, an event that troubled them early in the season. But NU has put the pieces together as of late and posted a 49.30, its second-best showing of the season and the top score in the session. Five Huskers competed 10.0 vaults, including juniors A.J. Lamb and Jess Wertz, who both scored 9.90s. The 2002 Northeast Regional vault champion, Lamb has scored at least a 9.90 in each of Nebraska's last three meets, which includes a career-high 9.925 at the regional. Meanwhile Wertz, who struggled on vault after an ankle injury held her out of Nebraska's first four meets, seems to shine when it matters most. After averaging 9.425 on her first three meets, Wertz unleashed a season-high 9.90 at the Big 12 Championships to share the title with Lamb. Simpson was also strong, tying her career high with a 9.875.

After each team had competed two events, Nebraska and Utah sat tied for first with a score of 98.375, followed closely by Georgia (98.20), Michigan (97.70), LSU (97.55) and Arizona (97.45). Nebraska had a strong showing on bars as five gymnasts posted at least a 9.80, but it was junior Julie Houk who stole the show. Houk anchored the NU bar unit and was the only athlete to score a 9.90 on the event. It marked the fifth time this season and the 21st time in her career that Houk has posted at least a 9.90. Lamb received a 9.85, while Simpson and sophomores Tami Harris and Libby Landgraf all received 9.80s. In addition, the Huskers' bars score of 49.15 was the highest mark of any competing team.

On balance beam Nebraska posted a 49.05 on the strength of Simpson's 9.875. Although Nebraska knew it had defeated LSU, the Huskers, who had a bye during the final rotation, had to wait to see how Utah, Georgia and Michigan fared on their final event. On the balance beam, the Utes' best event, their final two competitors posted 9.95s to secure the win. Meanwhile Georgia squeaked past Nebraska with a 49.15 on floor, while Nebraska's lead proved too large for Michigan to overcome on vault and the Wolverines finished fourth, missing the finals for the first time in four years.

Three Huskers advanced to Saturday's individual event finals, while six were named All-Americans. The top four finishers on each event were named first-team All-Americans and advanced to Saturday's competition. Lamb will compete on vault and bars, Wertz will represent Nebraska on vault, while Houk will contend for the bars title. Lamb (vault and bars), Houk (bars) and Wertz (vault) all earned first-team All-America honors, while Simpson (vault, bars, beam, all-around), Lamb (all-around), Harris (bars) and Landgraf (bars) were named to the second team. The first-team honor is Houk's first after earning second-team honors in 2000 and 2001, while the honor was the first for Wertz. Simpson and Landgraf also received their first honors, while Lamb, who was named to the first team on floor in 2000, has now been named to the first team on three events.

NOTES - Nebraska had five of their six athletes named All-Americans on bars, the most on a single event in school history. In addition, Nebraska's six honorees mark the second consecutive year that six Huskers have earned All-America honors.

- At the 2001 NCAA Championships, no Husker received a 9.90 in the qualifying session, Super Six Finals for event finals. Already this year, after only one competition, three Huskers have received 9.90s

- Nebraska hit all 24 routines for the first time this season and scored over 49.0 on all four events for just the second time this season. The only other time NU scored better than 49.0 on ever event was at the Hearts Invitational in Raleigh, N.C. on Feb. 15.

- This is the second year in a row that three Huskers will compete in the NCAA Event Finals.