NU Clashes with No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 California

The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team will face Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 California this weekend at the Stanford Open in Palo Alto, Calif. The competition will begin on Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. CST in the Burnham Pavilion.

This is the third consecutive contest for Nebraska, which enters the meet following a record-breaking performance against Oklahoma and Air Force on Jan. 20. Last weekend’s triangular was the second straight between the three programs after opening the season at the Rocky Mountain Open at Air Force.

After this weekend’s competition, Nebraska will have competed against all four of its conference opponents, giving it a taste of what it can expect from the MPSF Championships on April 4 and 5 in Lincoln.

Cal enters the competition following an upset over the Cardinal on Jan. 20 at the Haas Pavilion in Berkely, Calif. Both California and Stanford were tied heading into the last rotation, but Cal pulled ahead at the end, 347.25-346.75.

Since all three teams competing in the meet have had at least one opportunity to gauge their performance under the new NCAA scoring system, they will have a better idea of what will be expected from collegiate judges.

Schmidt Starts on Right Track
Junior T.J. Schmidt is no stranger to success for Nebraska gymnastics. Last season, he claimed a team-high of 10 event titles. Schmidt seems on the familiar path again, as he captured his first 2008 pommel horse title at the Rocky Mountain Open with a score of 14.30. He then took his competition to a whole new level against Oklahoma and Air Force last weekend, as he earned another pommel horse title with a score of 14.60. Schmidt also notched a season-high score in parallel bars with a score of 14.90, earning a third event event title on on the year.

Sophomores Shine
Several sophomores have been thrown in the mix this season, but none have shined quite like Daniel Br?l? and Kyle Shanahan

Br?l? had a stellar performance at the Rocky Mountain, earning his first top-three finish on high bar with a 13.75 for third place. He also helped the Huskers gain momentum on vault, scoring a 15.35 in his first performance of the year. Br?l? brought his level of competition on vault up a notch against Oklahoma and Air Force, where he placed third with a career high 15.70.

Despite an average performance at the Rocky Mountain Open, Shanahan stood out at the meet against Oklahoma and Air Force last weekend. Not only did Shanahan earn a third-place finish on floor exercise with a score of 15.00, but he took home the high bar event title with a career-high score of 15.00.

Freshman Finishes First
In just his second collegiate competition against Air Force and Oklahoma last weekend, freshman Anthony Ingrelli looked like a pro on still rings. He not only captured his first career title, but blew the competition out of the water with a near-perfect score of 15.30, which was nearly one point ahead of the second-place winner.

Freshmen Bear Danley and David Spitdowski are also making their marks on Nebraska gymnastics, both setting new career records after just two competitions. Danley’s best performance came on floor exercise against Air Force and Oklahoma, where he blasted his previous career-high of 12.60 with a 14.00.

Spitdowkski competed in Nebraska’s second competition, where he scored a 15.50 out of a possible 15.80 in just his first competition.

Last Meet Repeat:
Huskers Earn Four Event Titles in Home Opener
In their first home meet at Nebraska, three NU gymnasts earned four event titles in route to a second-place finish against Oklahoma and Air Force at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, Jan. 20. Despite the loss, the Huskers closed in on the Sooners, 349.70-341.40, while Air Force placed third with a score of 323.65.

Nebraska set new season-high team records in every event while also capturing four out of the six event titles. Junior T.J. Schmidt earned his second pommel horse title of the year with a score of 14.60 before capturing first-place on parallel bars with a score of 14.90. Sophomore Kyle Shanahan tied Oklahoma’s Jason Laughton for Shanahan’s first career event title on high bar with a season-high 15.00, while freshman Anthony Ingrelli claimed his first career title on still rings with a score of 15.30. Senior Stephen T?trault also finished third in the all-around for the Huskers with a score of 83.00, five points above his performance last weekend.

Following Olympic order from start to finish, the Huskers got off to a solid start on floor exercise, posting a season-high team score of 56.10. Shanahan led the way for NU, setting a new

career-high score of 15.00, and earning a third-place finish in the event. Freshman Bear Danley also blew his Rocky Mountain Open score of 12.60 out of the water, recording a new career- high of 14.00.

Nebraska moved to pommel horse in the second rotation, notching another season-high score of 53.15. Despite a series of falls by the first five competitors, All-American junior Schmidt stepped up in front of the Lincoln crowd and earned a career-high score of 14.60. Schmidt’s score earned him first-place honors on pommel horse for the second week in a row.

NU kept the momentum in rotation three, earning a season-high score of 57.40 on still rings. Newcomer Ingrelli had a stellar performance at his first home meet, taking first-place with a score of 15.30.

Nebraska moved to the vault in the fourth rotation, one of NU’s best events this season. The trend held true as the Huskers posted another season-high score of 62.35 in the event. Junior Eric Daigle (15.75) and sophomore Daniel Br?l? (15.70) posted outstanding scores to earn second- and third-place in the event, respectively. After four rotations, Nebraska’s score of 229.00 led both Oklahoma (228.20) and Air Force (209.60).

The Huskers saw great improvement on the parallel bars in the fifth rotation with a score of 56.20, nearly two points over last week’s score at the Rocky Mountain Open. Schmidt continued to impress the judges, earning first-place with a score of 14.90. However, the Huskers were unable to keep the early lead, falling behind the Sooners after the fifth rotation, 287.15-285.20.

On pace to better its season-high team score, Nebraska entered the final high bar rotation. Shanahan’s first-place performance helped NU set a new season-high event score of 56.20 on high bar. Despite holding season-high records on all six events and the final team score, Nebraska fell short to Oklahoma, 349.70-341.40.

Scouting the Competition
A Glance at the Cardinal
>Stanford returns seniors David Sender, Alex Schorsch, Chris Harper and Dylan Carney. Sender and Schorsch were crowned individual national champions on the vault and still rings, respectively, while Harper and Carney also earned All-American Honors last season.

>In its first competition on Jan. 12 at the Windy City Invite, Stanford placed first ahead of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, UIC and Iowa.

>The previous No. 1 Stanford lost to California (ranked fifth last week) in Berkely, 347.25-346.75

Husker-Cardinal History
Compared to the long history of Nebraska men’s gymnastics, the Nebraska-Stanford relationship is relatively new. The Huskers and the Cardinal competed for the first time at Palo Alto in 1994 for a five-team competition hosted by Stanford. Since 1994, the programs have met five other times, including twice last season. Unfortunately for Nebraska, in five regular-season meets against Stanford, the Huskers have not won a match, making Stanford one of just three teams to boast an undefeated record over Nebraska.

Last Meeting
Nebraska last met with Stanford in regular-season competition when the Huskers hosted the Cardinal on March 4, 2007. NU fell to Stanford, 216.85-206.30. Since then, the two teams met at the 2007 MPSF and NCAA Championships, with Stanford finishing higher in both meets.

No. 3 Stanford Quick Hits
2008 Record: 5-1-0
Head Coach: Thom Glielmi, Sixth Season
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 7/4
All-Americans Returning/Lost: 3/1
Top Returner: David Sender, Senior
2007 NCAA Finish: Third

A Glance at the Golden Bears
>Cal returns nine seniors to the lineup, including three-time All-Americans Tim McNeill and Colin Christ.

> Last weekend, Cal upset former No. 1 Stanford in Berkely, 347.25-346.75.

>The Golden Bears feature brothers Kyson Bunthuwong (junior) and Kyle Bunthuwong (freshman) as their two all-around competitors. The brothers finished above Stanford’s all-arounder Ryan Lieberman last weekend.

Husker-Golden Bear History
Like Stanford, Cal has a short history with the Huskers that includes just four regular-season meetings. The Golden Bears lead the series history, 3-1, following the 2007 Stanford Open. Nebraska and California have never met in a regular-season dual and are not scheduled to do so this season, making the Golden Bears the only MPSF program the Huskers will not meet one-on-one this season.

Nebraska and Cal have faced off during the MPSF Championships each season since 1995, with each team earning two titles. Last season, the Huskers and the Golden Bears met at both the MPSF and NCAA Championships, with Cal slipping ahead of NU both meetings.

Last Meeting
Nebraska and Cal last met at the Stanford Open on Jan. 27, 2007, with the Golden Bears defeating the Huskers, 207.50-202.90.

No. 4 California Quick Hits
2008 Record: 1-0-0
Head Coach: Barry Weiner, 17th Season
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 11/4
All-Americans Returning/Lost: 4/0
Top Returner: Tim McNeill, Senior
2007 NCAA Finish: Fifth

Following the New Scoring System
Before the 2008 season, the NCAA adopted the new international scoring system for all collegiate gymnastics competition.

Last season, good routines scored in the 9s, with a 10 being perfect. However, the new scoring system is completely different.

The 10 is still there, but now it is in addition to the difficulty of the routine and the required elements that a gymnast must perform.

Theoretically, a gymnast could score up to 18.5 if he performs 10 of the most difficult skills perfectly. However, the top world class gymnasts are currently performing routines with start scores between 16.5 and 17.5

The following will help explain how routines will now be judged at NCAA men’s competitions.

Starting with skills and difficulty, skills are given a letter from "A" to "F" with As being the easiest and Fs being the most difficult. The values of the letter are as follows: "A" = 0.1 "B" = 0.2, "C" = 0.3, "D" = 0.4 "E" = 0.5 and "F" = 0.6. The difficulty of a routine is determined by adding the 9 best skills plus the dismount. If a gymnast performs 2 A’s (0.2), 3 B’s (0.6), 3 C’s (0.9) and 2 D’s (0.8), his routine difficulty would add up to 2.5.

The judge then looks for required skills that represent five different element groups. The different element groups are worth 0.5 each for a total of 2.5. The required skills are as follows:

Floor Exercise (FX): 1) Non Acrobatic skills;

2) Acrobatic forward; 3) Acrobatic backward;

4) Sideward acrobatic skills; 5) Dismount

Pommel Horse (PH): 1) Single leg work;

2) Circles, spindles, handstands; 3) Side & cross travels; 4) Kehres & Wendeswings; 5) Dismount

Still Rings (SR): 1) Kip & Swing skills; 2) Swing to handstand; 3) Swing to strength; 4) Strength & Hold skills; 5) Dismount

Parallel Bars (PB): 1) Support on rails; 2) Upper arm on rails; 3) Long hang swing; 4) Swing through hang on both rails; 5) Dismount

Horizontal Bar (HB): 1) Long hang swings; 2) Flight skills; 3) In bar skills; 4) El-grip; 5) Dismount

Therefore, 2.5 (difficulty) + 2.5 (5 element groups) + 10 (execution) = 15.00 (start value score)

Execution deductions for technical errors, form breaks and falls are as follows: small error 0.1, medium error 0.3, large error 0.5, fall 0.8.

The final score equals the start score minus the execution deductions.

Two different flashing systems must be used to project both the start value and the routine’s final score. Just as before, the highest score wins.