The list of contenders to win the all-around competition at the Big 12 Championships is plentiful: There’s local favorite Adrianne Perry, Missouri’s star sophomore; Oklahoma senior Brittney-Koncak Schumann, last year’s all-around league champion; her Sooners teammate Kiara Redmond, one of only two Big 12 gymnasts to score a 10.0 this season; and Iowa State’s Janet Anson, a seven-time All-American who last season was named conference gymnast of the year.

Then again, there’s no shame in second place when you consider Nebraska’s Emily Parsons is also in the mix.

Just a junior, Parsons set Nebraska’s career record for individual event titles last week, passing Richelle Simpson, one of the most decorated gymnasts in league history.

In three seasons at Nebraska, Parsons has captured 79 — and counting — event crowns. She’ll be a favorite to win a few more tonight.

“What sets her apart as not only one of the best in our conference but one of the best in the country is she does high-level gymnastics,” Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig said in a telephone interview. “Not that no one else does, but what she does is tough to do, and she does it time and time and time again.

“She’s powerful and very charismatic. I hear from people all the time, ‘Wow, that one girl looks like she’s having so much fun out there.’ That’s because she is just so fun to watch.”

Parsons, a St. Charles native and broadcast journalism major at Nebraska, said she never really considered attending Missouri despite its closer proximity to home and recognized School of Journalism.

“No, I just really wanted to get away from home and go somewhere different,” she said.

The Cornhuskers are glad she did. This season, Parsons has posted the highest or tied for the highest score among Big 12 gymnasts on the vault (10.0), balance beam (9.975) and floor exercise (9.950).

All that’s kept Parsons from posting the league’s best all-around score is the uneven bars. She’s only performed the event six times, and her best score is 9.825. That’s not enough attempts to qualify for an NCAA Regional Qualifying Score for that category, but her RQS scores in the other events all rank among the nation’s top three: first on floor, second on vault and third on beam.

Still, with excellent depth on its roster, the Cornhuskers have the seventh-best bars team in the nation. Desire’ Sniatynski and Vanessa Meloche share the league’s best score of the season, having both received 9.925s. Stephanie Carter, Kylie Stone and Brittney Williams have supplied crucial points for the Cornhuskers this season, too.

Off-season ankle surgery has limited Williams to just the bars this season, but she’s made the most of her situation, scoring a season-best 9.900 last week against Kentucky.

But the star of the Cornhuskers’ show remains Parsons, who earlier this season was named Big 12 gymnast of the week four successive weeks. If Nebraska wins its eighth Big 12 team title in 11 years, you know who will be the center of attention.

“I like our team’s chances overall,” Parsons said. “We’re really hitting our routines right now, and we just need to keep that up as the season plays out.”

— Dave Matter

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