Huskers placed 3rd at B1G gymnastics tournament
No. 10 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team finished third at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan Saturday afternoon. The Huskers finished with 196.875 points. Michigan won the conference title with 197.825 and Illinois placed second with 197.350. Husker sophomore Jennie Laeng walked away with a share of the uneven bars title. She tied with Nicole Artz of Michigan with a score of 9.95.
NU began the meet on the balance beam. The beam had been a troublesome event for the Huskers this season. Misfortune arrived immediately for the squad. Two falls and a couple of bobbles shook the confidence of the team. They had to count one of the two falls on the beam which led to a score of only 48.725. Freshman Danielle Breen had the highest score for the Huskers of 9.85. This put the Big Red last after the first rotation. They would now be playing “catch up” for the rest of the tournament.
During the Huskers second round bye, Husker coach Dan Kendig was interviewed live by BTN. They asked him what he tells his squad after an event that hasn’t gone well. “We’ve been talking about this happening and we also talked about just pushing the reset button,” Kendig said.
In the third rotation, Nebraska moved to floor exercise. Floor has been a strong event for the team this season. The Huskers finished with team total score of 49.350. Hollie Blanske led NU with her 9.9.
Blanske raps things up on floor with a 9.90! the #Huskers grab a 49.350 for floor!
— Nebraska Women's Gym (@HuskerWGym) March 21, 2015
Nebraska then moved to the vault in the fourth rotation. Early in the season, the team was ranked #1 in this event. Senior two-time All-American Jessie DeZiel had a near-perfect vault with just a little wobble on her landing, giving her a score of 9.9. With scores of 9.8+ from the rest of the team, NU scored 49.325 for the event.
And DeZiel finishes with a big 9.90 to cap off the vault rotation. #Huskers go 49.325
— Nebraska Women's Gym (@HuskerWGym) March 21, 2015
The Huskers ended the meet on the uneven bars. Bars had been an issue for the squad over the past couple of meets. Their strong performances in floor exercise and vault catapulted them to a season-high bars score of 49.475. Desire’ Stephens led the Huskers with her career-high score of 9.9.
Stephens ties for fifth on bars with her 9.90 mark! #Huskers
— Nebraska Women's Gym (@HuskerWGym) March 21, 2015
Nebraska was not able to catch up after the beam event with strong performances from Michigan and Illinois. Even though Nebraska had to accept a third place finish, they celebrated individual accomplishments. Sophomore Jennie Laeng won her first career Big Ten title with a personal best 9.95 on bars, tying with Michigan’s Nicole Artz. Senior Desire’ Stephens scored a career high 9.90 on bars and freshman Danielle Breen earned two career highs of the night on bars (9.875) and beam (9.85). Junior Hollie Blanske led the floor lineup once again with a 9.90, tying for fifth on the event. Senior Jessie DeZiel tied for fifth on vault with a big 9.90.
Nebraska will have a week off before the NCAA Regionals on April 4. The top 36-ranked teams in the country qualify for regionals. Six teams compete at each regional site. This year’s regionals will be held in Oklahoma City, Okla., Morgantown, W.V., Columbus, Ohio, Auburn, Ala., Berkeley, Calif. and Ames, Iowa. The NCAA regional selection show will take place on Monday, March 23 at 2 p.m.(CT). It will be carried live at NCAA.com. Tune in to check and see where the Huskers will be competing. Stay tuned for further updates and as always, GO BIG RED!!