Coaches Update with Dan Kendig

With the first half of the 2006 season complete, Head Coach Dan Kendig shared his thoughts on the No. 11 Nebraska women's gymnastics team's performances, its event lineups and the championship part of the year just ahead.

 

On the first half of the season being complete

I'm extremely pleased with what our team is doing gymnastically. At this point of the season, we still have a lot of work to do, but I can see our athletes are up to that challenge of improving themselves on each event.

 

At the midway point, I'm encouraged by the team's progress. We've been consistently ranked in the top 10, but I wish we had one more strong away meet score simply for the regional qualifying score process. For the most part I feel like we have so much room to improve.

 

Our team's chemistry is very good. We have a group of athletes who genuinely care about each other, work hard for each other and support each other to no end. Without having any seniors on the team, big leadership is still a work in progress, but things are improving there too. People are starting to step up when they need to in and out of the gym, and that's very encouraging to see.

 

On vault

We have a very strong vault team, and our top six vaulters are getting better every single week. We are lucky to have one of the best vaulters in the nation with Emily Parsons, and Stephanie Carter has been a real “steady eddy” all year. Tricia Woo and Kylie Stone only continue to get better with each meet, and with Sabrina Long, Michele Zabawa and Desire' Sniatynski, we feel like we are definitely seven competitors deep on that. Vault is proving to be one of our stronger events top to bottom. How we score and the final analysis will really come down to consistency on landings and confidence on the entire vault.

 

On uneven bars

I feel like we have six strong bars routines right now. Emily has done a remarkable job leading us off; she been very consistent in that spot over her whole career. Kylie has come in and already seems to be stronger while her execution and form improve. She was just a hop on a dismount away from a 9.90 routine last week at PennState, and we can see that she's starting to feel more comfortable on that event.

 

Brittney Williams is continuing to work on her routine. She's at a point right now where one day she's going to show up at a meet and really show it off. Michele has been an All-American and a Big 12 Champion on bars, and her routine is very clean. She's always solid for us. Then we have Desire' and Vanessa Meloche at the end of the lineup, and you couldn't ask for a better pair to finish that event.

 

Stephanie is swinging bars better each week, and Sabrina Long keeps improving too. We can absolutely have eight people ready to compete on bars, but our top six are doing a great job right now. Stephanie is our No. 7 competitor on bars, and as she continues to do well, she pushes the top six to keep up what they're doing.

 

On balance beam

Overall, beam is a matter of aggressiveness, focus and confidence in being able to show at any meet and being able to hit that event. We're starting off right now with a good routine from Kylie; she's settling into a good leadoff role for our team. Michele is also very clean on beam. She's hit consistently in the last couple of meets, and you can see in what she's doing that her confidence is there. When you have that assurance of being solid, it's amazing what you're capable of doing.

 

Stephanie Carter has hit her routine in every meet for us. She's really gotten to the point that she's showing a lot of confidence in her abilities. Desire' is the one I think who has made the most significant improvements; she looks awesome up there and keeps working harder to find confidence in her skills.

 

Tricia Woo has a very unique routine with some different skills that make her stand out on the event. Then we have an outstanding anchor in Emily Parsons. She has great skills, a great overall routine and is very steady. She's been ranked No. 2 nationally on beam most of the year. Beam is just coming down to the confidence aspect and being prepared to go out and hit at any given time, and we can see that as the season continues.

 

On floor exercise

Floor is the one that we've started out the year with low numbers and sometimes competed five gymnasts because our depth wasn't great at the beginning. Rather than throw someone out there who isn't ready, we chose to pace the team. The addition of Kylie on that event has been huge. Her first time out at Oklahoma, she scored a 9.70, and just last month she went up to a 9.90. We knew she was capable of a 9.90, and she really showed it with great landings on all three passes. She did a really, really nice job. Kylie was the 2004 Canadian national floor champion, so we know we have someone very talented and gifted on that event. She is strong in the fifth spot of the lineup right now because she combines strong tumbling with great ppresence out on the floor. I think people are going to take notice of her very soon. Right now it's just a matter of keeping her healthy and having her compete for us on a regular basis.

 

Sabrina has a very consistent routine for us, and Stephanie also has a good routine that just keeps improving. She has a nice full-in mount, she dismounts with a double tuck, and her dance keeps getting better and better. We feel like she's on the brink of breaking out there for us.

 

Then we follow up with Desire', who did one of the best routines since she's been here for us at PennState. She has a new first pass – a back two-and-a-half twist punch front, and then comes back with a double pike. She's clean on floor, and with this new routine, she's feeling more comfortable with her music. She works hard, and I feel like we'll continue to get that kind of routine from her.

 

Tricia Woo is also extremely talented. She has good dance and a good style on floor. She's versatile in the fact that she can work several different tumbling passes. Tricia has the option of a double layout, a triple twist, a front through to a two-and-a-half twist and a double pike. We have big plans for her on that event that could come into play later this season.

 

After Kylie in the No. 5 spot, we have our floor team's anchor with Emily Parsons. She is the real deal – dynamic and entertaining. She takes everything she does on floor to the max. As a freshmen she finished third on floor at the NCAA Championships, and I feel like we haven't even seen the best of her yet either. Emily is steady, consistent and exactly what you need to anchor that event.

 

On the freshman class

Our freshmen have the potential to be a very great class. It's hard to compare freshman classes year to year because of the needs and expectations of the team, as well as what you as a coach are expecting from there. We're firm believers that success will breed more success, and we like to see our freshmen adjusting well in their first season. They have been in some situations this year where they needed to step up in times we wouldn't have asked otherwise. They really answered the call very well.

 

With Vanessa Meloche, we have one of the best uneven bars workers in world. With Kylie, we have one of the best freshman all-arounders in the nation. Tricia might get overlooked a little in the fact that she isn't competing all four events right now, but the three she does are outstanding. When you consider that Tricia does vault, beam and floor, and Vanessa competes bars, that's a great combination for four events.

 

We're relying on our freshmen a lot right now. They competed 10 of 24 routines at the PennState meet, and I'm very pleased with what they're doing. They are young and will only continue to get better.

 

On having four out of the next five meets at the Devaney Center

We're looking forward to being home for two weeks, having one away meet, and coming home for two more weeks. Being back at Devaney will help settle our team into a routine that should bring a very satisfying outcome. More than ever this year, our bottom line is relying on eight or nine athletes to be competing 24 routines. To ask that of them every week is very taxing over the course of the season, but we need all of them to remain and strong so we're doing our best gymnastics come championships time.

 

On having the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln

We have a conference with four teams that have been in or close to the top 10 nationally in the past few weeks. With all four teams ranked that high, it's going to be a great Big 12 Championship regardless of where the competition is held. It will take a great effort from our team -- or any team -- to win that championship.

 

Competing in our conference will only make our four teams have a stronger national presence. Strong competition throughout the season will impact our performances once we get into regionals and nationals by having such solid opponents right in our own conference.

 

 

Nebraska will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, this Saturday, March 7 for a tringular with Alaska-Anchorage and Seattle Pacific. Competition is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. (CST).