Huskers Place Two in Event Finals, Earn Five All-America Honors

Gainesville, Fla. – The No. 12 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team posted a score of 196.175 to come in fourth Thursday afternoon at Florida’s Steven C. O’Connell Center. In making their 19th NCAA Championships appearance, the Huskers fell to 23-8 on the year. Teams advancing to the 2010 Super Six Team Finals include UCLA (196.875), Utah (196.625) and Oklahoma (196.55).

NU finished ahead of LSU (196.025) and Oregon State (196.05) in the afternoon preliminary session.

“We had every intention of competing tomorrow night,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said. “Having said that, fourth is good and every team that advanced today did not count a mistake. We had to be on top of our game and go above and beyond. The team grew up a lot this weekend. This will propel us to bigger and better things in the future.”

Five Huskers combined for a total of five All-America awards in the preliminary session. Sophomore Lora Evenstad and freshman Brittany Skinner were named first-team All-Americans on vault (9.90).  Sophomore Kassandra Nathe notched second-team All-America status on bars (9.85). Senior Kathryn Howard tallied the accolades on bars (9.85), along with freshman Janelle Giblin (9.85). Each All-America honor was the first for every Husker gymnast. First- through fourth-place finishers are named first-team All-Americans on their respective events or the all-around, while fifth- through eighth-place finishers comprise the second team.

Evenstad and Skinner will compete on vault in Saturday night’s individual event finals. Evenstad and Skinner both hit scores of 9.90 on the event to tie for third.

NU opened the competition on beam, and was led by Howard with a score of 9.775. Scaffidiand Natheboth hit a 9.75 each, while junior Brittnee Habbib and sophomore Kristin Fyffe posted marks of 9.625. The Huskers totaled a 48.525 finish on the event heading into the second rotation.

After a bye, Nebraska moved on to floor, where Evenstad and Scaffidi both hit a 9.85 and Skinner notched a 9.825. Habbib and Steinauer each added score of 9.80 to help NU finish with an event total of 49.125 and a running score of 97.65. At the halfway point of the meet, Nebraska had a running total of 97.65 behind Utah (98.225), Oklahoma (98.15), LSU (98.10), UCLA (98.10) and Oregon State (97.95).

The Huskers continued to vault and were led by Skinner and Evenstad, who both hit solid scores of 9.90. The mark was a career-high score for Skinner and tied Evenstad’s career-best mark. Davis added a 9.875 and Fyffe and Steinauer each received marks of 9.85. Nebraska finished the event with a 49.375 and headed into the fourth rotation with a running score of 147.025.

Nebraska capped the afternoon on bars, where Nathe, Howard and Giblin all hit scores of 9.85 to lead NU. The mark was a career high for Giblin and a career best matching score for Nathe and Howard. Scaffidi and Evenstad added marks of 9.80 as Nebraska closed the day with on bars score of 49.15 -- its second-highest of the season -- and a fourth-place NCAA preliminary finish.

“I’m not ready for this to be over,” Kendig said. “This team got better and better over the course of the season. When things would go wrong they would be angry and work to make it better. They are going to keep growing and become a better physical and mental team. We made great strides this season and are looking forward to doing the same next year.”

Nebraska's individual event competitors will compete in Saturday night’s Event Finals at the O’Connell Center at 5 p.m. (CST) Tickets are available through the University of Florida ticket office at (800) 344-2867 or at www.gatorzone.com.

 

Name                      Vault     Bars       Beam       Floor      All-Around

Hannah Bower          ---            ---            ---            ---            ---

Erin Davis               9.875        ---            ---           9.80         ---

Lora Evenstad         9.90        9.80          ---            9.85        ---

Kristin Fyffe            9.85         ---            9.625        ---            ---

Janelle Giblin            ---            9.85        ---            ---            ---

Brittnee Habbib         ---            9.80       9.625       9.80          ---

Kathryn Howard        ---            9.85       9.775        ---            ---

Kassandra Nathe      ---            9.85        9.75        ---             ---

Maria Scaffidi          9.85          9.80       9.75       9.85            39.25

Brittany Skinner       9.90          ---            ---        9.825            ---

Maddie Steinauer    9.85           ---            9.225    9.80            ---

Kylie Stone              ---             ---            ---            ---            ---

 

Team Score            Vault            Bars            Beam            Floor            Total

UCLA                     49.40            49.125        48.975            49.375        196.875

Utah                      49.125            49.15         49.25            49.10            196.625

Oklahoma              49.00             49.15          49.15            49.25            196.55

Nebraska             49.375            49.15           48.525         49.125            196.175

LSU                     49.10            49.30            48.625            49.00            196.025

Oregon State      48.95            48.975            48.975            49.15            196.05