2008 Woodie Awards
NU men's gymnastics work for higher team score, confidence
Tyler Bassinger
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports
After posting its highest road score of the season at Stanford on Saturday, the Nebraska men's gymnastics team is confident in its ability to improve during the last three meets. NU Coach Francis Allen said after five competitions, his team has yet to do its best.
"I've never seen us do really well," Allen said. "I think we can make up nine points up easily."
Adding nine points to the Cornhuskers' 341.15 total from Stanford would put NU in the neighborhood of 350 points. This would probably put the team in a position to advance to the NCAA Championships in April. The Huskers have three chances to push their score upward before they host the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference meet on April 4. After competing in Minn. on March 1, the team will host back-to-back weekend meets against Iowa and Air Force starting on March 14.
One thing that could help the Huskers get in the 350-point range is the fact that they will be judged at home for the first time since Jan. 20. During their only previous home meet, the Huskers tallied a season high 341.40 team score. Allen said he is ready for the judging factor to be on NU's side.
"When you're away from home and both teams make little mistakes, they take off more (points) for yours," Allen said. "Well, we have three home meets coming up. We're looking for that trend to turn around."
Of course, scoring will not be the only factor in the team's results. NU Assistant coach Jim Hartung thinks the team's focus should be elsewhere at this point.
"If you're focusing on judging, then you're focusing on the wrong thing," Hartung said. "Quite honestly, we're not a good enough team yet to be concerned with the judging. Our main thing should be hitting routines and learning how to compete. Then, we can start being a little more concerned with the scores. We are trying to get our hit percentage up. When we do that, the score will take care of itself."
Hartung's assessment of the team's performance level stems from the fact that while Nebraska's score is on the rise, the team has yet to finish first in any competition. The former Olympic gold-medalist said competitors in all six events have done well in different meets, but the team has yet to put together a complete performance. If that were to happen, Hartung said, the Huskers could surprise the competition.
If surprising the competition means the first meet victory of the season, NU sophomore Tony Maras is all for it. Maras, who tied for the still rings event title at Stanford, thinks coming out on top would give the squad confidence.
"I think winning would give us an attitude that we need. We can believe in ourselves, in that we should be reckoned with. We could be able to say, 'We can win this meet,' instead of 'We can hang with these guys.' It would kind of light a fire under our butt, I guess."
That so-called fire could propel the Huskers through the rest of their schedule, which Hartung thinks is crucial.
"In these last three competitions, we should do well," Hartung said. "We're moving into that part of the season where everything becomes more critical as you go along, in just fine-tuning and getting confidence. I think our two home meets will be a big confidence booster as well."
Like his assistant, the Huskers' head man thinks the remaining schedule sets up well for Nebraska.
"We have a great opportunity to finish off the year," Allen said. "We're set up. Now, we just have to perform. We haven't had any team momentum yet, but we'll be OK. We're going to win a couple of these meets."
TYLERBASSINGER@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
"I've never seen us do really well," Allen said. "I think we can make up nine points up easily."
Adding nine points to the Cornhuskers' 341.15 total from Stanford would put NU in the neighborhood of 350 points. This would probably put the team in a position to advance to the NCAA Championships in April. The Huskers have three chances to push their score upward before they host the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference meet on April 4. After competing in Minn. on March 1, the team will host back-to-back weekend meets against Iowa and Air Force starting on March 14.
One thing that could help the Huskers get in the 350-point range is the fact that they will be judged at home for the first time since Jan. 20. During their only previous home meet, the Huskers tallied a season high 341.40 team score. Allen said he is ready for the judging factor to be on NU's side.
"When you're away from home and both teams make little mistakes, they take off more (points) for yours," Allen said. "Well, we have three home meets coming up. We're looking for that trend to turn around."
Of course, scoring will not be the only factor in the team's results. NU Assistant coach Jim Hartung thinks the team's focus should be elsewhere at this point.
"If you're focusing on judging, then you're focusing on the wrong thing," Hartung said. "Quite honestly, we're not a good enough team yet to be concerned with the judging. Our main thing should be hitting routines and learning how to compete. Then, we can start being a little more concerned with the scores. We are trying to get our hit percentage up. When we do that, the score will take care of itself."
Hartung's assessment of the team's performance level stems from the fact that while Nebraska's score is on the rise, the team has yet to finish first in any competition. The former Olympic gold-medalist said competitors in all six events have done well in different meets, but the team has yet to put together a complete performance. If that were to happen, Hartung said, the Huskers could surprise the competition.
If surprising the competition means the first meet victory of the season, NU sophomore Tony Maras is all for it. Maras, who tied for the still rings event title at Stanford, thinks coming out on top would give the squad confidence.
"I think winning would give us an attitude that we need. We can believe in ourselves, in that we should be reckoned with. We could be able to say, 'We can win this meet,' instead of 'We can hang with these guys.' It would kind of light a fire under our butt, I guess."
That so-called fire could propel the Huskers through the rest of their schedule, which Hartung thinks is crucial.
"In these last three competitions, we should do well," Hartung said. "We're moving into that part of the season where everything becomes more critical as you go along, in just fine-tuning and getting confidence. I think our two home meets will be a big confidence booster as well."
Like his assistant, the Huskers' head man thinks the remaining schedule sets up well for Nebraska.
"We have a great opportunity to finish off the year," Allen said. "We're set up. Now, we just have to perform. We haven't had any team momentum yet, but we'll be OK. We're going to win a couple of these meets."
TYLERBASSINGER@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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