Huskers Clash with Top Talent at MPSF Championships

The 11th-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team kicks off postseason action this weekend as it heads to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the 2006 MPSF Championships.  Unlike previous seasons, this year’s championship will be a one-day event held on Saturday, March 25 at 6 p.m., establishing both team and individual champions from a single competition.

Nebraska will clash with three of the nation’s top-five teams on Saturday including No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 California.  The MPSF’s also feature some of the nation’s best individual talent in Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton and Stanford’s David Sender, who are the No. 1 and No. 4 national all-arounders.

The Huskers enter the postseason after setting a season-high team score of 212.15 for a win over Air Force to close the regular-season on March 19 in Lincoln.  With the win, Nebraska improved to 7-8 on the season and 2-5 in the MPSF.

Nebraska’s fate for the 2006 NCAA Championships relies heavily on this weekend’s competition as the national qualifying averages take into account conference scores.  The NCAA advances 12 full teams to the championship competition and as the Huskers are currently 11th, they need a solid score at the MPSF Championships to secure a spot.

Individually, Nebraska is looking for its first event title at a conference championship since Josh Rasile took top honors on the vault in 2002.  Likely candidates for such an award include sophomore Stephen T?trault on either the pommel horse or the vault, two events where he finished fourth and second, respectively, in 2005.

Senior Derric Wood will also be a top contender on Saturday.  The Lincoln native has consistently posted strong scores on the pommel horse, parallel bars and high bars with season-high scores of 9.05, 8.95 and 9.45, respectively.

 

Scouting the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Field

No. 1 Oklahoma
Head Coach:  Mark Williams
Top Gymnast: Jonathan Horton
Record: 17-0
2005 MPSF Finish:  First (225.65)
With five MPSF team titles over the last six years, the Sooners are undoubtedly the favorites for this weekend’s competition.

Head coach Mark Williams has put together a remarkable group of local and national talent that has put Oklahoma at the top of the national rankings throughout the 2006 season behind an undefeated 17-0 record.

Leading OU in this effort has been sophomore Jonathan Horton.  In just his second season of collegiate competition, Horton is one his way to the history books as a two-time member of the U.S. National Team and an NCAA vaulting champion.  At the 2006 MPSF Championships, Horton skated through the competition to take top all-around honors (56.475) and also won the event title on the still rings (9.825).

Aside from Horton, the Sooners still have plenty of ammunition, including NCAA All-Americans Jamie Henderson, James Myers and Taquiy Abdullah-Simons.  Henderson won the MPSF pommel horse title in 2005 with a score of 9.625.

The MPSF Championships mark the fourth time the Sooners and Huskers have met in 2006 with Oklahoma taking all three previous competitions.

No. 2 Stanford
Head Coach:  Tom Glielmi
Top Gymnast: David Sender
Record: 13-3
2005 NCAA Finish:  Eighth (218.375)
After entering the season ranked sixth in the preseason coaches poll, the Stanford Cardinal have become the surprise story of the season.

Stanford has posted big dual wins over national powerhouses like Cal, Michigan and PennState and has put the pressure on the Sooners for the No. 1 national ranking all season.

With 12 returning lettermen, the Cardinal are packed with experience.  Leading the way this year is sophomore David Sender who posted a season-high all-around score of 54.45 at the Pacific Coast Classic on Feb. 27.

In 2005, the Cardinal earned one MPSF event title by current senior Nate Downs on the high bar with a score of 9.65.

This weekend marks the third competition between Stanford and Nebraska this season, with Stanford holding a 2-0 lead.

No. 3 California
Head Coach:  Barry Weiner
Top Gymnast: Tim McNeill
Record: 11-7
2005 NCAA Finish:  Fifth (222.075)
After struggling to get going at the beginning of the season, the Golden Bears have come on strong of late, improving to fifth nationally as a team.

Cal suffered a series of hard losses to rival Stanford in the initial weeks of the 2006 campaign, but have since recovered. The Golden Bears have improved their team scores over the last month by 10 points and most recently gained an enormous win over PennState on March 11 with a score of 219.10 to finish out the regular-season.

This season, the Golden Bears returned four All-Americans and eight letterwinners.  However, they lost a large part of their floor and vault lineups with the graduation of 2005 MPSF Gymnast of the Year, Graham Ackerman. But sophomore Tim McNeill has quickly stepped up to fill in for the loss, claiming the nation’s No. 1 pommel horse spot for the last several weeks with a three-score average of 9.267.

At the 2005 MPSF Championships, Cal gained a pair of event titles including one from Ackerman on the floor exercise (9.725) and the other from current Cal sophomore Tyler Block on the parallel bars (9.35).

The MPSF Championships mark the second meeting between the Bears and the Huskers, with Cal winning the first match.

No. 5 Air Force
Head Coach:  Kip Simons
Top Gymnast: Brian Moore
Record: 1-19
2005 NCAA Finish:  DNQ
The Air Force Falcons began the 2006 season under new head coach Kip Simons after the retirement of long-time coach Lou Burkel.

A former Olympian and assistant coach at Cal, Simons’ first head coaching experience has been a challenging one.  The Falcons have yet to win a dual match, averaging a team score of just 182.875 and own a season-high score of 184.775, which they earned against the Huskers on March 19.

Air Force’s top competitor is senior Brian Moore, who is just one of two all-arounders for the Falcons.  Moore has mounted a season-high all-around score of 45.30 and has seen his highest event scores on the vault (8.45) and parallel bars (8.30).

This will be the third meeting between Nebraska and Air Force, with the Huskers holding a 2-0 lead over the Falcons this season.

 

MPSF History
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first recognized men’s gymnastics in 1995 and has since become home to five programs across the western half of the United States.

Stanford took top honors at the MPSF Championships during the first year, the only time in conference history for the Cardinal.

Since then, every team but Air Force has gathered at least one MPSF team title, with Oklahoma leading the way with six.  At the 2004 MPSF Championships, Cal broke the Sooners’ five-year sweep of the conference title.  The win was Cal’s third in MPSF history.

Over the last 11 years, Nebraska has claimed two MPSF titles, one of which it shared with Oklahoma in 1999.  This was the last time Nebraska finished first and the Huskers have not managed to place higher than third overall since.

Individually, NU has placed at least one gymnast in the top spot in an event in seven of 11 MPSF’s.  However, the Huskers have failed to claim a single conference title since Josh Rasile’s 2002 vault finish.

Last year, Nebraska finished fourth (215.375) led by Stephen T?trault who finished third in the all-around (53.075), fourth on pommel horse (8.95) and was a runner-up on vault (9.40) behind Oklahoma’s David Henderson.

Additionally, Jason Wassung tied for fourth in the all-around (52.80), eighth on the pommel horse and tied for sixth on the vault (9.20).

 

Last Time Out
In their last home dual at Nebraska, four NU seniors earned all six event titles en route to a 212.15-184.775 team win over Air Force at the BobDevaneySportsCenter on March 19.  In all, the Huskers swept the top three spot on all six events leading to its season-high team score.

Senior Derric Wood earned a trio of event titles including his first of the season on the pommel horse (9.05).  He also tied for first with junior Jason Wassung on the parallel bars (8.95) and tied his career-high score of 9.45 for first on the high bar.

Senior Tony Burtle took home a pair of titles including one on the floor with a career-high score of 9.25 and another on the vault where he tied with senior Nic Matthews (9.20).

Senior Ray Hacker took top honors on the still rings with a score of 8.90.  The title is the first of Hacker’s collegiate career at Nebraska.

Sophomore Stephen T?trault earned his first all-around title of 2006 with a season-high score of 52.45 followed by Wassung in second with a score of 50.45.

After struggling on the floor against Oklahoma and Stanford the previous week, the Huskers quickly recuperated against the Falcons and posted a season-high team score of 35.85.  Burtle led a slew of career-high marks with his score of 9.25 behind a near-flawless routine, followed by junior Jon Charter (8.65) and senior Nick Moore (8.80).  Matthews finished second in the event with a score of 8.95, followed by T?trault in third.

Nebraska chased its brilliant tumbling display with solid scores on the pommel horse including Wood’s score of 9.05 for first followed by T?trault in second (8.90) and Moore in third (8.10).  This is the second consecutive week Wood has posted a score of 9.05 after setting the season-high mark against Oklahoma and Stanford on March 11.

The Huskers were led on the still rings by Hacker, followed by Matthews who finished second with a season-high score of 8.65, while T?trault placed third (8.25).

Nebraska continued to cruise on the vault, with five of six competitors posting score above a 9.0.  Burtle and Matthews tied for top honors each with a score of 9.20, followed by Wassung in second with a 9.15 and Moore in third with a 9.05.    

Nebraska set yet another event high score on the parallel bars with a team score of 35.25 over its previous best of 35.20, which it set against Iowa on Feb. 12.  Leading the way behind Wood and Wassung who tied for first was freshman T.J. Schmidt in second (8.75) and T?trault in third (8.60).

The Huskers ended the afternoon on the high bar where all six NU competitors posted either season- or career- high scores.  Wood tied his career-high of 9.45 for first, followed by Burtle and Wassung who tied for second with scores of 9.15, which are career-highs for both of them.  T?trault finished third with a season-high score of 8.85.  Nebraska’s team high bar score of 36.60 also crushes its previous season best of 35.15. 

 

Reviewing the Rankings
As of March 13, the GymInfo national rankings system changed once again on to a modified three-score average.  This means that of the four highest scores, counting no more than two home meets, the highest will be dropped and the three remaining will be calculated to figure the new median score.

For Nebraska, this means that its home score of 209.45 against Iowa on Feb. 12 is combined with its scores of 202.90 against Minnesota on Feb. 18 and 201.10 against Oklahoma and Stanford on March 11 figure into its average of 204.483. The Huskers improved this week following scoring a season-high mark of 212.15 against Air Force because this score became dropped, allowing Nebraska to claim its score of 209.45, which it earned against Iowa on Feb. 12, instead of the 208.65 it earned against Oklahoma on March 5, which it had used before.

As a team, the Huskers are ranked in the top 10 on three events heading into the postseason.  Nebraska’s highest rank is on the vault where it is tied for seventh, while it also holds the eighth-place spot on the pommel horse and parallel bars.

Individually junior Jason Wassung, senior Nick Moore and sophomore Stephen T?trault hold Nebraska’s highest individual rankings with Wassung eighth in the all-around; Moore tied for seventh in vault and T?trault seventh in pommel horse.

 

Guide to the NQA
The 12 teams that receive invitations to the 2006 NCAA Championships are chosen based on a national qualifying average as computed by GymInfo.  The NQA is computed by selecting the four highest regular-season scores, counting no more than two home meets, and the highest of these scores will be dropped. The conference meet score will be doubled and added to the three remaining regular-season scores. The average of these five scores, which includes the doubled conference score, will be the national qualifying average. (The conference score will count 40% and the regular season scores will count 60%).

For the Huskers, this means that NU’s scores of 209.45, 202.9 and 201.1 from the regular-season will be added to twice its conference score and the average of these five scores will result if Nebraska’s national qualifying average.

 

Conference Clash
Since its inception in 1994, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has posted a competitive presence against the well-established Big Ten.  In fact, in the last 11 years, MPSF teams have taken seven NCAA team titles and six runner-up finishes despite owning half as many programs as the Big Ten. 

However, over the last seven seasons, only Oklahoma has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation.  Otherwise, the Big Ten’s PennState and OhioState have made national names for themselves as the teams to beat.

But with the release of the March 13 GymInfo poll, it appears that 2006 is a different year for the MPSF.  With Oklahoma holding steady at No. 1, Stanford chasing at No. 2, Cal at No. 5 and Nebraska making occasional appearances into the top 10, it would seem that perhaps the tables have turned.  Already three of the top five teams in the nation are MPSF programs, including the top two squads.

Additionally, individual MPSF gymnasts hold top seeds in four of the seven events, while another three are runners-up.  Oklahoma boasts the most top spots with sophomore Jonathan Horton on still rings and all-around, followed by Cal’s Tim McNeill on the pommel horse and Stanford’s Dylan Carney on the high bar.

With all of this in mind, this weekend’s conference championship could be a precursor to the NCAA Championships in April.  With three of the top-five teams in the nation competing, the MPSF Championships are a fairly accurate representation of what should be the NCAA team finals in less than a month. 

   

Knock on Wood
Lincoln native Derric Wood is having the kind of final season every senior dreams about.

After spending the last two seasons overcoming both illness and injury, Wood has returned for his senior year full of determination.  The parallel bars and high bar have proven to be Wood’s bread and butter as he has set career-high marks of 8.95 and 9.45, respectively in each event and has earned a total of six event titles between the two.  Additionally, Wood owns one event title on the pommel horse and holds team-high marks on the event (9.05) and on the high bar (9.45).  Wood’s seven event titles lead the Huskers this season.

Against Air Force last Sunday, Wood notched a trio of event titles including one on the pommel horse (9.05), one on the parallel bars (8.95) and another on the high bar (9.45) to close out the Senior Day competition.  A graduate of Lincoln Southeast, Wood contributed 36.2 points to Nebraska’s season-high total of 212.15, while the Huskers also set season-high event scores in three of the four events that feature Wood in the lineup.

Wood’s performance this weekend launched him into the national pommel horse and parallel bars rankings for the first time this season, coming in at 19th in both rankings.  Wood also improved in the high bar ranks, moving from 14th to 12th. 

Additionally, Wood earned his second MPSF Gymnast of the Week title this season, become one of two gymnasts in the conference to earn the honor twice.  The other individual is Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton.

 

Superlative Sophomores
A quick look at the national ranks show a surprising pattern sweeping collegiate gymnastics.  That pattern is that many of the nation’s top gymnasts are only in their sophomore years.

In the national all-around ranks, three of the top five gymnasts are sophomores including Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton in first, followed by Stanford’s David Sender in third and PennState’s Derek Helsby is fifth.

Additionally, sophomores sit atop the pommel horse and still rings rankings with Cal’s Tim McNeill ranking first on the horse and Horton in first on the still rings.  Meanwhile, Sender occupies the runner-up spots on both the floor exercise and the vault.

The same pattern holds for the Huskers, as sophomore Stephen T?trault is Nebraska’s only returning All-American and also holds NU’s highest national ranking on the pommel horse (7th).  T?trault is also ranked 12th nationally in the all-around.

 

Senior Significance
While Nebraska normally relies heavily on its underclassmen, this season the seniors have reclaimed their leadership role. 

Nebraska seniors own five of seven event-high scores for the Huskers, in addition to staking claim to 15 of 18 individual event titles in 2006.

During the regular-season meets, NU seniors accounted for 51 percent of Nebraska’s total team points.

 

At Nebraska’s final regular-season dual against Air Force on March 19, NU seniors claimed all six event titles and represented 116.7 points of Nebraska’s season-high 212.15 team score.