No. 13 Huskers Take on Tigers

?Nebraska Head Coach: Dan Kendig (15th Year)       

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

?2008 High Score: 195.55 (vs. ArizonaState, 1/13/08)

?Last Meet: Loss, at #3 Utah, 1/18/07 (196.425-194.575)

?2007 NCAA Finish: 6th (195.975)

                               

The No. 13 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team takes on Big 12 Conference foe and 14th-ranked Missouri this Friday, Jan. 25, at the DevaneyCenter. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The Huskers lead MU 62-5 in the all-time series dating back to 1980.

NU is 2-1 on the year after suffering a 196.425-194.575 loss to No. 3 Utah in Salt Lake City on Jan. 18. Senior Emily Parsons led the Huskers against the Utes, winning individual titles in the all-around (39.325), vault (9.95) and beam (9.90).

The Huskers hit the road next Friday, Feb. 1, for a conference dual at No. 7 Oklahoma at 7 p.m.

 

Scouting the Competition: No. 14 Missouri Tigers

?Head Coach: Rob Drass (Ninth Year)          

?2008 Record: 2-0

?2008 High Score: 194.125 (vs. #21 Iowa State, 1/18/08)

?Last Meet: Win, vs. #21 IowaState, 1/18/08 (194.125-192.40)

?2007 NCAA Finish: Did Not Qualify

 

A Glance at the Tigers...

?MU’s top returning gymnast is junior Adrianne Perry, a three-time All-Big 12 honoree. Perry qualified to the 2007 NCAA Championships as an all-around competitor and finished 22nd overall.

?Perry also owns five of the top 15 all-around scores in Missouri program history.

?Sophomore Sarah Shire, a transfer from national powerhouse Utah, finished first on vault (9.90) and floor (9.875) against IowaState last week.

?Missouri head coach Rob Drass has strong ties to the Nebraska women’s gymnastics program, as he served as a graduate assistant in 1992 and 1993 and was an assistant coach under Dan Kendig from 1994 to 1999.

 ?Nebraska and Missouri last met at the 2007 NCAA West Regional, where Nebraska finished second (196.675) and MU placed third (194.30).

 

Nebraska’s Competition Order vs. Missouri

Rotation                 Nebraska              Missouri

1                              Vault                       Uneven Bars

2                              Uneven Bars        Vault

3                              Balance Beam     Floor Exercise

4                              Floor Exercise      Balance Beam

 

Parsons Leads Huskers into 2008 Season

Senior Emily Parsons leads Nebraska in 2008 after earning nine All-America awards in her first three seasons at NU. The St. Charles, Mo., native finished third on vault and fourth on floor in the individual event finals at the 2007 NCAA Championships to garner first-team All-America honors on both events.

 

In 2007, Parsons was also named the South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year for the second time and was one of four finalists for the Honda Award. Parsons snagged Big 12 Conference crowns in the all-around, vault, beam and floor, as well as five all-conference nods. She also claimed NCAA regional titles on vault and floor. During her career, Parsons has run away with a total of 93 event crowns, including three from last weekend at Utah. Parsons won her third straight vault title with a season-high 9.95 and tied for the beam title (9.90) with defending NCAA beam champion Ashley Postell of Utah. Parsons and Postell also tied for the all-around title with matching scores of 39.325.

 

Parsons is ranked second nationally on vault with an average of 9.925, as well as sixth on beam (9.858) and 18th in the all-around (39.225) is this week’s GymInfo national rankings.

 

Parsons Ranked No. 1 on Nebraska’s All-Time Titles Chart

Just three meets into her senior year, Emily Parsons owns a career total of 93 event titles in three years at Nebraska, continuing her reign in the No. 1 spot on NU’s all-time career individual titles chart. Last season, Parsons passed Richelle Simpson, who garnered 77 individual crowns at Nebraska, and Heather Brink, who earned a total of 70 in her career. Two of Nebraska’s most decorated gymnasts, Simpson and Brink were both two-time NCAA champions in their four-year Husker careers.

 

Gymnast               Years at NU          Year 1    Year 2    Year 3    Year 4    Career Titles

Emily Parsons     2005-present       16           34           35           8              93

Richelle Simpson               2002-05                 9              39           6              23           77

Heather Brink       1997-2000            7              19           10           34           70

   

Kendig Builds One of Nation’s Top Programs at Nebraska

Head Coach Dan Kendig is the all-time winningest coach in the 31 years of Nebraska women's gymnastics history. In 14 seasons at Nebraska, Kendig is 344-128-4 overall and 241-50-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig is in his 25th year of coaching and owns a career record of 457-240-5.

 

A seven-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to nine conference championships and three straight regional championships from 2000 to 2002.

 

He has also led Nebraska to 11 NCAA Championships appearances in the past 13 seasons, including nine NCAA Super Six Finals appearances (1997-99, 2000-01-02-03-05-06-07). Kendig was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, a year in which the Huskers finished fourth nationally.

 

Under Kendig's guidance in 2007, Nebraska finished with a 26-12 overall record. The Huskers earned their 20th overall conference championship (196.475) and placed second (196.65) in the NCAA West Regional behind Utah. NU also finished sixth (195.975) in the Super Six Finals. Four of Kendig’s gymnasts -- Emily Parsons (V, FX), Michele Zabawa (V, UB), Tricia Woo (BB) and Desire’ Sniatynski (UB) -- earned a total of six All-America honors.

 

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

 

Woo, Sniatynski Sweep First Weekly Big 12 Awards

Senior Desire’ Sniatynski and junior Tricia Woo were honored as the first winners of the Big 12 Gymnast and Event Specialist of the Week awards, respectively, the conference office announced on Jan. 15. Sniatynski was recognized for the second time of her career, while Woo earned the first weekly conference honor of her career.

 

Sniatynski captured Gymnast-of-the-Week honors after taking two bars title against IowaState and ArizonaState. The Kenosha, Wis., native scored a career-high 39.45 in the all-around against ASU to finish second, while also earning runner-up honors on vault, beam and floor with a trio of 9.85 marks.

 

Woo was recognized as Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week after a career performance on beam against the Sun Devils. The Milpitas, Calif., native took the beam crown with a career-high 9.925 and also finished third on floor and fourth on vault with a pair of 9.825s.

 

Sniatynski Earns Career High in All-Around

Senior Desire’ Sniatynski has emerged as one of Nebraska’s top all-around competitors in the last two seasons, and her performance against ArizonaState displayed her All-America caliber all-around contributions. Sniatynski scored a career-high 39.45 in the all-around, placing second only to Emily Parsons (39.475). The Kenosha, Wis., native also claimed her second bars title of the year, tying her career best on the event with a 9.90. She was honored the following Tuesday as the conference’s first Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for the 2008 season.

 

A three-time All-American on bars, Sniatynski claimed a share of the 2006 Big 12 bars crown with teammate Vanessa Meloche, and she has won a total of 14 individual event crowns as a Husker.

 

Junior All-Americans Become Seasoned Veterans

Nebraska’s junior class includes a trio of returning All-Americans in Tricia Woo, Kylie Stone and Vanessa Meloche. Woo, a three-time All-American, took first-team honors on beam (2007) and floor (2006), as well as a second-team award on beam in 2006. In NU’s two-dual opening weekend, Woo was stellar for the Huskers, as she competed on three events -- vault, beam and floor. The Milpitas, Calif., native earned strong marks of 9.80 and 9.825 in her first two meets on vault since performing once on the event in 2007.

 

In Nebraska’s last home meet with ASU, Woo was a rock for NU, capturing the beam title with a career-high 9.925 and adding a 9.825 on floor.

 

The junior class also boasts a pair of former Canadian National Team members in Meloche and Stone. Meloche, a first-team All-American and the 2006 Big 12 champion on bars, came out strong in her sophomore season to win three individual bars titles before suffering a season-ending knee injury last February. A seven-year member of the national team, she was the 2002 Canadian National bars champion.

 

A second-team All-American on vault in 2006, Stone grabbed All-Big 12 accolades on vault in her sophomore season. 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.

 

Looking to the Future: The New Husker Class

Nebraska welcomed three newcomers to its roster this season: freshmen Erin Davis, Brittnee Habbib and Stephanie Seich. While Seich has been sidelined with an injury, Habbib and Davis have stepped up to fill in NU’s injury-plagued lineup in 2008.

 

Habbib was utilized as an all-arounder in the weekend of her collegiate debut and was a refreshing addition to the bars and beam teams. At IowaState, she stole the show on beam, tying for runner-up honors with fellow Husker Maria Scaffidi, as the duo contributed a pair of 9.85s. Against ArizonaState, Habbib earned a season-high 9.825 on bars to match Emily Parsons for second place.

 

A former member of the Canadian Senior National Team, Habbib brings impressive international experience to NU. The North York, Ontario, native and product of Gemini Gymnastics represented Canada at the 2006 World Championships and the 2007 Pan Am Games, leading the Canadian team to a bronze-medal finish. Habbib also took home fifth-place honors in the all-around at the 2006 Canadian National Championships.

 

Davis has served as a vault specialist in her first two competitions, scoring a pair of 9.85 marks to finish second both nights only to Parsons. A Level 10 product of Capital Gymnastics, Davis is a native of Round Rock, Texas. As a three-time Junior Olympic National Championships qualifier, she took second on floor, third on vault and sixth on beam in 2006. Davis has drawn early comparisons to Emily Parsons from the Nebraska coaching staff, who noted her power and tumbling skills on vault and floor.

 

A former international elite competitor, Seich comes to Lincoln from Rebound Gymnastics in New Brunswick, N.J. She qualified to the 2005 U.S. Classic as a senior, and as a junior international elite competitor in 2004, she finished 13th in the all-around at the U.S. Classic and 18th in the all-around at the U.S. Championships.

 

Scaffidi Emerges Strong as All-Arounder in 2008

Sophomore Maria Scaffidi starred in the Huskers’ opening meet at IowaState, capturing the first individual crown of her career with a first-place finish in the all-around from a career-high score of 39.00. Scaffidi also finished second on beam with a career-best score of 9.85, third on bars (9.675) and fifth on vault (9.80).

 

As a freshman in 2007, Scaffidi was integral to Nebraska’s run in the preliminary session of the NCAA Championships, where her career-best 9.85 vault helped propel NU to the Super Six Finals.