Huskers Finish Fourth at Rocky Mountain Open

Men's GymnasticsJanuary 16, 2004

Huskers Finish Fourth at Rocky Mountain Open

Name: Nebraska at Team Competition
Start: 2004-01-17T02:00:00.000000Z
Location: Colorado Springs, Colo.

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Colorado Springs, Colo. ? The tenth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team opened the 2004 season with a fourth-place showing at the Rocky Mountain Open late Friday evening.

Nebraska finished with a team score of 204.875 in a competition which that featured collegian and club teams. The Olympic Training Center breezed to the overall title with a score of 222.925. Among the college programs, second-ranked Oklahoma edged sixth-ranked Iowa, 211-425-211.30, for the team title, while No. 13 Air Force finished fourth with a 192.00.

One of the highlights for the Huskers was the successful return of sophomore Derric Wood (Lincoln, Neb.), who placed 11th in the all-around with a score of 49.95. Wood, who had battled through abdominal problems during most of last season, underwent abdominal surgery during the fall and was not expected to return to all-around competition this soon.

"Derric’s return was a highlight for us tonight," Nebraska Coach Francis Allen said. "We thought he could be on a couple of events, but he out did our expectations by competing in the all-around this soon. It is a good story to have him back competing this soon."

Wood was joined in the all-around lineup by junior Mace Patterson (Beggs, Okla.), who placed ninth in the all-around with a total of 50.85, and sophomore Ray Hacker (Fairfax, Va.), who was 13th with a 49.30 in his first collegiate all-around competition.

While the team and all-around were contested Friday evening, the individual finals will take place at Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., and NU will be well represented with athletes competing on every apparatus. Senior Josh Rasile (Phoenix, Ariz.) will compete on a team-best three events (FX, V, SR), while Patterson (PB, HB), Wood (FX, HB) and freshman Paul Chumreonlert (Houston, Texas) (SR, PH) will compete on two events each. Hacker is NU’s other event finalist, as he will compete on pommel horse.

Another positive was the debut of Chumreonlert, who was NU’s highest individual finisher in the team competition, placing third on still rings with a 9.45, while finishing 10th on pommel horse (8.60)

"I thought Paul had a great routine on rings and did a good job on pommel horse for us," Allen said. "He has been battling some injuries, and another freshman, Jason Wassung, didn’t compete at all tonight. Overall, it was a tough start and we didn’t do as well as we hoped, but it is still early in the season and we will get better once we get healthy."

Following Saturday’s competition, the Huskers will make their home debut against the Hawkeyes on Sunday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m.

"We host Iowa next Sunday, and to make a seven-point jump that quickly is asking a lot," Allen said. "We are hoping to get healthier and if we do, we will give them a give them a good run for their money."

No.

Team

Score

Olympic Training Center

222.925

Oklahoma

211.425

Iowa

211.30

Nebraska

204.875

Air Force