Vanessa Meloche Season 2007-08

• First-Team All-American (UB, 2006)<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
• Big 12 Event Champion (UB, 2006)
• All-Big 12 (2006: UB)
• Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2007)
• Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll (2004, 2007)
• Big 12 Commissioner’s Spring Honor Roll (2006, 2007, 2008)
• 2002 Canadian National Uneven Bars Champion

   

2008 ? Senior Season

Vanessa Meloche returned to the bars lienup in February only to see her fourth season as a Husker come to an end within four meets. The Montreal, Quebec native underwent a minor surgical procedure, and it was decided to keep her out of competition for the remainder of 2008. She had previously rehabilitated her third ACL tear for nearly 12 months. 

 

Meloche shared one bars title in two meets in 2008 with Desire' Sniatynski, scoring a 9.875 against Michigan on Feb. 7. Meloche previously hit that mark against Missouri on Jan. 25. A first-team All-American and the 2006 Big 12 champion on bars, she rehabilitated a season-ending knee injury suffered in February 2007 for nearly a year.

 

2007 ? Sophomore Season

Meloche started the year strong for <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska, capturing three individual event titles on bars in five meets before her second-year campaign was cut short due to tears of her ACL and medial meniscus suffered at Michigan on Feb. 9. Meloche had surgery to repair the injuries later that month and rehabilitated for the 2008 season.

 

Serving as a bars specialist for the Huskers in the first half of competition in 2007, Meloche picked up right where she left off in her stellar 2006 redshirt freshman season. At the Super Six Challenge in Fayetteville, Ark., Meloche notched a score of 9.925 to tie with teammate Desire’ Sniatynski for third place. Two weeks later at IowaState, Meloche captured the individual bars title with a 9.825 for her seventh career event crown, followed by another win at Missouri with a 9.90, matching Sniatynski. In the Huskers’ first home meet against Oklahoma, Meloche added another bars title with a season-high-tying 9.925. In her final routine of the season at Michigan, Meloche tallied a 9.875 to tie Sniatynski for second.

 

2006 ? Redshirt Freshman Season

Meloche competed exclusively on bars in her first competitive season and was a vital part of Nebraska’s lineup in 2006. As a redshirt freshman, Meloche burst onto the scene by garnering first-team All-America honors and claiming six individual bars titles over the course of the year. Meloche also earned a share of the Big 12 Conference bars crown with Sniatynski and was named an All-Big 12 performer on bars.

 

Opening the season at the Super Six Challenge, Meloche won her first career event title by tying fellow Husker Michele Zabawa with a 9.875. The next two competitions against Michigan and at Utah brought a pair of 9.675 scores, which were topped by her solid 9.925 against Missouri to nab a second bars crown. The Huskers then took on another conference foe at Oklahoma, and Meloche took her third title in five meets with a mark of 9.875.

 

At the annual Masters Classic, Meloche dominated the competition with a nearly flawless routine and a career-best 9.95 to finish first. She followed with a 9.85 against IowaState and a 9.70 in the Huskers’ trip northward to take on Alaska-Anchorage and Seattle Pacific, and closed the regular season with a first-place-worthy 9.875 to top Arkansas at home.

 

Moving into the postseason, Meloche led the way on bars at the Big 12 Championships by tying Sniatynski with a 9.85 to earn a share of the conference event crown. After sitting out the NCAA Southeast Regional at Georgia due to a shoulder injury, Meloche went on to post a 9.85 for fourth in the afternoon preliminary session of the NCAA Championships and was named a first-team All-American on bars. The next night at the Super Six Finals, Meloche added a 9.80 to help NU to a fifth-place national finish. Still battling shoulder soreness, Meloche was one of three Huskers to qualify for individual event finals in the final night of competition and finished 10th with a 9.2375 to complete her inaugural campaign.

 

2005 ? Freshman Season

Meloche redshirted in her first year as a Husker due to rehabilitation of a leg injury suffered before coming to NU.

 

Before Nebraska

Meloche competed for Coach Carol-Angela Orchard at Sport Seneca in Toronto, Ontario, and was a seven-year member of the Canadian National Team with fellow Husker Kylie Stone and former NU gymnast Richelle Simpson. At the 2002 Canadian National Championships, Meloche took third place in the all-around while claiming a gold medal on the uneven bars and silver on vault. In addition, Meloche's team placed third at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, in 2002, where she captured the bronze medal on bars and went on to take another bronze on vault.

 

Meloche chose the Huskers over offers from UCLA and California.

 

Personal

Vanessa Meloche was born July 16, 1985 in Longueuil, Quebec, and is the daughter of Monique Dubois and Pierre Meloche. She has one sister, Melissa. A 2004 graduate of NorthviewHeightsSecondary School in Toronto, Ontario, Meloche was a member of the honor roll, and is a nutritional science and dietetics major at Nebraska. A strong student-athlete in and out of the gym, Meloche is a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll at Nebraska.

 

Meloche's Career/Season Highs at Nebraska

Career Highs

   Bars: 9.95 (Masters Classic, 2/26/06)

2008 Season Highs

   Bars: 9.875 (vs. Missouri, 1/25/08)

2007 Season Highs

   Bars: 9.925 (2 times, vs. Oklahoma, 2/2/07)

2006 Season Highs

   Bars: 9.95 (Masters Classic, 2/26/06)