Nebraska typically outperforms its preseason ranking. Just something to keep in mind. The Huskers prowl around the lower half of the nationals contenders but only miss nationals in years when they have an extra, extra-talented roster or are hosting the competition. Otherwise, it has been a pretty safe bet, and 8th place is becoming a bit of a trend.
This year should be more of the same in terms of expectations, though there are some potential stumbling blocks to mimicking last year’s result. The Huskers have already suffered a couple injuries that will make filling out lineups more challenging, and they’ll have to find a way to replace four critical, lineup-best routines from Hollie Blanske (putting pressure on freshman Taylor Houchin to be the new star). Because Nebraska is Nebraska and because a few AA stars are capable of carrying this team, I’d still take the Huskers to make nationals, though they will look a likely nominee for the challenging pack to pick off. Continue reading Nebraska 2017→
For the first time in recorded history, Nebraska doesn’t really lack routines among its returning corps, which is why the Huskers rank reasonably well based on retained routines from last year. They could quasi-legitimately fill out lineups using only sophomores-seniors. It wouldn’t be great, but it would be a team. The real question for 2017 will be—two years after losing DeZiel, a year after losing Blanske—does Nebraska have enough 9.9s to stay competitive for a spot at nationals?
In that regard, the Huskers will be looking to star freshman and Senior E national champion Taylor Houchin to crush the all-around into a tiny cube.
Let’s begin with vault. As a group, this freshman class is not so much with the vault. Couple that with a dearth of 10.0 SVs among the returning vaulters, and Houchin’s Yurchenko 1.5 becomes all the more important in the quest to keep pace with last year’s scores.
That will be the best vault on the roster and will need to slide right into the Blanske role as soon as possible. On bars and beam, Houchin is served well by her extension and precision. It’s not hard to envision both of those sets turning into college routines with very few built-in deductions. Check out the finishing position on the second giant full in this one. Mwah! Continue reading 2017 Freshman Preview: Nebraska→
