Allen Discusses 2009 Season With Local Media

Lincoln, Neb. - On Wednesday, Jan. 14, Nebraska Coach Francis Allen met with local media to discuss the 2009 season. The following is a recap of what Allen had to say about Nebraska’s performance at the Rocky Mountain Open and what he expects of the 2009 men’s gymnastics team. For a full video of the press conference, click on the link above.

Head Coach Francis Allen

Opening Statement
“We have our first home meet coming up this weekend. We have three home meets. It’s really hard for us to schedule (home meets). In the old days we used to have a five home meet season, but because of conflicts with the arena we’re mainly down to Sundays. Actually, I think all of our meets are on Sundays this year. We tried to get a few Fridays in, but it’s very difficult with the Big 12 basketball schedule with men and women. So, we’re kind of between a rock and a hard place, but we’re trying to do the best we can. We have three home meets this year.”

On NU’s first home meet against Oklahoma
“The first one is against Oklahoma and they’re the No. 2 ranked team in the country. They’re the defending national champions. I just want to say something about them. They have a kid named Steven Legendre, a sophomore, and he’s the best kid I’ve ever seen on floor exercise in the entire world. He won the NCAA last year. He was a walk-on at OU and won the NCAA championships last year and I was amazed at how good he is. When he went (at the Rocky Mountain Open) everyone in the venue stopped. There was Arizona State, us, Air Force, Washington ? everybody stopped to watch this kid. He’s going to be here Sunday and he is the best floor exercise man in the world. Other than that, Oklahoma has a very good team this year.”

On the start of Nebraska’s 2009 season
“We think that with our eight points over last year’s opening score, we have three guys that we didn’t use. One of them is our top all-arounder from last year, Kyle Shanahan. One of our top-four place guys, Daniel Brule, and we have a new freshman named Josh Dilworth. Those three guys were out of the meet and they’re our top floor guys and our top horizontal bar guys. If you look at last weekend’s score, that’s where we really got hurt. We were using people in the lineup that we hadn’t planned on using and when you do that to a guy, first of all, he’s probably not mentally and physically prepared, and then when you throw him out into the light that makes it even worse. We did a good job. I was pleased with our performance. We have to get these three guys back in the lineup and it looks like we’re going to get some service out of both of the two upperclassmen this weekend. Josh Dilworth is a first semester freshman this semester and when you see him, you’re going to be like yeah, he’s going to be a national champion. He does floor, vault and horizontal bar for us right now. But, man he is something.”

On NU’s injuries
“These guys have all weird injuries. Shanahan has tendonitis and he’s had it from last year and they’ve done two different operations on him and just now he’s been released (to compete). So, I don’t know, he may or may not be in the meet this weekend. We’re hoping to use him on horizontal bar. Danny Brule, who was a contender last year in our conference in three events, has a high ankle sprain and is just starting to run. Yesterday he was just starting to run a little bit. Josh Dilworth has a strained Achilles, where he’s now doing routines. So, if we have those three guys on the floor, I could pretty much guarantee we’re going to make the top six. And if you make the top six, like, for example, Stanford was rated No. 1 in the country and Oklahoma made the top six and ended up winning the championship, so we think we’re going to have a shot at giving a run at the championships this year.”

On having only three home events
“We have to get after them. The worst thing is that we have Oklahoma first. We’d like to have them later in the year when we can really say we’re going to get a shot at them. Without Shanahan and Brule, we’re going to have to fight to stay in the game with them. But you’re going to see that they’ll (OU) start on pommel horse, which is their worst event. We start on floor, where it could be a good event for us. So we could be ahead of them after two events, which could put a lot of pressure on them. They haven’t had any pressure on them since last year’s NCAA and they didn’t really even have any pressure on them last year. They knew going into rings that they were the best ring team in the country. People were betting that Penn State was going to win, some people were betting Ohio State was going to win, and some people said Stanford’s got it, and I said, ?Guys, I’ve seen Oklahoma all year on rings. Wait until they get up on rings. Nobody’s going to win. Those other teams are not going to beat them.’ And they didn’t. They do have an injury. They injured a young kid named Ian Jackson, who is a very talented young kid. He had a torn Achilles last weekend. That’s going to hurt them. With the meet being at home, there are younger guys that we threw in last weekend that got their fingers burnt, but they are prepared now.”

On the team’s preparation for the Oklahoma dual
“I think team-wise we’re going to be better prepared. I think it’s going to be a great match. Hopefully we’ll be ahead of them after two events and see how they’ll do. You don’t want to miss with Legendre. He in himself is worth the ticket of admissions. He is the best floor man I’ve ever seen.”

On Nebraska’s apparatuses
“They’re comfortable at home because they know the apparatus. We use the same apparatus in meets that we use in practice. It’s new, but it’s the same base. When you go off to other gyms it’s kind of weird because everybody’s floor is different. The deal with that is, if you sit it on hard concrete - like if you go to Oklahoma they have a pretty good basketball floor so the floor exercise is not bad? but if you bring that same floor and bring it to our super floor out here it’s even better yet. So our floor exercise mat here, men and women who have been here will tell you, that it’s the best in the country. It’s soft, but yet it’s tight and springy. Where you’ll go away to schools that may even put them on ice arenas and it really toughens them up. It really changes the tempo of how the guy snaps down and how he takes off. The older, better guys can adjust to it better than the younger guys.”

On having a home court advantage
“Yeah, we have a home court advantage. Of course, OU is the defending national champion, so they have a little advantage too. They know it’s not going to be easy when they come here. It’s never easy for them.”

On just having three home matches affecting the popularity of Nebraska gymnastics
“I think it’s hurt us because we’re not home much. Also, we don’t have very many men and women’s meets, which I think is a good sell for us. We think a good sell for us is to say to a family, ?You have two sons and one daughter and we have a men’s and women’s meet. You can come see it and there’s entertainment for everyone.’ With the way schedules are working, there’s so many women’s teams in the country and so many of them are in the Southwest and so many of them in the Southeast, that Dan Kendig has to get out and get on the road to see those teams. He doesn’t want to go to the NCAA, which happens to be here in Lincoln, and not have seen Georgia, Alabama and Florida, and not have been head-to-head against those teams. So, he’s on the road a lot also. It’s going to be ideal for us someday when we have a venue where we can do Friday and Saturday. Right now, Friday and Saturday events are out of the question.”

On the downtown arena being put on hold and its effect on NU gymnastics
“We weren’t really sure what was going to happen anyway. We didn’t know what was going to happen here. We would obviously assume that this arena would go to volleyball and men’s and women’s gymnastics and wrestling and a few other things. We really don’t know until all of that works out. I think we felt too, with the way the economy is going, that no one is going to throw out the big buck right now.”

Closing Statement
“I have a ring team now that is as good as my past pommel horse teams. In the past, well the last five years, they go, well Nebraska’s really good, but they’re really hurt on rings. Well, I have a really good ring team now. I’ve had a good pommel horse team that I’ve always had. I think with just those two strengths, they’re going to help carry us through a lot of these meets. We have to be able to come in and beat Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio State to make that top six and I think that we’re a position now that once we get these guys healthy we’re going to be able to accomplish that. It’s going to be an exciting season for us. It’s going to develop late. I see us not developing until late February, but it’s going to be a good season for us.”