Tony Burtle Season 2002-03

2006

• NCAA Event Preliminaries (V, HB)

2003

• Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Fall)

2006 (Senior):  Advanced to the finals of the Rocky Mountain Open on the floor exercise (8.30) and vault (9.10) on Jan. 13 ? Finished second on the floor exercise at the Rocky Mountain Open finals on Jan. 14 with a season-high score of 9.00 ? Received his first invitation to the 2006 Winter Cup where he finished 18th on the floor exercise ? Notched his first event title of the season against Iowa on Feb. 12 with a first-place finish on the vault (9.35), in addition to finishing third on the floor (8.80) ? Earned his second event title of 2006 with a score of 8.75 on the floor against Minnesota on Feb. 18, while finishing second in the vault (9.05) ? Earned two event titles on the floor exercise and vault against Air Force on March 19 as well as posted career-high marks on the floor (9.25) and high bar (9.15) ? Advanced to the event preliminaries at the 2006 NCAA Championships on both the vault and high bar, but was unable to compete after suffering a torn ACL during warm-ups. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

2005 (Redshirt):  After competing on the floor exercise, vault and high bar during <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska’s first three meets, Burtle spent the rest of the 2005 season as a medical redshirt.

2004 (Junior): Burtle earned career-high marks in three events during the 2004 season including a 9.05 on floor, 9.525 on vault, and 9.10 on the high bar ? An important part of many successful meets including Nebraska’s win over top-ranked Ohio State where he earned a second-place finish with a 9.475 on the vault ? Landed a 9.35 on vault against Minnesota for the second-place spot ahead of Nebraska’s 2004 top vaulter, Josh Rasile  ? Earned his highest score of any event in his collegiate career and a career best in the vault by landing a 9.525 against Air Force and Oklahoma to place fourth inthe event. 

 

2003 (Sophomore):  After beginning the season with career-high marks on the floor exercise, vault and high bar, Burtle was forced to sit out the rest of the year after suffering a knee injury on March 20 ? Earned season-best scores of 9.35 on the vault against top-ranked Oklahoma and Air Force lifting him into the national rankings for the first time in his collegiate career ? Despite missing the last regular-season meet against Minnesota, stood 20th in the nation on the vault with a two-score average of 9.30 heading into the NCAA Championships ? Also earned season-high marks on the floor exercise (8.75) against Air Force and on the high bar (8.50) versus Oklahoma.

 

2002 (Freshman):  A late addition to the Husker gymnastics team, Burtle joined the team at the start of the spring semester in January of 2002 as part of the floor, vault and high bar rosters ? Ended his season by recording a season-best score of 8.90 on the vault against both Illinois and Air Force ?  Recorded two more season-best marks, an 8.55 on the floor exercise and an 8.45 on the high bar against Air Force.

 

Prior:  A high school and club teammate of former Husker Jeff Kelly, Burtle competed for the Grand Island Twisters under Coach Gary Jurink  ? Three-time Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier  ? Placed fourth in the all-around at the 2001 Nebraska state gymnastics meet before going on to finish fifth at the regional competition.

 

Personal:  The son of Dick and Darline Burtle, Tony has one brother Bryan, 26, and one sister Amanda, 22  ? Born Nov. 2, 1982, in Grand Island, Neb.  ? Graduated from Grand IslandHigh School  ? Tony is a child development/early childhood education major at Nebraska.