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Second-Team All-American (2001: UB)
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2001 Big 12 Bars Champion
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2001 Big 12 Beam Co-Champion
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Third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American (2001)
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Three-time NACGC Scholastic All-American (1999, 2000, 2001)
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Two-time First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (1999, 2001)
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Only Husker gymnast in school history to score a 10.0 on bars
Bree Dority O’Callaghan was a three-year letterwinner for the Huskers from 1999 to 2001. The only Husker in school history to score a perfect 10.0 on bars, she was the 2001 Big 12 bars and beam champion and a second-team All-American on bars the same year. O’Callaghan was also an academic standout at NU, earning third-team academic All-America honors from CoSIDA while also garnering three NACGC Scholastic All-America awards and two first-team academic all-conference nods.
2001 – Sophomore Season
O’Callaghan returned to the Huskers with a vengeance in 2001, earning second-team All-America honors on bars with a 17th-place 9.825 on bars at the preliminary session of the NCAA Championships. The Kearney, Neb., native became the only Nebraska gymnast in school history to record a perfect 10.0 on bars, which she achieved at the Big 12 Championships to grab the first conference crown of her career. She also tied with A.J. Lamb for the 2001 conference beam title, as the Husker duo matched scores of 9.95.
O’Callaghan captured six individual event titles over the 2001 season, including three on bars, two on floor and one on beam.
O’Callaghan had an outstanding postseason showing, as in addition to her pair of Big 12 titles, she added a 9.85 on floor. She followed up with a 9.90 on floor at the NCAA South Central Regional, as well as a 9.825 on bars and a 9.85 on beam. In her final competition as a Husker, O’Callaghan contributed scores of 9.825 on bars, 9.75 on beam and 9.80 on floor in the NCAA Preliminaries, and a 9.875 bars performance, a 9.825 on beam and a 9.85 on floor at the Super Six Finals, where Nebraska finished fifth nationally.
Following her third season, O’Callaghan suffered a career-ending back injury while in off-season training and retired from the sport of gymnastics.
2000 – Sophomore Season (Redshirt)
O’Callaghan missed most of the season and received a medical hardship year from the NCAA. She suffered a left knee injury with a strain in her retinaculum patellar tendon in late December during training, forcing her to miss the Huskers’ first three meets. O’Callaghan returned to the NU lineup on bars against Missouri, scoring a 9.275, but did not compete again after undergoing knee surgery on Feb. 11 to end her 2000 campaign.
O’Callaghan earned NACGC Scholastic All-America honors for the second straight year in 2000.
1999 – Freshman Season
Dority made an instant impact in the Husker lineup, becoming the second Nebraska freshman in three seasons to earn Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year honors. A fixture in the all-around lineup in the postseason, she scored a season-high 39.175 in the preliminary session of the NCAA Championships, barely missing All-America honors with a 17th-place finish. Dority scored a 9.80 or better on three events at the NCAA preliminaries, and set or tied career bests on vault (9.80) and floor (9.875) at the NCAA Region 3 Championships in Lincoln. With a score of 38.95 in the all-around, she placed 10th at the Big 12 Championships, making one of six appearances in the all-around lineup. Dority finished the regular season ranked sixth in the Big 12 Conference on bars, as she scored a 9.80 or better on eight of her 13 bars routines. Dority one her only event title of the year with a score of 9.90 on bars against Oregon State and BYU. She competed on vault in every meet, scoring a 9.70 or better in six of the last nine performances.
Dority was also one of only two conference gymnasts to post a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, as she earned academic All-Big 12 honors and NACGC Scholastic All-America recognition.
Before Nebraska
O’Callaghan competed for Coach Tracy Moser at the Kearney School of Gymnastics. A four-time Junior Olympic National Championships competitor, O’Callaghan finished 16th in the all-around at the 1998 JO Nationals in Seattle, Wash. She also placed seventh on floor in 1997 and eighth in 1998. O’Callaghan was a three-time member of the JO National Team and won the Nebraska Level 10 championship in 1994, 1997 and 1998. She placed first in the all-around at the 1994 and 1998 JO regional meets and lettered for two seasons in gymnastics at Kearney High School, winning the state all-around title in 1995 and the Nebraska vault crown in 1994 and 1995. O’Callaghan set a personal best in the all-around with a score of 37.925 at the Nebraska Level 10 State Championships in 1998.
O’Callaghan selected Nebraska in the early signing period over Arizona State and West Virginia.
Personal
The daughter of Michael and Deborah Dority, Bree was born on June 24, 1979 in Buffalo, Wyo. She has a younger brother, Nate, and an older sister, Marcee Baker, who also graduated from the University of Nebraska. O’Callaghan was named to the Kearney High School Honor Roll throughout her high school career and finished in the top seven percent of her graduating class. She married Matt O’Callaghan in May 2000.
A third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, three-time NACGC Scholastic All-American and two-time academic All-Big 12 selection, O’Callaghan earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Nebraska in 2003.
Career/Season Highs at Nebraska
Career Highs
Vault: 9.80 (NCAA Region 3 Championships, 4/10/99)
Bars: 10.00 (at Big 12 Championships, 3/24/01)
Beam: 9.95 (at Big 12 Championships, 3/24/01)
Floor: 9.925 (Masters Classic, 2/24/01)
All-Around: 39.175 (at NCAA Preliminaries, 4/22/99)
2000 Season Highs
Bars: 9.275 (at Missouri, 1/29/00)
1999 Season Highs
Vault: 9.80 (NCAA Region 3 Championships, 4/10/99)
Bars: 9.90 (vs. Oregon State/BYU, 2/22/99)
Beam: 9.85 (at Big 12 Championships, 3/27/99)
Floor: 9.875 (3 times, NCAA Region 3 Championships, 4/10/99)
All-Around: 39.175 (at NCAA Preliminaries, 4/22/99)