Husker Corner
Fansided

Husker gymnasts vault over Oregon State

By Rosalie Suggs

facebooktwitterreddit

It was Senior night at the Devaney last Saturday night and time to celebrate four beautiful gymnasts. Pepsi “pack the house” brought lots of fans including all those little girls who dream about flipping through the air and tumbling across the mats. The Nebraska women’s gymnastics team put on quite a demonstration Saturday night as they defeated the Oregon State, 197.225 – 196.700.

Nebraska began the meet with their strongest event, the vault. Senior Jessie DeZiel sparkled with a near perfect vault of 9.975. Strong performances by the rest of the squad netted an event score of 49.425. Hollie Blanske and Amanda Lambert tied with a score of 9.875 while Kamerin Moore and Desire’ Stephens had identical scores of 9.850.

Oregon State began on the uneven parallel bars. All-American Madeline Gardiner and Katyianna McMillian were the stars for OSU earning identical 9.875’s. With rotation 1 complete, NU led OSU 49.425 – 49.225.

Nebraska moved to uneven bars and had solid performances led by the seniors. Jessie DeZiel had the top score of 9.9! Desire Stephens tied her career high of 9.875, and Jennifer Lauer scored her season best 9.85. The event score totaled 49.275.

Oregon State moved to the vault in round 2. This proved to be their weakest event with just a 48.875 total score. Beaver gymnast Taylor Keeker had their best performance score of 9.825. After two rotations, the Big Red lengthened the lead a bit 98.75 – 98.1.

More from Husker Corner

Buoyed by the excitement of Senior night, the Husker squad took on the beam. It hasn’t been the strongest event for the ladies this season, marred by bobbles and falls in past weeks. All  NU gymnasts scored 9.8 and above, with Jennifer Lauer turning in a 9.9 routine. Another event total of 49.275!

The Beavers moved to floor exercise in the 3rd rotation. Their best score in this event came with Chelsea Tang’s 9.90 routine. Oregon State pulled a little closer to Nebraska after three rotations – NU 148.00 – OSU 147.40.

In their final rotation, Nebraska moved to floor exercise. Flying, flipping and bouncing! NU gymnast Hollie Blanskie performed a nearly flawless routine to earn the top score of 9.925. Two of the seniors had beautiful performances as well. DeZiel earned a 9.875 for her routine and Jennifer Laeng tied her season best score of 9.825. The Nebraska squad totaled 49.225 for the event.

Oregon State finished up the meet on the beam. All-American Madeline Gardiner led her squad once again, earning a 9.925 with her routine that won the event. With competition complete, the Nebraska women’s gymnasts celebrated a victory over the Oregon State Beavers.

NU gymnast Jessie DeZiel won the All-Around crown as well as the titles on vault (9.975) and bars (9.90). Hollie Blanskie added the floor event title to her resume’. On Monday, the Big Ten conference announced the women “gymnast of the week” awards for March 9th. Nebraska senior Jessie DeZiel was the only Nebraska gymnast given that award in honor of her tremendous performance against Oregon State.

The Nebraska gymnastics team continue their quest for a national title. They are nationally ranked in all four events. Big Red remains ranked at No. 4 on vault, ranked 7th on floor and 13th on both bars and beam. Huskers will end their regular season at the Devaney Center next Saturday, March 14 at 12 p.m.(CT). They will be hosting one of the two Big Five meets.

Nebraska will entertain Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State and Maryland. This meet will be very important for the Huskers as it will decide what session they will compete in at the 2015 Big Ten Championships on March 21. BTN will carry the meet LIVE. Follow along with me and as always, GO BIG RED!!

Home/Nebraska Cornhuskers News