Schmidt, T?trault Take Home All-America Honors

State College, Pa. ? Nebraska added a pair of All-America honors to its collection on Saturday evening, as sophomore T.J. Schmidt and junior Stephen T?trault tallied top-eight finishes on the pommel horse at the 2007 NCAA Championships in State Park, Pa.

 

It is the first All-America award for Schmidt and the third for T?trault, who was named an All-American in the all-around on Friday.

 

“I’m not at all surprised that these two guys are All-Americans this season,” Head Coach Francis Allen said. “They have both worked extremely hard to get where they are and have proven themselves all season long. I’m happy that their work paid off.”

 

Schmidt finished fifth overall with a score of 9.075, while T?trault followed close behind in sixth with a score of 8.975. Together, Schmidt and T?trault became the first Huskers to garner All-America status in the same individual event since Derek Leiter and Asher Lichterman finished third and fourth, respectively, on the vault in 2000.

 

The two All-America awards also gives Nebraska a total of three for the 2007 NCAA Championships, the most it has notched  since the 2000 season. The Huskers now own 172 All-America awards from 45 gymnasts in program history.

 

“Clearly, we have some talent on this team that can compete on a national level,” Allen said. “But even more so, we have a lot of talent that is coming back next season. Both of these All-Americans will be back in the lineup next year and, I hope, leading our team to the next level.”

 

Schmidt was up first on the pommel horse and set the bar high from the gate with a score of 9.075 for fifth place, bettering his event qualifying score of 9.00 from Friday’s competition. Cal’s Tim McNeill, the reigning national champion on the event, took over the top spot from Schmidt with a score of 9.65 for his second consecutive pommel horse crown.

 

T?trault stepped up fifth in the order and posted a score of 8.975 for sixth place and gathered his second All-America honor of the year and third of his career. T?trault also earned All-America honors in the all-around yesterday, placing seventh overall with a score of 52.05.

 

Following his fifth-place national finish on the pommel horse, Schmidt geared up to compete on the parallel bars finals, which he qualified for during Friday’s event preliminaries with a career-high mark of 9.40. Unfortunately, the Blair, Neb., native couldn’t repeat his performance from the previous night, scoring an 8.60 and failing to finish among the top-eight.

 

As a team, Nebraska finished the season with a record of 3-9, and placed fourth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and 10th nationally. The Huskers will return the bulk of their roster in 2008, including 2007 All-Americans T?trault and Schmidt. Nebraska will lose seniors Jason Wassung and Jon Charter, who co-captained the 2007 squad.