Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics
Founded1975 (1975)
UniversityUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln
Athletic directorTrev Alberts
Head coachHeather Brink (6th 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, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2018
NCAA Regional championships
1982, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
NCAA Tournament appearances
1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023
Conference championships
Big Eight: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996

Big 12: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 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 twenty-three conference championships and qualified for the NCAA women's gymnastics tournament twenty-seven times. The Cornhuskers have had five individual national champions and 163 total All-Americans.

The team has been coached by former all-around national champion Heather Brink since 2019.

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 AIAW 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 Balke19769–12 (.429)
2 Judy Schalk1977–83135–70–2 (.657)Conference champion (1978–80,1982,1983)
3 Rick Walton1984–93136–65 (.675)Super Six (1989,1990)
Conference champion (1987–90)
4 Dan Kendig1994–2018438–101–2 (.811)Super Six (1997,1999–2003,2005–07,2011,2014,2018)
Conference champion (1994–99,2001–03,2005,2007,2011,2014,2017)
Conference tournament champion (2012,2013)
5 Heather Brink2019–34–41 (.453)


Coaching staff

Name Position First year Alma mater
Heather BrinkHead coach2019Nebraska
Brian AmatoAssistant coach2020Portland State
Marissa KingAssistant coach2023Florida
Oleksii KoltakovAssistant coach2022National University of Ukraine on Physical Education and Sport

Awards

All-Americans

Nebraska has had thirty-three athletes earn fifty-nine 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)

Season-by-season results

Regular season champion Tournament champion
Year Coach Overall Conference
tournament		 Regional Postseason[lower-alpha 1]
Big Eight Conference (1976–1996)
1976Karen Balke11–215th10th
1977Judy Schalk18–72nd4th
197828–101st3rd
197929–21–31st2ndAIAW T–11th
198032–231st2ndAIAW 16th
198113–223rd4th
198227–141st2ndNCAA 8th
198324–251st1stNCAA 10th
1984Rick Walton19–102nd
198514–102nd5th
198614–143rd6th
198718–201st4thNCAA 10th
198818–191st3rdNCAA 10th
198926–71st2ndNCAA 4th
199030–61st2ndNCAA 5th
199110–112nd6th
199212–112nd5th
199312–132nd7th
1994Dan Kendig17–81st4th
199525–91st2ndNCAA 11th
199625–81st3rdNCAA 10th
Big 12 Conference (1997–2011)
1997Dan Kendig28–11–11st3rdNCAA 6th
199816–81st5th
199926–101st2ndNCAA 6th
200036–92nd1st4th
200126–7–11st1stNCAA T–5th
200223–81st1stNCAA 5th
200332–41st1stNCAA 4th
200415–9–14th2ndNCAA 10th
200521–131st2ndNCAA 6th
200626–11–12nd2ndNCAA 5th
200726–121st2ndNCAA 6th
200813–94th3rd
200916–72nd3rd
201023–82nd2ndNCAA 7th
201122–121st2ndNCAA 4th
Big Ten Conference (2012–Present)
2012Dan Kendig24–71st2ndNCAA 8th
201319–51st3rd
201427–112nd2ndNCAA 6th
201528–93rd2ndNCAA 8th
201628–92nd2ndNCAA 8th
201729–104th2ndNCAA 7th
201828–152nd2ndNCAA 6th
2019Heather Brink12–54th4thNCAA Super Regional
20208–4Canceled[lower-alpha 2]
20211–209th
20226–106th
202312–136th4thNCAA Regional

Olympians

Notes

  1. ↑ The NCAA began sponsoring a women's gymnastics tournament in 1982. Previously the sport was run by the AIAW
  2. ↑ Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

References

  1. ↑ Nebraska Athletics Brand Guide (PDF). July 1, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Nebraska Women's Gymnastics History". Retrieved 3 September 2015.
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