NU Meets Conference Rivals at Stanford Open

The No. 13 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team meets up with Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals No. 6 Stanford and No. 7 California this weekend at the Stanford Open in Stanford, Calif. on Jan. 21 beginning at 8 p.m. central time.  This is the first time the Huskers have scheduled Stanford or <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>California during the regular season since NU last competed at the Open in 2003.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

After squaring off against MPSF contenders Oklahoma and Air Force in last weekend’s Rocky Mountain Open, Nebraska will now have the opportunity to pair with the two remaining members of the MPSF on Saturday.  The exposure should give the Huskers a better idea of where they stand in the conference before the MPSF Championships arrive in March.

 

The Cardinal enter the competition following an upset over California on Jan. 13 at the Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.  Stanford topped the Golden Bears by just one-tenth of a point, 205.65-205.55.  The Stanford Open is the second of three consecutive meets where Stanford and Cal meet, the final taking place on Feb. 11 in Stanford. 

 

Also joining the three MPSF programs in Stanford will be club teams from ArizonaState and Washington.  Both squads made a showing at the RMO as well, with Washington finishing third behind Nebraska.

 

All five teams competing in the meet have had one opportunity to gauge their performance under the new NCAA scoring system and now have a better idea of what will be expected from collegiate judges.  With both team and individual scores coming in much lower than in recent years, the key now will be for each program to focus on cleaner routines, a fact that is not lost on the Huskers.

 

Burtle, T?trault Receive Invites to Winter Cup

The United States Gymnastics Association announced this week that Nebraska senior Tony Burtle and sophomore Stephen T?trault have received invitations to compete at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 3-4.  Both Burtle and T?trault submitted videotapes of their performances to receive the invitations to the meet, which determines which gymnasts will advance to the U.S. Nationals in June.

 

This will be the first Winter Cup appearance for Burtle during his stint at Nebraska.  The senior from Grand Island, Neb., is in his fifth-year with the Huskers and began the 2006 season this past weekend with a second-place finish on the floor exercise (9.00) at the Rocky Mountain Open.

 

T?trault will make an appearance at the Winter Cup for the second consecutive season after scoring a solid 9.33 on vault at the meet during his freshman campaign.  The sophomore all-arounder from Lincoln recently finished the RMO with a bevy of honors including third in the all-around (48.50), second in vault (9.25) and third on the pommel horse (8.65).

 

Burtle and T?trault will meet with a field of 83 senior gymnasts, 15 of which are products of the MPSF conference.

 

Scouting Stanford and California

No. 6 Stanford Cardinal

Coach:  Thom Glielmi

Top Gymnast:  David Sender

 

The 1-0 Cardinal host this weekend’s meet following a major upset over Cal on Jan. 14.  Stanford was led by David Sender who took home event titles on the floor exercise (9.35) and vault (9.55), and shared top honors on the rings with Stanford’s Bryant Hadden (9.30).  The Cardinal placed at least two gymnasts on the podium in every event but the pommel horse.

 

With 12 returning lettermen, Stanford was ranked sixth coming into the 2006 season.  They are 2-0 with the Huskers in all-time dual records and topped Nebraska in their last meeting, 217.925-215.375, in their last meeting at the MPSF Championships in 2005.

 

No. 7 Cal Golden Bears

Coach:  Barry Weiner

Top Gymnast:  Colin Christ

 

The Golden Bears dropped their first meet of the season to Stanford, 205.65-205.55.  Cal was led by a trio of event titles from Colin Christ on the high bar (9.20), Tim McNeill on the pommel horse (9.25) and freshman Kyson Bunthuwong on the parallel bars (9.15).

 

The Golden Bears return four All-Americans and eight letterwinners in 2006.  The No. 4 ranked team coming into the season, the Golden Bears have now dropped three spots to No. 7.  Against the Huskers, Cal is tied at 1-1 in all-time duals.  In their last meeting at the 2005 MPSF Championships, NU fell, 219.725-215.375.

 

Nebraska Debuts Four at RockyMountain open

Four Nebraska gymnasts made their Husker debuts this past weekend at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo.  The group included three true freshmen and a junior transfer for the Huskers.

 

Leading the group was freshman T.J. Schmidt who claimed a spot on three NU event rosters including pommel horse (6.85), still rings (6.65) and parallel bars (7.90) during the team portion on Jan. 13.  Then, following a withdrawal from another athlete, Schmidt advanced to Saturday’s event finals on the parallel bars where he scored a solid 8.15.

 

Freshman Jacob Ives also competed in multiple events including the floor exercise (7.05), vault (8.35) and parallel bars (7.30). 

 

The final freshman to take on his first NCAA meet was James Mauldin who competed for the Huskers on the still rings (6.20). 

 

Finally, junior Jon Charter made his Husker debut on the floor exercise where he scored a 7.75.  Charter, a transfer from SpringfieldCollege, was part of the NU roster in 2005 but did not compete in an NCAA event. 

 

Huskers Vault to Fourth in National Ranks

After amassing a team vaulting score of 36.30 at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 13, the Huskers rank fourth in the national polls as distributed by Troesters.com.  NU was led by sophomore Stephen T?trault’s mark of 9.15 in the event, followed by solid performances from seniors Tony Burtle and Nick Moore who each scored a 9.10.  Senior Nic Matthews also contributed in Nebraska’s success with an 8.95 to finish out NU’s team score.

 

With the performance, the Huskers continue what became a domination of the vault in 2005 as NU controlled the top vaulting spot in the nation for three consecutive weeks.  Although Nebraska lost two major vault contributors in Steven Friedman and Mace Patterson, new faces have stepped in to fill the void. 

 

One new face is Moore who has competed on the vault just a hand full of times in his career at Nebraska.  His score of 9.10 at the RMO was a career-high and catapulted him into the event finals on the following day.

 

Also helping the Huskers in the vaulting rotation is freshman Jacob Ives.  Although Ives was not scheduled to compete in the event at the beginning of the season, his score of 8.35 at the Rocky Mountain Open shows that he is absolutely capable of keeping up with a very talented Nebraska lineup.   

 

In addition to team success, the Huskers also boast individual recognition as T?trault is currently ranked 11th in the polls.  T?trault is also ranked 10th on the pommel horse (8.55) and 14th in the all-around (48.50).  He is joined by junior Jason Wassung who ranks ninth on the pommel horse (8.575) following his event title on the apparatus at the RMO.