GYMNASTICS / NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : Nebraska Wins Men’s Title; Utah Takes Women’s Title

Patrick Kirksey bounced back from a poor performance in the preliminaries to score a 57.80 to lift Nebraska to the NCAA men’s title by one-tenth of a point over Minnesota at Minneapolis on Friday night.

The Cornhuskers narrowly missed their own national record score of 288.150, set in the 1988 finals. Nebraska finished with 287.40, beating Minnesota’s 287.30 score. UCLA finished third with 283.85.

UCLA could not recover from a slow start, and was hindered by what appeared to be a calf injury to Chainey Umphrey, who was scratched from the floor exercise.

The title is seventh in men’s gymnastics for Nebraska, all of them coming since 1979.

Nebraska led Minnesota by a point heading into the final event. UCLA, bolstered by a 48.75 on the horizontal bar, was within 2.05 of Nebraska.

Minnesota had three scores of 9.80 on the horizontal bar for a 48.85 total, but Nebraska’s 47.95 on the parallel bars was enough to win the title.

Nebraska scored a 47.85 on the rings to take a half-point lead over Minnesota after the first rotation. UCLA, troubled by two scores under 9.0 on the pommel horse, was 1.60 points behind after the first event.

Utah, with team-record performances in two events, edged Alabama to win its seventh women’s championship since 1981 at Corvallis, Ore.

Alabama freshman Dee Dee Foster won the all-around title, beating Utah’s Shelly Schaerrer by .075 points.

The No. 1-seeded Utes, who won the national title six consecutive seasons from 1981-86, broke school records in the vault and uneven bars en route to a team total of 194.90.

No. 2 seeded Alabama finished second with 194.575 points. Defending champion Georgia was third with 193.225, UCLA was fourth with 193.100 and Nebraska was fifth with 192.225.