No. 6 Huskers Travel to Salt Lake City for No. 3 Utah

The sixth-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for its second away meet of the season, facing No. 3 Utah at the Huntsman Center on Friday, Jan. 20, at 8 p.m., central time.

 

Behind a career night from sophomore EmilyParsons, Nebraska posted a season-high score of 195.675 to tie No. 5 Michigan Friday night in front of 2,916 fans at the BobDevaneySportsCenter.

 

The Huskers moved to 4-1-1 on the season, scoring a 49.0 or better on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise, to overcome a deficit heading into the final rotation. The tie stretched Nebraska’s home unbeaten streak at the DevaneyCenter to 58 meets, as the Huskers have won every regular-season competition in their home arena since the 1993 Masters Classic with the exception of a tie with IowaState in 2004.

 

Parsons claimed four out of five individual event titles, as she broke her career-high all-around score with a nation-leading 39.625 to finish first. She captured the vault (9.90), beam (9.925) and floor (9.95) titles and bettered her previous all-around best of 39.55 at last year’s NCAA Super Six Finals. Junior Stephanie Carter tied with Parsons for the vault crown while also scoring a 39.10 in the all-around for fourth place.

 

NU returns to the DevaneyCenter on Sunday, Jan. 29, for the beginning of Big 12 Conference action with Missouri. Competition is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

 

ESPN2 to Air NCAA Honors Celebration Featuring Simpson

ESPN announced last week its intention to air the NCAA Honors Celebration throughout the month of January. The ceremony includes former Husker gymnast Richelle Simpson receiving the prestigious 2005 NCAA Top Eight Award. Simpson, who was a nine-time All-American at Nebraska, recently became NU’s NCAA-leading 15th Top Eight Award winner. The presentation will be shown Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. on ESPN2 in a one-hour slot.

 

A Bright Future: The New Husker Class Contributes to NU Lineup

Three of Nebraska’s five freshman gymnasts have competed in the first two meets of 2006 -- redshirt freshman Vanessa Meloche and true freshmen Sabrina Long and Tricia Woo. While Meloche made her collegiate debut by tying for the uneven bars crown at the Super Six Challenge with a score of 9.875, Woo has been crucial to NU’s balance beam and floor exercise lineups. The native of Milpitas, Calif., had a spectacular showing in the Huskers’ first home meet against Michigan last Friday, earning a 9.875 on beam to finish third and a thundering 9.925 on floor to place second behind event champion Emily Parsons (9.95).

 

Long has competed on vault, beam and floor as well, scoring a 9.675 and 9.70 on vault and floor, respectively. She added a 9.625 on floor at the Super Six Challenge at LSU on Jan. 6.

 

Canadian Duo Headlines Freshman Class

Nebraska’s youngest class includes a pair of Canadian National Team members in redshirt freshman Vanessa Meloche and true freshman Kylie Stone. Meloche, who missed the 2005 season due to foot and knee injuries that kept her out of gymnastics for the past two years, enters the new season fully recovered and poised to contribute on the uneven bars and balance beam. A seven-year Canadian National Team member, Meloche has excelled on the two events, as evidenced by her 2002 national bars title and a third-place finish on vault and bars at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, that same year.

Meloche’s first competition as a Husker was nothing short of the NU coaching staff’s expectation, as she finished in a four-way tie for first on bars with junior Michele Zabawa (9.875) at the Super Six Challenge.

 

Headlining the heralded freshman class is Stone, who joined the Huskers after the fall semester. Stone, who competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, could contribute as an all-arounder, as she finished 14th in the all-around standings at the 2004 World Championships in Anaheim, Calif. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Stone was the 2004 Canadian National all-around, beam and floor exercise champion, as well as a national titleholder on beam in 2003.

 

Kendig Builds One of Nation’s Top Programs at Nebraska

Head Coach Dan Kendig is the all-time winningest coach in the 30 years of Nebraska women's gymnastics history. In 13 seasons at Nebraska, Kendig is 289-105-4 overall and 205-37-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig enters his 23rd year of coaching and owns a career record of 402-217-4.

 

A six-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to eight conference championships and three straight regional championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

 

He has also led Nebraska to 10 NCAA Championships appearances in the past 12 seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005. Kendig was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, a year in which the Huskers finished with a final ranking of fourth in the nation.

 

Under Kendig's tenure in 2005, Nebraska finished with a 21-13 overall record. The Huskers placed second (196.30) in the NCAA South Central regional behind Michigan and also placed sixth (196.425) in its seventh consecutive NCAA Championships appearance. Four of Kendig's gymnasts -- Emily Parsons (AA, V, BB, FX), Kristi Esposito (BB), Michele Zabawa (UB) and Desire’ Sniatynski (UB) -- earned a total of seven All-America honors.

 

Kendig is assisted by Danna Durante, who is in her fourth season with Nebraska, and Adrian Burde, who enters his fifth year on the Husker staff.

 

Super Sophomore Parsons Leads NU into 2006 Season

Sophomore Emily Parsons is expected to lead the Huskers in 2006, as she was a four-time All-American as a freshman. The St. Charles, Mo., native finished third on floor exercise in the individual event finals at the NCAA Championships to garner first-team All-America honors, while also grabbing second-team accolades on vault, balance beam and in the all-around.

 

In 2005, Parsons was also named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and shared the conference beam title with former Husker All-American Richelle Simpson. In a season that saw Parsons earn two All-Big 12 nods (vault and beam), she went on to claim NCAA South Central regional titles on vault and floor, as well as the all-around crown over 2000 Olympian Elise Ray of Michigan.

 

The beginning of Parsons’ sophomore season has been just as impressive as her freshman campaign, as she captured the all-around crown against Michigan with a career-high 39.625. Parsons also tied for the vault title with fellow Husker Stephanie Carter (9.90), and added first-place finishes on beam with a career-best score of 9.925 and floor, where she tied her best-ever mark of 9.95. Just one week earlier at the Super Six Challenge in Baton Rouge, La., Parsons earned the vault crown by tying her career high of 9.95, landing in a tie for first place with two-time NCAA vault champion Ashley Miles of Alabama. She now owns eight vault titles and 21 overall individual event crowns in her time at Nebraska.

 

Husker All-Arounders Produce Three Career Bests

Nebraska has found its core in three all-around competitors this season: junior Stephanie Carter and sophomores Emily Parsons and Desire’ Sniatynski, all of whom produced career-high cumulative scores against Michigan last Friday. Parsons bettered her old career mark of 39.55 set at the 2005 NCAA Super Six Finals by scoring a nation-leading 39.625 in the Huskers’ last meet, while Sniatynski improved her best to 39.20 to finish second. Carter, who was a mainstay in the team’s vault, beam and floor lineups in her first two seasons, has emerged as a strong four-event competitor in 2006, scoring a 39.10 in just her second career all-around appearance at Nebraska.

 

Scouting the Competition: Utah Utes

*Head Coach: Greg Marsden (31st Year)      *2006 Record: 2-0

*2006 High Score: 195.625                         

*2005 NCAA Finish: 3rd (197.275)

*Last Meet: at Washington, 1/13/06 (Win, 195.625-193.325)

Quick Facts about the Utes...

*Utah returns four All-Americans for its 2006 lineup, including sophomore Ashley Postell, who was the 2002 World balance beam champion.

*Postell earned five All-America awards in her freshman campaign and finished third in the all-around at the NCAA Championships last year.

*Junior Rachel Tidd will not compete with Utah this season, having announced her retirement from gymnastics due to back injuries. Tidd was a three-time All-American and finished third on the uneven bars at the 2005 NCAA Championships.

   *The Utes have won 10 NCAA team titles in 31 years of gymnastics competition.

*Utah averages over 10,000 fans to its home meets at the HuntsmanCenter. Nebraska last traveled to Salt Lake City in 2004, posting a 194.325 to Utah’s 196.90.

 

The Last Time NU and Utah Met...

Nebraska and Utah last met at the 2005 NCAA Super Six Finals, where NU finished sixth with a score of 196.425 behind the third-place Utes, who posted a 197.275. Just a day earlier at the first preliminary session of the NCAA Championships, Nebraska placed third (195.875) behind first-place Utah, which scored a 196.85.

 

In regular-season competition, the Huskers met Utah at the BobDevaneySportsCenter on Feb. 20, 2005. A 196.65-196.60 win over the Utes propelled NU to its first-ever No. 1 national ranking in school history.

 

The Huskers scored a 49.0 or better on all four events, and Richelle Simpson and Emily Parsons tied for second in the all-around (39.475). Parsons also claimed the vault (9.925) and floor exercise (9.925) titles, while Michele Zabawa tied for first on bars with Utah’s Nicolle Ford. The Utes’ Ashley Postell captured the all-around title with a score of 39.60.