Emily Parsons Season 2007-08

 

• Seven-time First-Team All-American (2008: BB; 2007: V, FX; 2006: AA, V, FX; 2005: FX)<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
• Four-time Second-Team All-American (2008: AA; 2005: AA, V, BB)
• 2007 Honda Award Finalist
• Three-time South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year (2006, 2007, 2008)
• 2007 Big 12 Co-Gymnast of the Year
• Seven-time Big 12 Champion (2007: AA, V, BB, FX; 2006: V, BB; 2005: BB)
• 14-time All-Big 12 (2008: V, BB, FX; 2007: AA, V, UB, BB, FX; 2006: V, BB, FX, AA; 2005: V, BB)
• 15-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Week
• Three-time Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week
• 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year
• NCAA Regional All-Around Champion (2005, 2006)
• NCAA Regional Vault Champion (2005, 2006, 2007)
• NCAA Regional Floor Champion (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)

2008 ? Senior Season

 

Emily Parsons had an outstanding campaign in 2008 to close her Husker career, continuing the dominance and consistency she displayed her first three seasons. An 11-timeAll-American, Parsons defended her status as one of the nation’s best by capturing 29 individual event titles as a senior, including six in the all-around, 10 on vault, four on beam and nine on floor exercise. The St. Charles, Mo. native scored a career high on floor (9.975) against Iowa State. She captured a first-team All-American honor on beam and second-team All-America in the all-around at the 2008 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.

 

Parsons capped her career with a runner-up finish on beam at the NCAA Women’s Event Finals. She posted a score of 9.90 to tie for second in the event. In the Preliminary session, she added marks of 9.85 on floor, 9.825 on vault and 9.80 on bars for an eighth-place all-around total of 39.35. Parsons was ranked in the top four in the Big 12 in four of the five events, including first on vault and second on floor exercise and in the all-around. Parsons became the first Husker in school history to pass the 100 career-titles mark. She closed her career as NU’s all-time leader with 114 event titles, passing the Huskers’ two former two-time NCAA champions Richelle Simpson (77) and Heather Brink (70).

 

On the conference level, Parsons was selected as Big 12 Gymnast of the Week twice (Jan. 29 and March 18) giving her a career total of 15 weekly Big 12 awards, more than any other gymnast in conference history. Parsons achieved a career-high 9.975 on floor against Denver on Feb. 23, topping her previous high of 9.95, which she hit six times.

 

Parsons won her ninth regional event title by placing first on floor (9.90), while also taking third on vault (9.925), fourth in the all-around (39.45) and fifth on beam (9.85) at the NCAA Southeast Regional. At the Big 12 Championships, she placed second in the all-around (39.325) and vault (9.925), as well as fourth on beam (9. 85). She was named the South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year for the third-straight season, sharing the honor with Kiara Redmond-Sturms of Oklahoma and Allison Buckley of Illinois.

 

2007 ? Junior Season

Parsons had an outstanding junior campaign for the Huskers, continuing the dominance and consistency she displayed in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The nine-time All-American defended her status as one of the nation’s best by capturing 35 individual event titles in 2007, including six in the all-around, 11 on vault, nine on beam and nine on floor. Combined with the 50 event titles she earned through her first two years, Parsons has amassed a total of 85 event crowns in three seasons to become <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska’s all-time event titles leader, passing NU’s two former NCAA champions Richelle Simpson (77) and Heather Brink (70). The St. Charles, Mo., native was also honored as the South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming just the second Husker to accomplish the feat, joining Simpson, who earned the award in 2003 and 2005.

 

Parsons was selected as Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for four consecutive weeks from Feb. 20 to March 13, giving her a career total of 10 Gymnast-of-the-Week awards. She was also named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week three times prior to moving into the position of all-arounder for the Huskers. She has tallied 13 weekly conference honors in her time at NU, more than any other gymnast in Big 12 Conference history.

 

Parsons achieved her first career 10.0 with a perfect score on vault at NC State on Feb. 17, as well as a career-best 9.975 on beam against Kentucky on March 23. In addition, Parsons matched her career high on floor (9.95) twice during her junior year.

 

On the conference level, Parsons claimed four event wins at the Big 12 Championships on March 31, finishing first in the all-around with a career-high 39.65, vault (9.95), beam (9.95) and floor (9.90). She also finished third on bars with a career-best-tying 9.85 to earn All-Big 12 recognition on all four events and the all-around. Parsons became just the second gymnast in Nebraska history to take five all-conference honors in one meet, following in the footsteps of Simpson, who accomplished the feat in 2005. Parsons capped her conference championship by being named the 2007 Big 12 Co-Gymnast of the Year with IowaState’s Janet Anson.

 

Already a six-time NCAA regional event champion, Parsons added two more regional event wins to her belt at the NCAA West Regional, finishing first on vault and floor with matching 9.925 marks and placing sixth in the all-around (39.25). Parsons entered the final postseason stop as the nation’s top-ranked performer on beam, in addition to being No. 2 nationally on vault and No. 3 on floor. For the first six weeks of the season, she tied or ranked No. 1 outright on vault.

 

Parsons moved on to a stellar performance at the NCAA Championships, earning two first-team All-America awards on vault with a first-place 9.95 to tie Georgia’s Courtney Kupets and a second-place 9.90 on floor. In team finals the following night, Parsons led Nebraska with a third-place 9.90 on vault, while adding a 9.875 on floor to give NU a sixth-place national finish. One of two Huskers to compete in the individual event finals, Parsons closed her season with a third-place finish on vault (9.85) and a fourth-place showing on floor (9.90).

 

2006 ? Sophomore Season

Parsons captured 34 individual event titles and became just the fifth Husker to earn a regional gymnast-of-the-year award. She was named a first-team All-American on vault, floor and the all-around to bring her career total to seven All-America honors. Parsons, who was the only Husker to compete on every event in every meet in 2006, stormed into the postseason by winning two Big 12 Conference titles on vault and beam. An all-conference selection on vault, beam, floor and the all-around, she continued her dominance in the NCAA Southeast Regional, where she was a three-time event champion. A four-time Big 12 Gymnast-of-the-Week honoree in 2006, Parsons finished fourth on vault (9.825) and sixth on floor (9.90) in the event finals of the NCAA Championships.

 

2005 ? Freshman Season

Parsons put together a spectacular freshman campaign to begin her collegiate career for the Huskers, capturing four All-America honors while leading Nebraska to the NCAA Super Six Finals. She was named the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, an honor determined by votes from conference coaching staffs, and claimed the NCAA South Central Regional all-around title on her way to becoming an All-American as a freshman.

 

Parsons won seven titles on floor, six on vault and two on beam in her inaugural season at NU. She earned her first of two Big 12 Gymnast-of-the-Week accolades after her performance in Nebraska’s first home meet versus Oklahoma, as she placed second in the all-around (39.40) and claimed the vault (9.95) and floor (9.925) titles. She tied former NCAA All-Around Champion Richelle Simpson for the conference title on beam (9.85) at the 2005 Big 12 Championships, and her solid finishes earned her All-Big 12 honors on beam and vault, where she tied for second with Simpson.

 

At the NCAA South Central Regional, Parsons earned a 39.525 for the all-around title ahead of former Olympian Elise Ray of Michigan while also winning the vault (9.925) and floor (9.95) crowns. Parsons paced NU to its seventh consecutive berth to the NCAA Championships, and her incredible 9.925 floor routine sparked the Huskers to edge LSU for a place in the Super Six Finals. While her scores in the preliminary session earned her first-team All-America honors on floor and second-team accolades in the all-around (39.425), vault (9.875) and beam (9.825), she topped herself at the Super Six Finals the following evening by putting up a career-high all-around score of 39.55 with a 9.90 on vault, 9.80 on bars, 9.90 on beam and a 9.95 on floor.

 

Just the seventh freshman in Nebraska history to earn All-America honors, Parsons qualified for the NCAA Individual Event Finals in the final night of competition with a field that included two-time NCAA champion Courtney Bumpers of North Carolina and four-time national champion Ashley Miles of Alabama. Parsons held her own on floor with an outstanding final performance worth a 9.925 to tie with Stanford’s Tabitha Yim for third, and she posted the highest Husker finish on the event since Simpson’s 9.963 to win the NCAA title in 2003.

 

Before Nebraska

Parsons competed for coaches Scott and Debbie Cusimano and Greg Stephen at GymQuarters Gymnastics, the No. 1 team in Missouri for four consecutive years. She was a five-time Junior Olympic National Championships competitor and a former junior international elite gymnast. In 2000, Parsons won the J.O. National floor exercise crown and earned second-place honors in the all-around, third on vault and fourth on beam.

 

Two years later, she swept the 2003 Missouri State Championships by taking first place in every event, including the all-around competition. Parsons then topped her state championship performance, capturing the J.O. all-around title and repeating her floor title, while also taking second on vault, third on beam and ninth on bars. Parsons’ GymQuarters team continued its streak of four consecutive state team championships through 2004, the same year in which Parsons took the state championship on beam.

 

Parsons chose Nebraska over Arizona, Auburn and Oklahoma.

 

Personal

Emily Parsons was born Jan. 13, 1986, in Fort Wayne, Ind., and is the daughter of James and Julie Parsons. She has two brothers, Josh and Matt, and one sister, Betsie. A 2004 graduate of Academy Northwest, Parsons is a communication studies major at Nebraska, with hopes of a career in sports broadcast journalism.

 

 

Parsons' Career/Season Highs at Nebraska

Career Highs

   Vault: 10.0 (at Hearts Invitational, 2/17/07)

   Bars: 9.85 (2 times, at Big 12 Championships, 3/31/07)

   Beam: 9.975 (vs. Kentucky, 3/23/07)

   Floor: 9.975 (vs. Denver, 2/23/08)

   All-Around: 39.65 (at Big 12 Championships, 3/31/07)

2008 Season Highs

   Vault: 9.975 (vs. Denver, 2/23/08)

   Bars: 9.825 (3 times, last at Penn State, 3/21/08)

   Beam: 9.90 (3 times, last at NCAA Event Finals, 4/26/08)

   Floor: 9.975 (vs. Denver, 2/23/08)

   All-Around: 39.525 (2 times, last vs. Iowa State, 3/14/08)

2007 Season Highs

   Vault: 10.0 (at Hearts Invitational, 2/17/07)

   Bars: 9.85 (at Big 12 Championships, 3/31/07)

   Beam: 9.975 (vs. Kentucky, 3/23/07)

   Floor: 9.95 (2 times, Masters Classic, 2/25/07)

   All-Around: 39.65 (at Big 12 Championships, 3/31/07)

2006 Season Highs

   Vault: 9.975 (vs. Arkansas, 3/19/06)

   Bars: 9.85 (vs. Michigan, 1/13/06)

   Beam: 9.925 (3 times, vs. IowaState, 3/5/06)

   Floor: 9.95 (2 times, at NCAA Preliminaries, 4/20/06)

   All-Around: 39.55 (at NCAA Super Six Finals, 4/22/05)

2005 Season Highs

   Vault: 9.95 (3 times, at IowaState, 2/11/05)

   Bars: 9.80 (5 times, at NCAA Super Six Finals, 4/22/05)

   Beam: 9.90 (3 times, at NCAA Super Six Finals, 4/22/05)

   Floor: 9.95 (3 times, at NCAA Super Six Finals, 4/22/05)

   All-Around: 39.55 (at NCAA Super Six Finals, 4/22/05)