MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Long before the start of the season, Linda Burdette saw something in the 2005 Mountaineer gymnastics team she hasn’t seen in four years. But she’s not quite sure yet what it will mean.

	Janae Cox leads a talented and experienced 2005 WVU gymnastics team. Submitted photo

She doesn’t know if it means her team is ready to make its first trip to nationals in five years. She doesn’t know if it will guarantee her team a 27th trip to regionals in 28 years. She doesn’t know if it will even win her team a single meet. All she knows is she likes what she sees.

“They seem to have an agenda,” Burdette said, “… and that’s a good thing.”

What she saw when fall classes were in session was her entire team at the voluntary open-gym workouts. Even the freshmen that can’t workout were there just to see what was going on.

“That is a first,” Burdette said. “It’s been about four years since we’ve had this type of enthusiasm. They are very team-oriented and they are really pulling together. It’s huge because we hope it carries over into the season.”

So what did Burdette, entering her 31st season as head coach, do differently to provoke the team’s newfound vigor?

“I wish I knew the answer because I would do it every year,” Burdette said. “We help set the goals, but it’s a lot easier when they have the goals. When they know what they are after, it’s easier for us to get out there than it is if we are forcing them.”

Burdette will look to catch lightning in a bottle with 13 of 15 letterwinners returning from last year’s team, which won the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) championship for a league-record fifth time. The returnees, including seven sophomores, four seniors and two juniors, led the Mountaineers to their 11th season with 20 or more wins last year with a mark of 20-6-1. However, Burdette’s enthusiasm has been tempered somewhat after sophomore Amie Bouchier ruptured her Achilles tendon last Sunday during the team’s intrasquad meet and will be lost for the year.

“Amie is going to be missed tremendously,” Burdette said.

Yet the rest of the sophomore class gained valuable experience last year and because they add proven depth the second-year gymnasts are one of the team’s strengths coming into the new season.

“That’s a plus,” Burdette said. “When they came in last year, they were put into competition pretty quick. For that reason the sophomores have a lot more experience.”

The head of the sophomore class is Janáe Cox. Cox established herself as one of the top first-year gymnasts in school history. The Otisco, Ind., native became the first Mountaineer to earn EAGL rookie of the year honors and set the school record with an all-around score of 39.675, previously held by former national gymnast of the year Kristin Quackenbush in 1997.

Cox made her mark at the EAGL championships as co-champion on the vault with a 9.95 score, before being named first-team all-EAGL on the vault, balance beam, uneven bars and in the all-around. She was also a second-team selection on the floor exercise.

As the 14th gymnast in school history to qualify for nationals as an individual, Cox represented West Virginia at the NCAA championships held in Los Angeles, Calif., despite bowing out of the competition in the preliminary.

Burdette is hoping Cox’s experience at nationals will lead to the rest of the team becoming a national championship contender.

“Janáe went to the nationals by herself, now she wants a team to go with her,” Burdette said. “This year our goal is to repeat as EAGL champions, qualify for regionals and advance on to the NCAAs. When you talk about the top teams in the country, that’s our goal: to win the NCAA. That’s the direction we want to go to.”

To do that, West Virginia will have to qualify for regionals, as it did last year before placing fourth in the NCAA Southeast Regional held in Raleigh, N.C. The Mountaineers, with a team score of 195.275, competed in a tough regional, which included eventual national champion UCLA. Heading into that competition the Mountaineers posted a school-record team score of 197.4 at Pitt, 197.3 in the regular season finale against Bowling Green, and an EAGL-meet record score of 197.05.

“They competed well as a good team in that situation,” Burdette said. “That gives me hope for the future, knowing that they were in that situation and they know what it feels like.”

In addition to Cox, the Mountaineers have one other gymnast that competed in the all-around last year in senior Jessica Bartgis, a veteran from Frederick, Md., who earned a fifth year of eligibility for this season. Bartgis, a second-team all-EAGL pick in the all-around and on the vault, had a stellar year as the league’s co-champion on the vault with a score of 9.95. She also scored a perfect 10 on vault earlier in the season, the first of her career and 13th by any vaulter in school history.

Bartgis and Cox pushed each other last season. That was indicated during the season last year when Bartgis posted what would have been a new school-record all-around score of 39.625 at Pitt, but Cox came through with a 39.65 score at the same meet and later posted her 39.675 score that stands as the record entering the 2005 season.

“Having them both pushing each other in that direction is going to be wonderful,” Burdette said. “Jess got even better last year, and this year she is really focused on what she’s trying to accomplish. And Janáe had her first exposure to college gymnastics which was very successful.”

The remainder of the team also makes for a strong lineup, according to Burdette.

“There’s a lot of potential; it’s up for grabs,” Burdette said. “When you are an age-group gymnast, everyone is an all-arounder. The question in college is, ‘Do you have the consistency?’ When you come to college and have to pick six, it becomes more competitive.”

Senior Carri Nagle and junior Alyssa DeSantis have potential as all-arounders. Nagle, a Whitehall, Pa., native, set career highs on the beam (9.85), bars (9.9) and floor (9.875) last year and is learning a new vault to add to her repertoire. DeSantis, who competed as an all-arounder in just one meet during her freshman year when she was named team MVP, appeared only on the bars and the beam last year and was one of the team’s most consistent gymnasts.

DeSantis, who hails from Steubenville, Ohio, gathered two career highs last year with a 9.875 score on both the bars and the beam.

Gretchen Richter, a junior from Madisonville, Texas, was a first-team all-EAGL selection on the beam last year and returns after competing on three events last year, including the vault and floor exercise. Richter’s career highs in each of her events were set last year, including a 9.925 on the vault and the floor, while scoring a 9.95 on the beam.

Tynisha Dennis, a sophomore from Bowie, Md., also has all-around potential after seeing most of her action on the vault and floor last year, most notably a 9.875 career-high on the floor accomplished twice.

Senior Kari Williams, a two-year team captain who Burdette views as one of the top vaulters in school history, is also back as one of the team’s top specialists. After setting her career-high of 9.925 twice, the Newark, Del., native had a solid year in 2004 collecting seven top-five finishes and three wins.

One of the team’s top gymnasts on the beam, sophomore Cheryl Goldenfield, is also back after seeing action on the vault and floor last year. The Columbia, S.C., native tabbed two 9.9 scores last year for career highs.

Bouchier, who hails from Midlothian, Va., finished strong on the beam and the floor last year and was expected to be one of the team’s leaders on the floor and balance beam. Bouchier set career highs of 9.9 and 9.85, respectively, on the two events in the season finale against Bowling Green.

Bouchier’s injury is just the latest in a series of injuries that have limited Mountaineers during the past two seasons. Last year, Aimee Brown, Sabrina Noonan and Kendra Dewitt and senior Lequita Williams were each on the mend. Noonan was the only regular in the lineup last year, as she was able to compete on bars despite a foot injury, where she set a career high 9.8 on the event.

Seven newcomers to the team have Burdette excited about the program’s future. They include sophomore Stacey Mariana and freshmen Jaime Gold, Rachel Hardin, Katie McGregor, Margaret Ann Moore, Kara Weaver and Toni Zito. Weaver, an in-state recruit from Cottageville, W.Va., has six years of level 10 experience, while Gold, a Gahanna, Ohio, native, has four years.

West Virginia opens its season on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Kent State. The team will host six meets and travel to seven before the EAGL championships on March 26 at North Carolina State.

The EAGL, entering its 10th year of existence, will provide formidable opponents for the Mountaineers, including one-time champion North Carolina, which returns reigning EAGL gymnast of the year Courtney Bumpers. The league also includes North Carolina State, a two-time champion, and 2003 champion New Hampshire. Pitt, Maryland, and Rutgers will also be in the running along with new member George Washington, which replaced Towson.

“The league is very competitive from top to bottom,” Burdette said. “Every year there is pressure-packed competition that will help teams advancing to regionals.”

Yet Burdette is confident her team can handle the pressure. With the wealth of experience and talent the Mountaineers are enthusiastic as ever. And Burdette can attest to that.