No. 6 Nebraska Opens Home Schedule with No. 8 Oklahoma

?Head Coach: Dan Kendig (14th Year)<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

?Current Record: 6-1 (2-0 Big 12)

?2007 High Score: 196.80 (at <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Missouri, 1/26/07)

?2006 NCAA Finish: 5th (196.125)

                               

The sixth-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team opens its home schedule this Friday, Feb. 2 to continue its conference season with No. 8 Oklahoma. The competition is the first this year between the Huskers and the Sooners, as NU has already posted wins over its other Big 12 foes, IowaState and Missouri.

 

Nebraska boasts a series record of 56-16 with Oklahoma, having defeated the Sooners seven straight times since a loss at the 2004 Big 12 Championships.

 

Following the OU-NU matchup, Nebraska returns to the road on Friday, Feb. 9 for a triangular at No. 9 Michigan with Illinois. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at UM’s Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

 

Huskers’ First Home Meet to Feature Dollar Days

At Nebraska’s home opener with Oklahoma this Friday at 7:30 p.m., fans will enjoy the BobDevaneySportsCenter’s “Dollar Days” promotion. As the Huskers and Sooners battle it out, meet attendees will receive $1 admission, $1 hot dogs and $1 Pepsi products.

 

Dollar Days deals are also available at Thursday’s wrestling meet with No. 20 Nebraska and No. 4 Oklahoma State at the NU Coliseum at 7 p.m. and Saturday at the Frank Sevigne/Husker Invitational track and field meet at the Devaney Center Indoor Track at 10 a.m. The Dollar Days action will reach its peak on Saturday at the women’s basketball game between the No. 22 Huskers and No. 13 Baylor at the DevaneyCenter at 2:30 p.m.

 

Nebraska’s Competition Order with Oklahoma

Nebraska will compete in Olympic order for the first time this season on Friday night, beginning on vault and continuing on bars, beam and floor. The meet is a double dual with the Nebraska and Oklahoma men’s teams, so routines will not alternate between events.

 

Rotation                 Oklahoma             Nebraska

1                              Uneven Bars        Vault

2                              Vault                       Uneven Bars

3                              Floor Exercise      Balance Beam

4                              Balance Beam     Floor Exercise

 

Scouting the Competition: No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners

?Head Coach: K.J. Kindler (First Year)

?2007 Record: 4-1 (1-0 Big 12)

?2007 High Score: 196.125 (vs. Missouri/Cent. Michigan, 1/19/07)

?2006 NCAA Finish: 10th (195.525)

A Glance at the Sooners...

?OU’s top returning gymnast is senior Brittney Koncak-Schumann, a two-time All-American who captured the 2006 Big 12 all-around title (39.425).

?Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler is in her first year at OU, having served as head coach at IowaState for the last six seasons. The Sooner staff also boasts new faces in assistant coach Lou Ball, Kindler’s husband and an 11-year assistant at ISU, and Tom Haley, a three-year assistant at OhioState.

 ?Nebraska and Oklahoma last met at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Corvallis, Ore., where the Huskers finished first in the afternoon preliminary session with a 196.325 to best OU’s sixth-place 195.525.

?The Sooners last defeated Nebraska in a regular-season dual, 192.725-190.55, on Feb. 8, 1998. OU has outscored Nebraska just twice in regular-season competition in the last 31 years, excluding Big 12 and Big Eight Championship appearances.

?Junior Stephanie LoPiccolo, the 2006 co-Big 12 bars champion with Nebraska’s Vanessa Meloche and Desire’ Sniatynski, was an alternate for her native Australia’s 2004 Olympic team.

?Freshman Hollie Vise, who has yet to compete this season for OU, was the 2003 world champion on bars and helped lead the U.S. team to a gold medal at the World Championships in Anaheim, Calif.

 

Notable Achievements in OU-NU History

?Nebraska has won seven of the last 10 Big 12 team championships, finishing first as recently as 2005, when the conference meet was held in Norman, Okla.Nebraska leads the conference with 19 Big 12 and Big Eight championships.

?Oklahoma won its first Big 12 title in 2004, bringing the school to a total of six conference championships in women’s gymnastics.

?OU gymnasts have won 47 conference event crowns and earned 23 All-America honors, while NU competitors have taken 85 conference event titles and 96 All-America awards.

?Former Sooner Kelly Garrison is Oklahoma’s only NCAA champion in school history, as she won four national titles between 1987 and 1988. Nebraska boasts a total of five individual NCAA championships from three gymnasts.

 

Reviewing the Weekend: Nebraska at Missouri

?Nebraska achieved a season-high team score in a 196.80-195.00 win at Missouri last Friday, marking its eighth straight victory over MU since the 2004 Big 12 Championships.

?Junior Emily Parsons was dominant on her three events for the Huskers, capturing individual event titles on vault (9.95), beam (9.95) and floor (9.925). Parsons’ 9.95 score on beam set a career high on the event, as she formerly hit the 9.925 mark three times in 2006.

?Sophomore Vanessa Meloche took a share of the bars title with a score of 9.90, giving her a career total of eight bars crowns.

?Junior Desire’ Sniatynski won the first all-around crown of her career with a career-best 39.375, while also tying for the bars title with Meloche. Sniatynski also tied her career high on vault (9.825) to finish fourth, as well as fourth on beam and floor with scores of 9.825.

?Sophomore Kylie Stone scored a season-high 39.225 to finish second in the all-around behind Sniatynski.

?Senior Stephanie Carter grabbed third-place honors on vault with a season-best 9.90.

?Freshman Maria Scaffidi posted a season-high 38.55 in the all-around to finish fourth.

?Although she competed only on the Huskers’ final event, freshman Kathryn Howard had a big meet for NU on beam, scoring a career-best 9.875 for second-place honors.

 

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 317-116-4 overall and 221-42-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig is in his 24th year of coaching and owns a career record of 430-229-4.

 

A six-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to eight conference championships and three straight regional championships from 2000 to 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, 2005 and 2006. 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 guidance in 2006, Nebraska finished with a 26-11-1 overall record. The Huskers placed second (196.275) in the NCAA Southeast Regional behind Georgia and also placed fifth (196.175) in its eighth consecutive NCAA Championships appearance. Seven of Kendig's gymnasts -- Emily Parsons (AA, V, FX), Tricia Woo (BB, FX), Vanessa Meloche (UB) Michele Zabawa (UB) and Desire’ Sniatynski (UB), Stephanie Carter (FX) and Kylie Stone (V) -- earned a total of 10 All-America honors.

 

Kendig is assisted by associate head coach Danna Durante, who is in her fifth season with Nebraska, and assistant coach Tim Garrison, who is in his first year on the Husker staff.

 

Parsons Remains Nation’s Top-Ranked Vaulter

Junior Emily Parsons has maintained her status as the nation’s No. 1 vaulter after posting a 9.95 to take the individual event title at Missouri. The St. Charles, Mo., native has an average of 9.958 on vault and also ranks third on beam (9.883) and seventh on floor (9.883). Parsons has earned Big 12 Event-Specialist-of-the-Week honors twice this season -- Jan. 9 and Jan. 23 -- for a career total of eight weekly conference awards.

 

Parsons owns a total of 56 individual event titles in just over two years at Nebraska. She has earned seven All-America awards in the last two seasons and finished fourth on vault and sixth on floor in the individual event finals at the 2006 NCAA Championships. In 2006, Parsons was also named the South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year and snagged Big 12 Conference crowns on vault and beam. In a sophomore season that saw her earn four All-Big 12 nods (vault, beam, floor and the all-around), Parsons went on to claim NCAA regional titles on vault, floor and the all-around for the second straight year.

 

Sniatynski Named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week

Junior Desire’ Sniatynski was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for the first time in her career, the conference office announced Tuesday. The Kenosha, Wis., native was recognized after capturing her first all-around crown with a career-high 39.375 in Nebraska’s win at Missouri. Sniatynski added a 9.825 mark on vault to take fourth-place honors and tie her career best on the event, while also notching scores of 9.825 on beam and floor to finish fourth and sixth, respectively.

 

A two-time All-American on bars, Sniatynski is the defending co-Big 12 bars champion. She has earned a total of 10 individual event crowns in just over two full seasons of competition for the Huskers. Sniatynski is currently ranked 14th nationally on bars with an average of 9.867 and 23rd in the all-around (39.117).

 

Stone Becomes Rock-Solid All-Arounder for NU

Kylie Stone gave fans a glimpse of her full abilities in the last meet of her freshman season at the 2006 NCAA Championships. The Calgary, Alberta, native, who had competed as an all-arounder since early February, set or tied four career highs at the Super Six Finals to finish fourth in the all-around with a career-best 39.40. She added career-high marks on bars (9.85), beam (9.80) and floor (9.925), as well as a solid 9.825 on vault. In the afternoon preliminary session the day before, Stone notched a 9.85 on vault to earn second-team All-America honors on the event.

 

Stone headlined the steady 2006 freshman class and was an All-Big 12 honoree in the all-around with a 39.25 performance at the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln. She came to Nebraska with an impressive list of accomplishments, having been a 2004 Canadian Olympian and a four-time Canadian senior national champion.

 

In last week’s win at Missouri, Stone posted a season-high 39.225 to finish second in the all-around behind teammate Desire’ Sniatynski (39.375). Stone finished third on floor (9.875), tied for fourth on vault (9.825) and placed fifth on beam (9.80) and seventh on bars (9.725).

 

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

Nebraska welcomed three true freshmen to its roster this season, as Maria Scaffidi, Kathryn Howard and Molly Ohnoutka joined the Huskers for 2007. A native of Sussex, Wis., Scaffidi is a former junior international elite gymnast. At the 2000 Junior Pan American Championships, Scaffidi led the U.S. team to a first-place finish, while also taking the all-around and beam crowns. Scaffidi scored a season-high 38.55 in the all-around at Missouri and finished fourth on vault (9.825).

 

Howard joined NU after the fall semester, having graduated early from KeystoneNationalHigh School. The Huntsville, Texas, native has made an immediate impact on the beam lineup, as she finished second on the event at Missouri with a career-high 9.875.

 

Ohnoutka, who hails from Omaha, Neb., will redshirt in 2007 while she rehabilitates an injury suffered during her senior year of high school.

 

Sophomore All-Americans Become Seasoned Veterans

Nebraska’s sophomore class includes a trio of returning All-Americans in Tricia Woo, Kylie Stone and Vanessa Meloche. Woo, a native of Milpitas, Calif., took first-team honors on floor at the NCAA Championships to finish 10th, and second-team honors on beam. She has been as solid as ever in her second year, as she tied for second on beam (9.825) at IowaState and added a third-place finish on floor (9.875).

 

The class also boasts a pair of former Canadian National Team members in Meloche and Stone. Meloche, a first-team All-American and the reigning Big 12 champion on bars, came out strong in her inaugural season as a Husker to win six individual bars titles. A seven-year member of the national team, she was the 2002 Canadian National bars champion. Meloche will serve as one of the top performers in the Huskers’ bars lineup and may also see time on beam.

 

A second-team All-American on vault in 2006, Stone grabbed an all-around crown and a floor title at PennState in 2006 to break into the NU lineup full-time. Before beginning her career at Nebraska, Stone competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and finished 14th in the all-around at the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, Calif., making her the highest-finishing Canadian female all-arounder in World Championshi­ps history.