Huskers Set to Compete at Southeast Regional

Lincoln - The 13th-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team (9-5-1) will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to compete in the Southeast Regional Gymnastics Championships on April 3 at Reynolds Coliseum at 5 p.m. (Central Time). Nebraska, seeded third, will face No. 1 seed and top-ranked UCLA, No. 2 seed and 12th-ranked North Carolina, 21st-ranked West Virginia, 22nd-ranked North Carolina State and Maryland in the meet hosted by North Carolina State.

Six teams, five all-around competitors and one individual event specialist per event were named to each of the six regions. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Los Angeles, Calif., April 15-17, hosted by the UCLA.

In addition, the event winners at the regional championships will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.

Live stats will be available at www.netscore.com/Meets, which will be updated after each rotation. For ticket information, please call the North Carolina State University ticket office at (800) 310-PACK or (919) 865-1510. General admission tickets are $5 (adults) and $3 (Senior General Admission), while youth (17 and under) are free.

Nebraska is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, where Oklahoma took first (196.950), Iowa State took second (196.925) and Missouri took third (196.425). The Huskers scored above 49.0 in three events, including the vault (49.125), the uneven bars (49.20) and the floor exercise (49.25). Senior Libby Landgraf led the Huskers, finishing in fourth place in the all-around competition (39.40). She took All-Big 12 honors in the all-around competition and on the vault. She finished in fourth place on the vault (9.85), eighth on the uneven bars (9.825), seventh on the balance beam (9.85) and eighth on the floor exercise (9.875). Freshman Kristi Esposito finished in fifth place in the all-around competition (39.375), and she was the Big 12 champion on the uneven bars. She tied for first place on the uneven bars (9.90) and seventh on the balance beam (9.85).

Nebraska Notes

• NU scored a season-best 49.55 on the balance beam against Iowa State on March 14, which ranks third on the Devaney charts and ties for fourth on NU’s all-time charts.
• Senior Tami Harris led the Huskers, scoring a career-high 39.75 and winning the all-around title. Harris tied for second on the vault (9.95), took first place on the uneven bars (9.925), tied for first place on the balance beam with a career-high 9.95 and tied for second place on the floor exercise (9.925) against Iowa State, March 14.
• Against Iowa State, March 14, seven gymnasts set nine career highs, including senior Tami Harris (all-around, beam), senior Libby Landgraf (all-around, vault), freshman Kristi Esposito (all-around), freshman Michele Zabawa (beam), freshman Stephanie Carter (vault), senior Gina Bruce (bars), and junior Jamie Saas (floor exercise).
• Freshman Kristi Esposito is ranked 28th (39.440) nationally in the all-around, while senior Libby Landgraf is ranked 31st (39.430).
• Freshman Michele Zabawa set a career-high 9.90 on the vault against Minnesota, March 6.
• Senior Tami Harris won her first all-around title of 2004 at the Masters Classic, Feb. 29, with a 39.550. She also captured first place on the vault (9.925), tied for first place on the balance beam (9.925) and tied for first place on the floor exercise (9.875).
• Freshman Kristi Esposito set a career high on the balance beam (9.925) to finish in second place at Denver, Feb. 21.
• Senior Libby Landgraf finished in third place in the all-around with a 39.40 at Denver, taking first on vault (9.90) and second on uneven bars (9.875).
• Freshman Kristi Esposito finished in the top five in three events at Oklahoma Feb. 6., tying for first on uneven bars (9.90) and tying for third on the balance beam (9.875) and floor exercise (9.90).
• Senior Gina Bruce became the sixth Husker in school history to score a perfect 10.0 on the vault against Missouri, Jan. 31. She was the first Husker to score a perfect 10.0 on any apparatus this season for the Huskers.
• NU posted a 49.60 on vault against Missouri, marking the third-highest score in school history.
• Nebraska earned its highest opening-meet score in school history (196.550) against Michigan, Jan. 11, topping the previous record of 196.450 against Georgia in 2003.
• Freshman Kristi Esposito scored a 9.925 in her debut against Michigan, and then matched the mark against Missouri on the floor exercise to tie the freshman record in the event.

Scouting the UCLA Bruins
Head Coach - Valerie Kondos-Field
2004 Overall Record - 11-5
2003 Regional Finish - First
NCAA Finish - First

Top-ranked UCLA leads the all-time series against Nebraska, 24-6. The Bruins are the defending national champions and are dominating the polls with a 198.055 RQS, while posting a season-best 198.875 team total in competition. UCLA lost the 2004 Pac-10 Conference Championship by a small margin, placing second to Stanford, which scored 197.9 to the Bruins’ 197.875.

UCLA is guided by Valerie Kondos-Field, who is in her 14th year with the Bruins and owns an 11-5 record this season. Last season, the Bruins won the 2003 NCAA South Central Regional Championship at Missouri and went on to win the NCAA Championship in Lincoln, Neb.

The last time the Bruins defeated NU was at the 2003 NCAA Championships Super Six Finals, 197.825-197.125 at the Devaney Center.

Scouting the North Carolina Tar Heels
Head Coach - Derek Galvin
2004 Overall Record - 28-2 
2003 Regional Finish - Third
2003NCAA Finish - DNQ

Led by the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) gymnast of the year, Courtney Bumpers, 12th-ranked North Carolina has set almost every school record this season with a season-best 197.350 team total. Bumpers was the EAGL all-around champion, scoring a perfect 10 on the floor exercise. NU will face North Carolina for the first time in school history. The Tar Heels finished in second place at the EAGL Championships with a 196.725.

The Tar Heels are coached by Derek Galvin, who is in his 23rd year with North Carolina and owns a 28-2 season record. The Tar Heels finished third at regionals in 2003, falling .05 behind Florida for a national bid.

Scouting the North Carolina State Wolfpack
Head Coach - Mark Stevenson
2004 Overall Record - 20-12
2003 Regional Finish - Fourth
2003 NCAA Finish - DNQ

Nebraska leads the all-time series against North Carolina State, 4-0. The last Husker win against the Wolfpack came in 2002, as the Huskers defeated North Carolina State, 196.875-194.475. The Wolfpack are ranked 22nd (196.515) in the polls and are coming off a third-place finish (196.600) at the EAGL Championships. The Wolfpack posted six scores this season that ranked in the top-10 all-time for team scores.

North Carolina State is guided by Mark Stevenson, who is in his 24th year with the Wolfpack and owns a 20-12 season record. During the 2003 season, North Carolina State finished fourth in its regional and did not qualify for NCAAs.

Scouting the West Virginia Mountaineers
Head Coach - Linda Burdette
2004 Overall Record - 20-6-1
2003 Regional Finish - DNQ
2003 NCAA Finish - DNQ

Nebraska leads the all-time series against West Virginia, 9-1. The last Husker win against the Moutaineers was in 2002, as NU defeated WVU 197.150-194.750. WVU is ranked 21st (196.685) in the polls and is coming off a win at the East Atlantic League Championships. The Moutaineers captured their fifth EAGL title with a meet record 197.050. WVU is led by freshman Janae Cox, who tied for runner-up honors at the EAGL Championships and junior Jessica Bartgis, who finished in fourth place at the EAGL Championships.

West Virginia is guided by Linda Burdette, who is in her 29th year with the Moutaineers and owns a 20-6-1 season record. During the 2003 season, WVU had four individual competitors qualify for regionals, but did not qualify as a team.

Scouting the Maryland Terrapins
Head Coach - Bob Nelligan
2004 Overall Record - 11-9
2003 Regional Finish - Fourth
2003 NCAA Finish - DNQ

Nebraska leads the all-time series against Maryland, 4-0. The last Husker win against the Terrapins came in 1999, as NU defeated Maryland 195.725-195.200. Maryland, the only team not ranked in the top-25 in the Southeast Regional, finished in fifth place at the EAGL Championships and is currently ranked No. 31 nationally. The Terps are led by sophomore Rachel Martinez, who tied for second place at the EAGL Championships.

Maryland is coached by Bob Nelligan, who is in his 26th year with the Terps and owns an 11-9 season record. During the 2003 season, Maryland finished in fourth place in regional competition and did not qualify at NCAAs.

Coaching Milestones
Head Coach Dan Kendig is Nebraska women’s gymnastics all-time winningest coach. In 11 years at Nebraska, Kendig is 258-87-3 overall and 190-34-1 in regular season meets, including 52-0-1 at home. He is in his 21st season of coaching and owns a career record of 371-199-4.

A six-time conference coach of the year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to nine conference titles and four straight regional titles in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

He has also led the Huskers to eight NCAA Championships appearances in the past 10 seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was selected as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, and earned 2000 Region 3 Coach-of-the-Year honors, after guiding the Huskers to a 25-5 regular-season record and a No. 5 national ranking.

Kendig is assisted by Danna Durante, who is in her second season with Nebraska, and Adrian Burde, who is in his third season on the Husker staff.