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Muhammad Nabs Records, All-America Honors
April 14, 2017 11:52 PM | Gymnastics
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – West Virginia University gymnastics junior Zaakira Muhammad tallied 39.0375 and finished 15th in the all-around tonight in the second semifinal session of the 2017 NCAA National Championships at Chaifetz Arena.
Competing on the national stage for the first time in her career, the Pennsauken, New Jersey, native also tied for eighth place on floor exercise and earned All-America Second Team accolades.
“Zaakira’s performance tonight was absolutely incredible,” Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. “She came in here with nerves of steel. To come in to this environment, in front of thousands of fans and without her teammates, and set a program record and match another was just fantastic to see. I’m very proud of her.”
Tonight’s score pushes Muhammad’s season point total to 478.8875, the 34th best single-season showing in program history.
“I really just liked the overall experience tonight,” Muhammad said. “The crowd cheered for every gymnast, and Alabama really welcomed me to their team.”
Muhammad opened the meet with a program NCAA Championships record score of 9.9125 on floor exercise, good enough for a share of eighth place. The mark, also a season high, bested the previous WVU championships record of 9.875, first set by All-American Kristin Quackenbush in 1995 and matched by Hope Sloanhoffer in 2014.
Muhammad is the first Mountaineer gymnast to earn All-America honors at the NCAA National Championships since Janáe Cox was named to the floor first team in 2007. Kirah Koshinski was named to the NACGC/W Regular Season All-America Second Team for vault in March, giving WVU two All-Americans in one season for the second time in program history and the first time since 1994.
Muhammad concluded the year scoring 9.9 or better on floor in the last three meets.
“I told myself to compete like I’m in Cary Gym before every routine,” Muhammad said. “It really felt like I was competing in the WVU Coliseum tonight and everyone was cheering for me. I just went out there and had fun.”
Competing on vault in the second rotation, Muhammad tallied 9.8375 and finished 21st overall. She tallied 9.825 or better in all but one meet this season.
Following a bye in the third rotation, Muhammad moved to uneven bars in the fourth rotation and tallied a 9.8 mark, matching a program NCAA Championships record first set by Kristen Macrie in 2000. The score gave her a share of 31st place.
Muhammad concluded the meet with a 9.4875 on balance beam and finished in 40th place.
Tonight officially marks the conclusion of the 2017 season. The Mountaineers will gather next Tuesday, April 18, for the 2017 Team Banquet.
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