Schmidt Makes Husker History at Winter Cup

Las Vegas, Nev. ? Junior T.J. Schmidt made Nebraska gymnastics history by becoming the first-ever Husker to advance to the final round of the 2008 Winter Cup this weekend. After putting up stellar numbers in the preliminary rounds on Thursday, Feb. 7, the Blair, Neb. native was one of only 42 athletes to qualify for the final round on Saturday, Feb. 9.

 

Competing against some of the best in the nation, including former Olympians Paul Hamm and Blaine Wilson, Schmidt shined in his three events of pommel horse, still rings and parallel bars.

 

Schmidt's best finish came on pommel horse, where he placed 15th with a combined preliminary and final score of 27.25. His score topped some of his fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation competitors, including Cal's Kyle Bunthuwong (19th) and Stanford's David Sender (20th).

 

Schmidt also tallied a score of 28.60 on parallel bars for 18th place and 27.95 on still rings for 22nd place.

 

Nebraska senior Stephen T?trault also joined Schmidt for the Winter Cup.

T?trault, a four-time Winter Cup competitor, finished Session One with a score of 53.25 in the all around. A regular all-around competitor for the Huskers, T?trault did not compete on floor exercise or still rings in the Winter Cup. His top performance came on the vault, where he tied for 42nd place with a score of 14.70. T?trault also notched scores of 12.50 on pommel horse, 13.10 on parallel bars and 12.95 on high bar.

 

 

After Saturday night's final rounds, Team Chevron’s Paul Hamm was crowned the top spot in the all-around with a score of 185.85, while teammates Rej Bhavsar (178.60), Alexander Artemey (173.10), David Durante (177.20) and Joseph Hagerty (176.45) placed third through fifth, respectively. Stanford’s David Sender rounded out the top six with a score of 175.20.

 

The Winter Cup is used to select seven members for the U.S. National Team, including the top four finishers from the meet as well as three additional athletes as selected by the Men’s Program Committee.

 

Schmidt, T?trault and the No. 11 Huskers have several days of training before Nebraska hits the road again to take on No. 2 Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 9 p.m. central.