Huskers Take Fourth at Conference Championships

Palo Alto, Calif. ? The ninth-ranked Nebraska men’s gymnastics team took fourth at the 2009 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship at Maples Pavilion on Saturday night with a score of 341.850. No. 1 Stanford captured the team title for the first time since 1995 with a score of 363.750. No. 2 Oklahoma placed second with a score of 358.350, while No. 3 California finished third with a 352.550. Air Force rounded out the standings with a score of 330.150 for fifth place. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Nebraska’s T.J. Schmidt was the only Husker to make the top-three in the event standings with a second-place finish on pommel horse with a season-high score of 15.05.

 “We just have to get Kyle (Shanahan) ready,” Nebraska Coach Francis Allen. “John (Robinson) had a good meet. We think we want to run both Kyle and Johnny in the national championships to build the all-around team and to help them both finish up a good season and start next season fresh. We need to get back and get some good training done to get ready to go. We put a couple guys up there we didn’t want to put up, but we had a couple of guys hurt. We just need to get everybody healthy and get ready to challenge at the NCAA Championship.”

Nebraska was unable to pull together a full lineup on high bar in the first rotation, posting a score of 53.90, which is three points less than their best high bar score of the season. NU suffered several falls at the beginning of the rotation, but pulled together toward the end as junior Kyle Shanahan was the stand-out on the event, earning one of his best scores of the season with a 14.45.

NU shook the nerves on floor exercise in the second rotation with a score of 57.90. Sophomore Bear Danley started the Huskers off with a season-high score of 12.40, while junior Josh Rusler tied his career-high with a score of 14.70. Robinson had his second-best score of the season with a 14.15, while Schmidt posted a solid 14.20. Freshman Josh Dilworth rounded out the rotation with a team-high score of 14.85. After the second rotation, Stanford led the standings with a score of 122.60, while California was in a close second with a score of 121.75. Oklahoma was in third (118.20), while Nebraska was in fourth (111.70), and Air Force was in fifth (103.20).

Schmidt led the way for Nebraska on pommel horse in the third rotation, as he notched a season-high score of 15.05 for second place. His performance helped the Huskers to a score of 55.65 on the event, which is NU’s best performance since its meet against Minnesota and Arizona State on March 15. Senior James Mauldin earned a score of 14.25, his best since the Rocky Mountain Open in January. Rusler also added a score of 13.20, which is his second highest pommel horse score of the season. After three rotations, Cal took the lead with a score of 181.95, while Stanford moved to second with a score of 181.70. OU remained in third (178.45), while Nebraska held on to fourth (167.35) and Air Force was in fifth (159.10).

Nebraska had a strong showing on still rings in the fourth rotation with a season-high score of 59.35. Mauldin captured a career-high score of 14.95, while junior Tony Maras earned his second highest score of the season with a 14.95. Sophomore Anthony Ingrelli helped NU with a score of 14.85, while Schmidt tied his career-high with a 14.60. Shanahan also added a season-high score of 13.90 for the Huskers. Following the fourth rotation, Stanford regained the lead with a score of 243.50, while Oklahoma moved up to second with a score of 242.80. Cal fell to third with a score of 238.85, while Nebraska remained in fourth (226.70) and Air Force stayed in third (212.75).

The Huskers continued on to vault in the fifth rotation, as they posted a score of 60.85. Senior Jacob Ives was the stand-out on the event, posting a career-high score of 15.25. Robinson also earned one of his highest scores of the season with a 15.25, while Maras earned a 15.20. Sophomore Cory Baumgarten also added a 15.15 to the NU score. After rotation five, Stanford kept the lead with a score of 302.25, while OU remained in second (300.70) and Cal stayed in third (298.95). Nebraska held tight to fourth place (287.55), as Air Force remained in third (269.55).

Nebraska ended the meet on parallel bars with a score of 54.30. Shanahan earned a season-best score of 14.35, but his score was not enough to help NU crack the top-three team standings.

Nebraska’s score of 341.85 from the MPSF Championship will be doubled and added to its modified three-score of average of 341.983. The average of those two marks will then determine NU’s NCAA qualifying average and decide if the Huskers advance to the NCAA Championship on April 16-18 at Minneapolis, Minn. Nebraska should learn its NCAA fate early next week.

Team Results                           Score

1. Stanford                               363.750                        

2. Oklahoma                              358.350

3. California                              352.550

4. Nebraska                              341.850

5. Air Force                               330.150            

 

All-Around Results                   Score

1. Sho Nakamori, Stanford         91.85

2. Chris Brooks, Oklahoma         90.05

3. Kyle Bunthuwong, Cal            89.00

 

Individual Event Results

Floor Exercise                          Score

1. Josh Dixon, Stanford              15.90

2. Steven Legendre, Oklahoma   15.85

3. Chris Brooks, Oklahoma         15.65

 

Pommel Horse                         Score

1. Sho Nakamori, Stanford         15.25

2. T.J. Schmidt, Nebraska        15.05

3.Corey English, Oklahoma        14.95

           

Still Rings                                Score

1. Bryant Hadden, Stanford       15.65

2. Tim Gentry, Stanford             15.45

3. Jacob Messina, Oklahoma     15.35

 

Vault                                        Score

1. Steven Legendre, Oklahoma   16.45

2. Josh Dixon, Stanford               16.40

3. Chris Brooks, Oklahoma         16.15

 

Parallel Bars                            Score

1. Sho Nakamori, Stanford         15.40

2. Kyson Bunthuwong, Cal         15.30

3. Glen Ishimo, Cal                    15.20

 

High Bar                                   Score

1T. Sho Nakamori, Stanford       15.40

      Alex Buscaglia, Stanford     15.40

3. Josh Dixon, Stanford              14.85