No. 8 Nebraska Begins Three-Week Road Test

The eighth-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team will travel to Norman, Okla., for the first of three consecutive away meets in February, facing No. 6 Oklahoma at McCasland Field House on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m.

 

With last Sunday’s 196.35-195.95 win over conference rival and No. 10 Missouri, the Huskers improved to 5-2-1 on the season and notched a team season-high score and uneven bars (49.375) and balance beam (48.90) totals, while extending their home unbeaten streak at the Bob Devaney Sports Center to 59 meets. Nebraska has won every regular-season competition in its home arena since the 1993 Masters Classic, except for a pair of ties with IowaState in 2004 and Michigan earlier this season.

 

The Huskers swept the individual event titles, as sophomore Emily Parsons claimed top honors in the all-around (39.375), vault (9.90), beam (9.875) and floor (9.90). Redshirt freshman Vanessa Meloche completed the sweep by winning the uneven bars title with a career-high 9.925.

 

NU will continue away competition by traveling to PennState Friday, Feb. 10, taking on the No. 15 Nittany Lions, Rutgers and Yale. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (CST) at PSU’s Rec Hall.

 

Scouting the Competition: Oklahoma Sooners

*Head Coach: Steve Nunno (Seventh Year)      *2006 Record: 4-3

*2006 High Score: 195.925 (vs. Southern Utah, 1/20/06)

*2005 NCAA Finish: 12th (194.425)

*Last Meet: at TWU Triangular (TWU, Air Force), 1/29/06 (1st, 195.90)

Quick Facts about the Sooners...

*Oklahoma is ranked No. 6 nationally this week, as well as first in both the South Central Region and Big 12 Conference.

*Junior Brittany Koncak-Schumann is the only gymnast other than Nebraska’s Emily Parsons to win Big-12-Gymnast-of-the-Week honors in 2006, claiming the award the week of Jan. 24.

*The last two Big 12 Gymnasts of the Year have been Sooner competitors: Erin LaBarr (2005) and Kasie    Tamayo (2004). NU’s Richelle Simpson preceded Tamayo and LaBarr in winning the conference award in 2003.

 

The Last Time Nebraska and Oklahoma Met...

Nebraska and Oklahoma last met at the 2005 NCAA Championships in Auburn, Ala., where NU finished third in the first preliminary session with a score of 195.875 ahead of the sixth-place Sooners, who posted a 194.425. The Huskers finished sixth overall at the NCAA Super Six Finals the following night, notching a mark of 196.425. NU leads the all-time series with Oklahoma 54-16.

 

At last year’s Big 12 Championships held at OU, Nebraska reclaimed the conference team championship with a score of 196.65. The title was the seventh Big 12 crown and 19th overall conference championship in program history. Husker Richelle Simpson captured top honors in the all-around (39.525) and floor exercise (9.925) while also tying with Emily Parsons for the balance beam title (9.85). Michele Zabawa also won the uneven bars championship with a score of 9.90, and Parsons was honored as the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

 

In 2005, the Huskers met Oklahoma at the BobDevaneySportsCenter, earning their first home win of the season (196.775-195.725) after a 1-3 start. NU swept the individual event titles as well, as Simpson won the all-around (39.50) and beam (9.925) titles. Parsons captured the vault crown with a career-record 9.95, in addition to a first-place finish on floor (9.925). Former Husker Kristi Esposito also won the bars title with a 9.925.

 

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 290-106-4 overall and 206-38-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig enters his 23rd year of coaching and owns a career record of 403-218-4.

 

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. Parsons’ achievements have garnered her Big-12-Gymnast-of-the-Week honors for the weeks of Jan. 10, Jan. 17 and Jan. 31.

 

After finishing first in the all-around (39.375), vault (9.90), beam (9.875) and floor (9.90) against Missouri, she laid claim to her fourth consecutive vault crown of 2006 and now owns 10 vault titles and 26 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 on Jan. 13. 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.

 

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

Four of Nebraska’s five freshman gymnasts have competed in the first four meets of 2006 -- redshirt freshman Vanessa Meloche and true freshmen Sabrina Long, Kylie Stone 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, she added a career-best 9.925 against Missouri last weekend to nab the bars title again.

Woo has been crucial to NU’s balance beam and floor exercise lineups in her own right. The native of Milpitas, Calif., had a spectacular showing in the Huskers’ first home meet against Michigan, 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. A native of Tulsa, Okla., and Krafft Academy of Gymnastics -- the same program that produced NU assistant coach Danna Durante -- Long has shown consistent improvement on vault in her first four appearances. She opened her collegiate career with a 9.60 at the Super Six Challenge, followed by a score of 9.675 against Michigan, then a 9.775 at Utah, followed by a 9.725 versus Missouri. The 2003 Level 10 Junior Olympic national vault champion, Long also posted a season-high 9.75 on floor against the Tigers last Sunday.

 

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 competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and 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, she was the 2004 Canadian National all-around, beam and floor exercise champion, as well as a national titleholder on beam in 2003.

 

Stone made her competitive debut at Utah, working her way into the bars and beam lineups and contributing scores of 8.90 and 9.325, respectively. Stone’s first competition at the Devaney Center, however, proved a much more solid performance for the freshman, as she notched a score of 9.80 on bars and a 9.75 on beam.

 

 

Third Time’s a Charm for Parsons

Sophomore Emily Parsons has been named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for Jan. 10, Jan. 17 and Jan. 31 this season, giving her a career total of five gymnast-of-the-week honors while at Nebraska. She most recently earned the award after capturing the all-around (39.375), vault (9.90), beam (9.875) and floor (9.90) titles against Missouri on Jan. 31.

 

The award is the most recent addition to her growing list of conference, regional and national accolades. The Jan. 31 recognition also makes her the first gymnast to be named the Big 12’s top weekly performer three times in one month since former Husker Richelle Simpson accomplished the feat in February of 2003.