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2015 Huskers Staff & Coaches INtro
2015 Nebraska Women’s Gymnastics
Nebraska’s ncaa champions
Michele Bryant:
NU’s First Champion
Heather Brink:
The Best of 2000
Michele Bryant will forever
hold one di stinction that no other
Husker female gymnast can claim
A native of Blue Springs, Mo.,
Bryant became the first female
gymnast in school history to win
a national title, capturing the
NCAA vault championship with
a score of 9.85 at the 1990 NCAA
Championships in Corvallis, Ore.
Michele Bryant
Bryant’s vault score also set a
1990 NCAA Vault Champion Nebraska school record held until
1994.
Bryant’s NCAA championship
capped an impressive Husker career that saw her earn three
first-team All-America honors and four Big Eight Championships.
A four-time all-conference selection, she led Nebraska to a
59-20 regular-season record and four Big Eight championships
during her collegiate career. It was the first time a gymnastics
team had won four straight conference titles in Big Eight history.
At the national level, the Huskers also qualified for the NCAA
Championships all four years she competed, the first time in
school history the Huskers qualified for nationals in four straight
years, while guiding the Huskers to a pair of top-five finishes. As
a junior, Bryant earned first-team All-America honors on uneven
bars, as the Huskers finished fourth, their best finish in school
history. In addition to her vault title, she placed sixth on uneven
bars, becoming the first Husker gymnast to earn All-America
honors in consecutive seasons, as the Huskers finished fifth at
the 1990 NCAA Championships.
The first three-time All-America gymnast in school history,
Bryant shared the Big Eight all-around title with fellow Husker
Lisa McCrady in 1989 with a score of 38.90, while winning the
balance beam title as a junior and the vault title as a senior.
She finished her career as Nebraska’s school record holder in
the all-around (39.00) and vault (9.85).
Bryant's contributions to Husker athletics were recognized
with her selection as one of Nebraska's 25 Women of Distinction
during the Athletic Department's 25-year celebration in April
of 2000. Bryant married John McJunkins in 2005 and has a son,
Austin (12), a stepdaughter, Johnna (15) and a stepson, Jaryd (8).
She currently works as an accountant in Benton, Ark.
The 2000 season was the
culmination of an outstanding
career for gymnast Heather
Brink. The senior from Lincoln
permanently etched her name
into the record books, winning
two national titles at the NCAA
Championships in Boise, Idaho,
as the Huskers placed fourth at
nationals – equaling their best
Heather Brink
finish in school history.
2000 NCAA All-Around
Brink became the first Husker
and Vault Champion
female to win an all-around
national title, scoring a 39.60 to lead the Huskers to the Super
Six Finals for the third time in four years. Entering the final
event, Brink was in third place and needed a 9.925 for a share
of the all-around title. Brink came through with the finest
routine of her career, scoring a 9.95 and equaling NU’s school
record to win by .025 of a point.
In the Super Six Finals one night later, Brink was flawless,
posting the top score of the evening with a 39.625, including
a 9.95 on vault and a 9.925 on uneven bars, as the Huskers
recorded their best finish in 11 years. In the event finals, she
won her second NCAA title, placing first on vault with a 9.95,
while finishing second on uneven bars (9.925) and eighth
on floor exercise (9.80). Overall, she earned five All-America
citations (four first-team and one second-team).
For her efforts, she was selected as the Honda Award
winner, representing the nation’s top female collegiate
gymnast. Brink joined softball standout Denise Day (1985) and
volleyball players Karen Dahlgren (1987) and Allison Weston
(1995) as NU’s fourth Honda Award winner. Greichaly Cepero
won NU’s fifth Honda Award in 2000, as the nation’s top
volleyball player, while Sarah Pavan added honors in 2006.
The 2000 Big 12 and Region 3 Gymnast of the Year, Brink
posted eight of the top 10 all-around totals in school history,
including a school record of 39.70 at the NCAA Regional. She
also became the first Husker gymnast to score a 10, recording
the mark on vault against Iowa State on Feb. 15, one of three
10s during the season. She closed her collegiate career as the
most decorated gymnast in school history, earning two NCAA
titles, 11 All-America awards, six regional titles and eight
conference titles.
Brink joined the Nebraska staff as assistant coach before the
2012 season. She and her husband have two sons, Jaxon (8)
and Hunter (3).
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58
Richelle Simpson:
The Nation’s Finest
Richelle Simpson
2003 NCAA All-Around
and Floor Exercise Champion
Husker Richelle Simpson
holds a special place in Nebraska
gymnastics history after her
record-setting performances in
2002, 2003 and 2005.
As the only Husker gymnast
to ever earn first-team AllAmerica honors on all five
events in the same year,
Simpson garnered five firstteam awards at the 2003
NCAA Championships, leading
the Huskers to a fourth-place
national finish at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
Entering the week of the championships as the nation's
top-ranked all-arounder, she captured the NCAA all-around
crown with a 39.675, edging out 2002 NCAA Champion
Jamie Dantzscher of UCLA, who earned the top all-around
performance in Session I of the NCAA Preliminaries with a
39.65.
Simpson became Nebraska’s second all-around champion
in school history, joining Heather Brink, who won the title in
2000.
At the NCAA Super Six Finals, Simpson went on to dominate
the competition, producing the top individual performance
with scores of 9.925 or better on all four events for an allaround total of 39.80. In the individual event finals, Simpson
added an NCAA individual floor title (9.963) to her arsenal of
accomplishments.
After being granted a medical hardship year in 2004 by the
NCAA, Simpson returned with a vengeance in 2005, leading NU
to a first-ever No. 1 ranking after the Masters Classic.
The Toronto, Ontario, native provided an unmatched spark
in Nebraska’s run to the NCAA Super Six Finals, as the Huskers
reclaimed the Big 12 Conference championship.
Simpson, the 2005 South Central Regional Co-Gymnast of
the Year, holds records in four categories on Nebraska’s alltime charts.
Simpson also became NU’s first AAI American Award winner
in 2005, an honor annually given to the nation’s top gymnast
on the basis of athleticism, academic excellence and civic
responsibility.
She capped her career by earning the first NCAA Top
Eight Award in the history of Nebraska women's gymnastics.
Simpson became NU's nation-leading 15th student-athlete
across all sports to win the Top Ten Award, which is the highest
honor given by the NCAA.
Simpson was also the Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the
Year, Nebraska's Female Student-Athlete of the Year and was
awarded NCAA and Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarships at the
conclusion of her final season in 2005.
Simpson now lives in Las Vegas and performs in the Cirque
du Soleil show Mystère with former Husker gymnast A.J. Lamb.
Simpson made her debut with Cirque du Soleil in September
2006 and specializes in Chinese poles and the teeterboard.
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