All-American Stone Takes Aim at NCAA Championships

?Nebraska Head Coach: Dan Kendig (16th Year)

?Current Team Record: 16-6 (6-1 Big 12)

?2009 High Score: 196.75 (at Arizona State with Cal State Fullerton and Ball State, 3/13/09)

?2008 NCAA Finish: DNQ

 

Nebraska All-American Kylie Stone will compete at the NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., on Thursday, April 16. Competition begins at 7 p.m. (CST) at the University of Nebraska’s Devaney Center.

 

Stone, an all-arounder, will rotate with Alabama in the evening preliminary session, facing UCLA, Oregon State, Arkansas, Illinois and Utah at 7 p.m. (CST).

 

As an all-arounder, Stone will compete beginning on floor, followed by vault, then a bye, bars, beam and a bye to end the session. 

 

With a top-four finish on any event in preliminary action, she could qualify for NCAA individual event finals on Saturday, April 18, at 6 p.m. (CST). Stone has earned one All-America honor and numerous conference and regional accolades, including recognization as the 2009 Big 12 Gymnast of the Year.

 

Nebraska (16-6) completed its team season at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Raleigh, N.C. The Huskers placed third (195.45) behind Georgia (197.70) and Penn State (195.80), failing to qualify for the NCAA Championships for just the second time in 10 years.

 

NCAA Gymnastics Championships Ticket & Schedule Information

Tickets for the 2009 NCAA Championships are available for purchase by calling the University of Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 800-8BIGRED or at www.huskers.com.

    Type                                                           Price

    All-Session Reserved Passes                     $30

    Adult All-Session General Admission           $22

    Youth/Seniors All-Session GA                     $18

    Single-Session/ Team Finals Reserved        $12 (available only at Devaney Center day of Meet)

    Single-Session/ Team Finals GA                 $9  (available only at Devaney Center day of Meet)

    Event Finals Reserved                                 $12  (available only at Devaney Center day of Meet)

    Event Finals General Admission                  $10  (available only at Devaney Center day of Meet)

 

All 12 teams and the individual competitors will practice at the Devaney Center on Wednesday, April 15 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (CST). Stanford (vault), Oklahoma (bars), LSU (beam) and Florida (floor) will begin on their indicated first events and will practice from 11 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., followed by Penn State (vault), Utah (bars), Arkansas (beam) and Georgia (floor) from 1 to 2:40 p.m. UCLA (vault), Illinois (bars), Oregon State (beam) and Alabama (floor) will follow from 4:20 to 6 p.m. Individual event specialists will practice from 3 to 4 p.m.

 

During the practice sessions, a pre-meet press conference will be held in the media work room (Nebraska Wrestling Room) off the southwest corner of the Devaney Center main arena. The head coach of each team and one gymnast will represent each school. Each team’s representatives will be available from 3 to 4 p.m.

 

Thursday’s team competition will begin with Preliminary Session I at 1 p.m., followed by a press conference featuring the head coach and one gymnast from the top three teams. Requests for other participants will also be taken at this time. Preliminary Session II is scheduled for 7 p.m., with a press conference following in the same manner as Session I. Stone will participate in the Session Il team competition as she rotates with Alabama, along with UCLA, Arkansas, Oregon State, Illinois and Utah.

 

The Super Six Finals will take place on Friday at 6 p.m. and will include the top three teams from each preliminary session. Following competition, team and all-around awards, a press conference will take place with each team’s head coach, selected gymnast and additional competitors upon request.

 

Individual event finals competition will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. Although no all-around competition is included in the individual event finals, competitors will perform on vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Following the competition and individual events awards ceremonies, head coaches and event champions will be available for comment in a press conference.

 

Rotation Order for NCAA Championships Preliminary Session I

The NCAA announced last week the draw of rotation orders for the afternoon and evening sessions of the 12-team NCAA Championships:

Rotation     Vault        Bye          Bars          Beam        Bye             Floor

1                Stanford  Penn StateOklahoma  LSU           Georgia       Florida

                 R. Best    K. HenniganJ. Lopez  M. Morris   S. Shire       A. Perry

2                Florida     Stanford   Penn State Oklahoma  LSU             Georgia

                 A. Perry   R. Best     K. HenniganJ. Lopez   M. Morris     S. Shire

3                Georgia   Florida      Stanford    Penn State Oklahoma    LSU

                 S. Shire   A. Perry    R. Best      K. HenniganJ. Lopez     M. Morris

                                                B. Bernard                                     S. Tomczyk

4                LSU         Georgia    Florida       Stanford    Penn State   Oklahoma

                 M. Morris S. Shire    A. Perry     R. Best      K. Hennigan J. Lopez

5                OklahomaLSU          Georgia     Florida       Stanford      Penn State

                 J. Lopez  M. Morris  S. Shire     A. Perry     R. Best        K. Hennigan

6                Penn StateOklahomaLSU           Georgia     Florida         Stanford

                 C. CarabajalJ. LopezM. Morris   S. Shire     A. Perry       R. Best

 

Rotation Order for NCAA Championships Preliminary Session II

Rotation     Vault        Bye          Bars          Beam        Bye             Floor

1                UCLA       Utah         Illinois        Oregon StateArkansas  Alabama

                 V. Porte   S. Curtis   T. Wallace  C. Lenny    E. Wheeler   K. Stone

2                Alabama  UCLA        Utah          Illinois        Oregon State      Arkansas

                 K. Stone  V. Porte    S. Curtis    T. Wallace  C. Lenny      E. Wheeler

3                Arkansas  Alabama   UCLA         Utah          Illinois          Oregon State

                 E. WheelerK. Stone  V. Porte     S. Curtis    T. Wallace    C. Lenny

                                                                                                     K. Botterman

4                Oregon StateArkansasAlabama  UCLA        Utah            Illinois

                 C. Lenny  E. WheelerK. Stone    V. Porte     S. Curtis      T. Wallace

                                                                                                     T. Seaman

5                Illinois      Oregon StateArkansasAlabama    UCLA          Utah

                 T. WallaceC. Lenny   E. Wheeler K. Stone    V. Porte       S. Curtis

6                Utah        Illinois       Oregon StateArkansasAlabama      UCLA

                 S. Curtis  T. Wallace C. Lenny    E. Wheeler K. Stone      V. Porte

 

Stone Named Big 12 Gymnast of the Year

Junior Kylie Stone was honored as the Big 12 Conference Co-Gymnast of the Year for the first time in her career, sharing the award with Missouri’s Sarah Shire. Stone was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week four times in 2009.  She has tallied a total of 18 event titles in 2009, including five in the all-around, one on vault, four on bars, one on beam and seven on floor. She has also notched career highs in every event except bars.

 

Leading NU’s All-Around Rotation

Stone started the 2009 season by winning the all-around at Denver (38.975) and tying for first on floor (9.825). She took the all-around crown for the second-straight week at Iowa State, scoring a 39.35. She also took every event title except bars in Ames, leading the Huskers to the win. Stone was named Big 12 Co-Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 20, sharing the award with Missouri’s Sarah Shire. In a competition where she squared-off with Shire at Missouri, Stone performed big again, tying for first in the all-around (39.35) and bars (9.875). At the first home meet of the season against Penn State, she tied her career-high mark on floor with a score of 9.925. She also took the floor and the bars crowns (9.825). She also placed second in the all-around (39.275) and matched her season high on vault (9.85) for runner-up honors. Stone was recognized by the conference for the third-straight week, being named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for her efforts against Penn State. At the Masters Classic, she posted a career-high 39.475 to win the all-around, and a career-high 9.925 on vault. She was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for her contribution to the Huskers’ win. On Feb. 28 she led the Huskers on floor at Michigan, taking top honors with a 9.90, and she tied for first on bars (9.85) against Iowa State on March 8. Stone took first on floor (9.925) and in the all-around (39.475) at Arizona State, as she tied her career-high marks in both events. She placed second on floor at the Big 12 Championships (9.90) and third in the all-around (39.30). She is ranked ninth on floor and 18th in the all-around nationally.

 

Tallying Big 12 Awards

Stone was honored as Big 12 Gymnast of the Week four times in 2009 as a result of 18 total event crowns. Prior to the Big 12 Championships she earned All-Big 12 honors on vault and floor. All-Big 12 teams include the top four Big 12 gymnasts with the highest regional qualifying score (RQS) in each event, excluding all-around, determine all-conference honors. The RQS can be obtained from GymInfo.com. For her work in the classroom, she was given the first academic All-Big 12 honors of her career, earning a spot on the second team. Stone was also named to the All-Big 12 Championship team for her performances in the all-around and on floor at the conference meet. To top off a stellar regular season, she received 2009 Big 12 Gymnast-of-the-Year accolades immediately following the conference championships.

 

Bouncing Back From Injury

Stone returned to the Husker lineup in 2009 after missing last season due to an injury suffered in preseason training. Her resurgence in the Husker lineups have helped lead a youthful squad. After earning All-America honors as a freshman and All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore, she picked up right where she left off and has performed in dominant fashion in 2009.

 

Shining As A Newcomer

Stone turned in a stellar freshman campaign, earning second-team All-America honors on vault. Joining NU after the fall 2005 semester, Stone was one of the Huskers’ most dependable performers in their postseason run to the NCAA Super Six Finals. She captured one all-around crown and one floor title over the course of the year, and garnered All-Big 12 accolades in the all-around at the Big 12 Championships.

 

In her sophomore season, Stone provided a solid one-two punch in the all-around with former Husker Emily Parsons to lead the Huskers in 2007. She set or tied career highs on every event during the season. She won a total of six individual event titles, including four on floor and two on bars.

 

Impressive Background

Widely considered one of the top gymnasts in Canada, Stone competed at the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, Calif., helping her country’s team qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games and making history as an individual competitor by becoming the highest-ranking Canadian all-around finisher in the history of the World Championships. She placed second in the all-around at the 2005 Canadian National Championships, as well as third on vault, fifth on bars, fifth on beam and second on floor.

  

Stone had incredible success as an elite gymnast, winning individual crowns in the all-around, beam and floor at the 2004 Canadian National Championships. She was also the national beam champion in 2003.

 

Kendig Builds One of Nation’s Top Programs at Nebraska

Head Coach Dan Kendig is the all-time winningest coach in the 32 years of Nebraska women's gymnastics history. In 15 seasons at Nebraska, Kendig is 355-136-4 overall and 244-52-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig is in his 26th year of coaching and owns a career record of 468-248-5.

 

An eight-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to nine conference championships and three straight regional championships from 2000 to 2002. He was most recently named Big 12 Coach of the Year at the Championships in Ames on March 21.

 

He has also led Nebraska to 11 NCAA Championship appearances in the past 14 seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Kendig was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, a year in which the Huskers finished fourth nationally.

 

Under Kendig's guidance in 2008, Nebraska finished with a 13-9 overall record. The Huskers placed third at the NCAA Southeast Regional in their 25th straight NCAA postseason appearance. Two of Kendig’s gymnasts -- Emily Parsons (BB, AA) and Desire’ Sniatynski (UB) -- earned a total of three All-America honors. Additionally, Tricia Woo captured her first Big 12 title on beam at the competition in Norman.

 

Kendig is assisted by associate head coach Danna Durante, who is in her seventh season with Nebraska, and assistant coach Tim Garrison, who is in his third year on the Husker staff.