No. 10 Huskers Continue Road Tour at No. 6 Oklahoma

The No. 10 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team will be on the road again this weekend with a meet against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals No. 6 Oklahoma. The competition, which is a double dual featuring the NU men’s and women’s teams, will be held in Norman, Okla., at 7 p.m., in the Lloyd Noble Center at 7 p.m.

The Huskers are itching to go up against the Sooners for the second time in two weeks. Nebraska hosted Oklahoma and Air Force on Jan. 20, where NU closed the gap on OU, 349.700-341.400.

Nebraska has competed against all four of its conference opponents. Last weekend, the Huskers traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., to take on Stanford and California. NU placed third in the meet with a score of 333.850. Stanford captured first with a score of 361.350, while Cal came in second with 357.900.

Oklahoma enters the contest following an upset over No. 2 Michigan on Jan. 26 at the McCasland Fieldhouse in Norman, Okla., 351.40-347.00.

Scouting the Competition
A Glance at the Sooners
>Oklahoma returned senior co-captain Jonathan Horton to its lineup last week. Horton was training with the national team when Nebraska last competed against Oklahoma.

>On Jan. 29, Freshman Steven Legendre earned MPSF Gymnast of the Week for the second time in three weeks for the Sooners.

>Oklahoma is the only MPSF team to sport a perfect 5-0 record on the season.

Husker-Sooner History
The Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry has been around nearly as long as Nebraska gymnastics. The Huskers first met up with the Sooners in 1966, where NU was victorious, 165.00-118.25.

The two teams continued to meet up nearly every year since 1966, where Oklahoma narrowly leads the series, 34-28-1.

Last Meeting
Nebraska last competed against the Sooners on Jan. 20, 2008 with a triangular in Lincoln against both OU and Air Force. The Huskers had a record-breaking performance against the two teams, as it set many team and event records. Oklahoma defeated Nebraska, 349.70-341.40, while Air Force came in third with a score of 323.65.

Nebraska last met up with Oklahoma in a face-to-face dual on Feb. 2, 2007, at the Devaney Center. Oklahoma was victorious, 213.30-205.95.

No. 6 Oklahoma Quick Hits
2008 Record: 5-0-0
Head Coach: Mark Williams, Ninth Season
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 12/2
All-Americans Returning/Lost: 11/0
Top Returner: Jonathan Horton
2007 NCAA Finish: Second

Last Meet Repeat: NU Finishes Third at Stanford
The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team finished third at the Stanford Open in front of a blaring crowd at the Burnham Pavilion on Saturday night. The Huskers scored a 333.85 on the night, while Stanford notched a 361.35 for top honors and California scored a 357.90 for second place. NU fell to a 0-6 all-time record against the Cardinal and a 1-4 all-time record against the Golden Bears.

With Stanford and Cal’s athletes in full force, Nebraska was unable to crack the top three in any event. However, several gymnastics earned career-high scores on the night.

Nebraska began the competition with a solid performance on still rings, pulling together a score of 56.85. Although the team score was not the best of the season, two gymnasts notched career-high scores for the Huskers, including Garret Durst (13.85) and T.J. Schmidt (14.30). Despite the effort, NU fell quickly behind both Stanford (61.35) and Cal (58.20) in the first rotation.

NU then marched to vault, historically Nebraska’s best event of the season. However, the Huskers, who struggled to stick a landing, scored a 58.99 on the event. Nebraska managed to narrow the gap on the top two teams though, as NU held a score of 115.85 behind Stanford (118.00) and Cal (117.70) after the second rotation.

Shaking the nerves at the end of the third rotation, sophomore Daniel Br?l? and Schmidt set career-high records on parallel bars, leading the Huskers to a season-high score of 57.10 on the event. Br?l? blasted his previous score of 14.25 by notching a 14.65 at Stanford. Schmidt scored a 14.95 on the event, .05 points higher than his previous season-high set against Oklahoma and Air Force. Junior James Mauldin also made his first appearance for the Huskers on parallel bars, scoring a 12.85 on the event. After three rotations, the Huskers continued in third place with a score of 172.90, while Cal overtook the Stanford lead, 178.35-177.35.

Nebraska gained momentum in the first half of the high bar lineup, as three Huskers set career-high marks in the fourth rotation. Sophomore John Robinson started off for the Huskers, capturing a career-best 13.20. Both junior Eric Daigle and sophomore Josh Rusler blew their previous high bar scores out of the water, earning scores of 13.60 and 14.10, respectively. Despite the early boost, NU was only able to score a 54.65 on the event. Stanford regained the lead after four rotations with a score of 240.25. Cal moved to second place (239.95), while Nebraska stayed in third (227.55).

Despite inconsistencies in the fifth rotation, the Husker team was able to pull together a season-high score of 56.50 on floor exercise. Senior Stephen T?trault jump started the floor lineup, earning a career-high score of 13.90. Freshman David Spitdowski then stepped up for the Huskers, notching another career-high mark of 14.75.

Heading into the sixth and final rotation, Stanford kept the lead with a score of 300.70. Cal and Nebraska trailed with scores of 298.15 and 284.05, respectively.

The Huskers finished the meet with a score of 49.80 on the pommel horse, which would not be enough to catch up to Stanford or California. NU dropped to 2-4-0 on the season