Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics

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Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics
Nebraska Cornhuskers logo.svg
Founded1975
Head coachHeather Brink (4th season)
ConferenceBig Ten
LocationLincoln, Nebraska
Home arenaBob Devaney Sports Center (Capacity: 7,907)
NicknameCornhuskers
ColorsScarlet and cream[1]
   
Super Six appearances
1989, 1990, 1997, 1999–2003, 2005–07, 2011, 2014, 2018
NCAA Regional championships
1982, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
NCAA Tournament appearances
1982, 1983, 1987–90, 1995–97, 1999–2007, 2010–12, 2014–19
Conference championships
Big Eight: 1978–80, 1982, 1983, 1987–90, 1994–96

Big 12: 1997–99, 2001–03, 2005, 2007, 2011

Big Ten: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017

The Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics team represents the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Since being established in 1975, the program has won 23 conference championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships 26 times. The Cornhuskers have had five individual national champions and 163 total All-Americans.

The team is coached by former all-around national champion Heather Brink.

History[]

The team was established in 1975, initially without a head coach. After the program's first season, Nebraska hired Karen Balke to lead a team of entirely freshmen and sophomores. Judy Schalk took over in 1977, leading the Huskers to five conference titles and an AIWA bid in six seasons as head coach. In 1983, Rick Walton was hired as head coach, and under his guidance the program won its first NCAA individual event title, when Michele Bryant came in first place on the vault in 1990. From 1987 to 1990, Walton captured four straight Big Eight titles, taking the Huskers to the NCAA Championships each year, including a program-best fourth-place national finish in 1989.

After the 1993 season, Walton left the program and the Cornhuskers hired Dan Kendig. In his first year, he led NU to a conference championship and was named Big Eight Coach of the Year. In 1997, the Huskers reached the Super Six Finals for the first time under the new NCAA Championship format, beating No. 1 Utah to claim the final spot. Kendig was named national coach of the year in 1999 after winning a sixth consecutive conference title. Before leaving for the Big Ten in 2011, the Huskers claimed more Big 12 gymnastics titles than any other program.[2]

Kendig retired in 2019 amid NCAA compliance issues, and assistant Heather Brink was named head coach.

Coaches[]

Coaching history[]

No. Coach Tenure Overall Accomplishments
1 Karen Balke 1976 9–12 (.429)
2 Judy Schalk 1977–83 135–70–2 (.657) Big Eight champion (1978–80,1982,1983)
3 Rick Walton 1984–93 136–65 (.675) Big Eight champion (1987–90)
4 Dan Kendig 1994–2018 438–101–2 (.811) Big Eight champion (1994–96)
Big 12 champion (1997–99,2001–03,2005,2007,2011)
Big Ten regular season champion (2014,2017)
Big Ten Tournament champion (2012,2013)
5 Heather Brink 2019– 28–31 (.475)


Coaching staff[]

Name Position First year Alma mater
Heather Brink Head coach 2019 Nebraska
Brian Amato Assistant coach 2020 Portland State
Robert Ladanyi Assistant coach 2019 Romanian National School of Coaching

Awards[]

All-Americans[]

Nebraska has had 33 athletes earn 59 first-team All-American selections and 165 total All-American awards.

  • Patty Carmichael-Gerard – 1979
  • Renee Reisdorff – 1979
  • Tami Bair – 1989
  • Michele Bryant – 1989, 1990
  • Crystal Savage – 1989
  • Shelly Bartlett – 1997
  • Heather Brink – 1997, 1999, 2000
  • Misty Oxford – 1997
  • A.J. Lamb – 2000, 2002, 2003
  • Gina Bruce – 2001, 2003
  • Tami Harris – 2001
  • Alecia Ingram – 2001
  • Julie Houk – 2002, 2003
  • Jess Wertz – 2002
  • Richelle Simpson – 2003
  • Kristi Esposito – 2004, 2005
  • Libby Landgraf – 2004
  • Emily Parsons – 2005–08
  • Vanessa Meloche – 2006
  • Tricia Woo – 2006, 2007
  • Desire Sniatynski – 2008
  • Lora Evenstad – 2010, 2011
  • Brittany Skinner – 2010
  • Erin Davis – 2011
  • Janelle Giblin – 2011, 2012
  • Maria Scaffidi – 2011
  • Jamie Schleppenbach – 2011, 2014
  • Emily Wong – 2011–14
  • Jessie DeZiel – 2012, 2014, 2015
  • Hollie Blanske – 2014–16
  • Sienna Crouse – 2017, 2018
  • Taylor Houchin – 2018, 2020

Individual NCAA Champions[]

  • Michele Bryant – Vault (1990)
  • Heather Brink – All-Around (2000), Vault (2000)
  • Richelle Simpson – All-Around (2003), Floor Exercise (2003)

Results by season[]

Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion
Year Coach Overall Conf.
Tournament 		Regional AIAW/NCAA
Tournament
Big Eight Conference (1976–1996)
1976 Karen Balke 11–21 5th 10th
1977 Judy Schalk 18–7 2nd 4th
1978 28–10 1st 3rd
1979 29–21–3 1st 2nd T–11th
1980 32–23 1st 2nd 16th
1981 13–22 3rd 4th
1982 27–14 1st 2nd 8th
1983 24���25 1st 1st 10th
1984 Rick Walton 19–10 2nd
1985 14–10 2nd 5th
1986 14–14 3rd 6th
1987 18–20 1st 4th 10th
1988 18–19 1st 3rd 10th
1989 26–7 1st 2nd 4th
1990 30–6 1st 2nd 5th
1991 10–11 2nd 6th
1992 12–11 2nd 5th
1993 12–13 2nd 7th
1994 Dan Kendig 17–8 1st 4th
1995 25–9 1st 2nd 11th
1996 25–8 1st 3rd 10th
Big 12 Conference (1997–2011)
1997 Dan Kendig 28–11–1 1st 3rd 6th
1998 16–8 1st 5th
1999 26–10 1st 2nd 6th
2000 36–9 2nd 1st 4th
2001 26–7–1 1st 1st T–5th
2002 23–8 1st 1st 5th
2003 32–4 1st 1st 4th
2004 15–9–1 4th 2nd 10th
2005 21–13 1st 2nd 6th
2006 26–11–1 2nd 2nd 5th
2007 26–12 1st 2nd 6th
2008 13–9 4th 3rd
2009 16–7 2nd 3rd
2010 23–8 2nd 2nd 7th
2011 22–12 1st 2nd 4th
Big Ten Conference (2012–Present)
2012 Dan Kendig 24–7 1st 2nd 8th
2013 19–5 1st 3rd
2014 27–11 2nd 2nd 6th
2015 28–9 3rd 2nd 8th
2016 28–9 2nd 2nd 8th
2017 29–10 4th 2nd 7th
2018 28–15 2nd 2nd 6th
2019 Heather Brink 12–5 4th 2nd
2020 8–4 Canceled
2021 1–20 9th
Total: 739–277–4

References[]

  1. ^ The Power of Color (PDF). Nebraska Athletics Brand Guide. July 1, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  2. ^ "Nebraska Women's Gymnastics History". Retrieved 3 September 2015.

External links[]

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