Schmidt Places Eighth on Pommel Horse at Winter Cup

Las Vegas, Neb. ? Senior T.J. Schmidt made <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska gymnastics history again this weekend by becoming the first-ever Husker to advance to the final round of the Winter Cup for two consecutive years. After putting up high numbers in the preliminary rounds on Thursday, Feb. 5, Schmidt was one of only 42 athletes to qualify for the final round on Saturday, Feb. 7.

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Despite competing against some of the best gymnasts in the nation, Schmidt placed in the top-15 in two of his four events.

 

Schmidt’s best finish came on pommel horse, where he placed eighth with a combined preliminary and final score of 28.30. His score topped some of his fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation competitors, including Oklahoma’s Chris Brooks and Steven Legendre, and Cal’s Kyle and Kyson Bunthuwong. Schmidt also placed 13th on parallel bars with a combined score of 27.95.

 

He also talled a score of 27.70 on floor exercise for 22nd place and 27.50 on still rings for 30th place.

 

Although Schmidt was unable to crack the national team lineup, five current and former MPSF competitors were named to the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team based on the national team points ranking system from the Winter Cup Challenge, including current Oklahoma competitors Chris Brooks and Steven Legendre. Current Stanford gymnast Sho Nakamori earned a spot on the national team, while former Stanford gymnast David Sender and former OU gymnast Jonathan Horton also named to the national team.

 

Two other gymnasts were named to the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team, including Minnesota gymnast Guillermo Alvarez and U.S. Olympic Training Center gymnast Joseph Haggerty. Six additional gymnasts will be named to the team at a later date. The 15 gymnasts named to the team will comprise the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team until the 2009 Visa Championships in August.

 

Schmidt and the No. Nebraska gymnastics team will be back in action this weekend to take on No. 6 Minnesota and No. 14 Iowa on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m., in Iowa City, Iowa.