Coaches Update

Hello Husker Fans!

 

What a year your Husker women had! We are very proud of our athletes, as they started in August and worked hard each day to prepare for the 2005 season. They were dedicated in every competition to preparing for the Big 12 Championships, NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championships.

 

The first step in fulfilling our goals was bringing the Big 12 team title back to Lincoln. What a great night in Norman, Okla. We won individual honors in almost every event. Senior Richelle Simpson won the all-around and floor exercise titles and shared the balance beam title with freshman Emily Parsons. Sophomore Michele Zabawa won the uneven bars title, and Emily also won the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year award. We loaded the bus to Lincoln very excited about playing host to the upcoming NCAA Regional at the DevaneyCenter.

 

The regional competition went well, and we were all very excited to be in front of our home crowd. Thank you so much for coming out to support your Huskers! We led the meet until the third event, floor exercise, when we were forced to count a fall. Richelle Simpson injured her knee, ending her career at Nebraska. The vaulters rallied back, though, and did an amazing job to keep us in second place and send us on to the NCAA Championships in Auburn, Ala.

 

Without Richelle competing, most of the collegiate gymnastics world thought Nebraska was lucky to be at the championship and counted us out of the Super Six Finals. That's all the motivation our team needed. The preliminary session was a difficult meet. Our athletes did a great job, but we worked and struggled for every tenth of a point. It came down to the last event and the last competitor. Emily Parsons scored a 9.925 on floor exercise, which put Nebraska on top of LSU by just .075.

 

In the Super Six competition, we had a tremendous showing, scoring above a 49.0 on all four events and posting a solid team score of 196.425. The Huskers earned several individual honors: Emily Parsons became a four-time All-American with a third-place finish on floor exercise, and Kristi Esposito earned her third All-America award with second-place honors on balance beam. Freshman Desire' Sniatynski and Michele Zabawa both earned All-America honors on uneven bars as well.

 

2005 Honors and Awards

2005 AAI American Award Winner - Richelle Simpson

Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year - Richelle Simpson

University of Nebraska Female Athlete of the Year -Richelle Simpson

NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient - Richelle Simpson

Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient - Richelle Simpson

Big 12 Academic All-Conference - Stephanie Carter

Big 12 Academic All-Conference - Kristi Esposito

Big 12 Academic All-Conference - Jamie Saas

Big 12 Academic All-Conference - Richelle Simpson

Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll - Richelle Simpson

Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll - Jamie Saas

Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll - Stephanie Carter

Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll - Kristi Esposito

Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll - Dani Millis

Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll - Vanessa Meloche

Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll - Jamie Saas

Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll - Richelle Simpson

Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll - Stephanie Carter

Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll - Kristi Esposito

Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll - Dani Millis

Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll - Michele Zabawa

NACGC/W Scholastic All-American - Stephanie Carter

NACGC/W Scholastic All-American - Kristi Esposito

NACGC/W Scholastic All-American - Richelle Simpson

 

Husker Freshmen

We have four freshmen joining our team in the fall semester for the 2006 season: Sabrina Long, Tricia Woo, Kylie Stone, and Alise Cecchini. All four gymnasts will bring a great deal of athletic skill and experience to the Husker squad. We are excited for their arrival in August and anticipate great things from the 2006 freshman class!

 

2006 Season

We are already making plans for an exciting 2006 season in the DevaneyCenter. Our team looks forward to having you join us for each home competition! We are working on several promotional events, and the season will culminate at the DevaneyCenter with the Big 12 Championships.  Take care, and we'll see you in 2006!

 

 

 

The Husker Staff