Huskers victorious at the Masters Classic

The No. 8 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team hosted the San Jose Spartans and the Illinois Fighting Illini for the 25th Annual Masters Classic on Sunday afternoon at the Devaney Center. The Huskers won the meet crown with a score of 197.100, while Illinois placed second with a score of 196.425 and San Jose coming in third with a score of 195.150.

Husker gymnasts had some of their finest performances of the season. Nebraska Connor for second with a score of 9.900. Huskers held a close lead over Illinois of .10 after rotation one.

The second rotation moved the Huskers to the bars while Illinois took the beam and San Jose moved to floor. Huskers Hollie Blanske and Grace Williams had season best scores of 9.900. Deziel and O’Connor continued strong for their squads, tying for first in the event. The Huskers scored a season high 49.425 on the bars. NU added a bit to their lead after the second rotation over Illinois.

Rotation 3 placed the Huskers at the balance beam which is usually their weakest event. Illinois moved to floor exercise and San Jose took on the vault. Nebraska’s Jennifer Lauer scored the highest of the Huskers on beam with a score of 9.900, tying Illinois’s Giana O’Connor for the title. The Illinois squad scored the highest team total in the beam event. At the end of the rotation, Nebraska held onto a slim .25 lead over Illinois.

It was clear that this meet was going down to the wire and would be decided in the final rotation. Nebraska finished with floor exercise as Illinois moved to vault and San Jose to the bars. Every performance was critical for both Nebraska and Illinois.

Hollie Blanske was last up on the floor for Nebraska. She earned a season best-tying 9.925 to give NU the victory with a team floor total of 49.350. NU scored the highest floor team total of the meet. In their last rotation, Illinois scored 48.925 on the vault and SJSU scored 49.00 on the bars.

In the all-around, the title went to Illinois’ Giana O’Connor who earned a total score of 39.625. Nebraska’s Jessie Deziel came in a close second with an all-around score of 39.550 while Huskers Hollie Blanske and Grace Williams tied for third with 39.375.

This was one of the closest meets of the season for the Huskers. They won by only .675. Husker coach Dan Kendig has said in the past that to be really competitive his squad would need to score 49 points in each event. Due to a fall in the beam rotation, they just missed scoring 49 points. Undoubtedly, Husker gymnasts will be concentrating on beam routines this coming week.

The Nebraska women’s gymnastics team will host Oregon State on March 7 at the Devaney Center for the “Light up the Night – Pepsi Pack the House” meet. Oregon State is currently ranking No. 12 nationally. Stay tuned for further updates and as always, GO BIG RED!!