Gymnastics: Three-Team Meet at Home on Sunday
February 11, 2005 12:30 PM | General
February 11, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For a consecutive week, the West Virginia University gymnastics team hosts a Top 25 team as No. 16 Penn State visits the WVU Coliseum along with Ball State on Sunday, Feb. 13, at 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers (2-2) are coming off a195.875-194.7 win over No. 17 Southern Utah on Feb. 4, which propelled WVU’s season average to 192.856 moving up five spots in the national rankings to No. 28 and into first place in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League standings. West Virginia set season highs in all its events and established a new season-high team score, 2.95 points more than its previous best set in a 192.925-185.5 win at Pitt on Jan. 22.
Sophomore all-arounder Janáe Cox leads the Mountaineers with her 38.708 average after earning EAGL gymnast of the week honors and notching a career-high 39.35 all-around last week.
Senior Kari Williams leads the WVU vault team, which enters this weekend’s competition ranked 17th in country with a 48.731 average. Williams posted a season-high 9.925 last week on vault and her 9.837 average ranks 29th in the nation.
Penn State (7-5) enters the meet sporting a 194.31 season average, while Ball State (2-10) averages 190.995. The Nittany Lions are fresh off home wins over New Hampshire, Cornell, and Missouri on Feb. 5 with a 193.575. The Cardinals, winless on the road this year, are coming off a four-loss showing at Kentucky on Feb. 4 with a 191.025.
The Nittany Lions own the all-time series with a 27-5 record in a series that dates back to 1979. The most recent encounter was a 195.675-195.24 Penn State win on Jan. 31, 2004, in State College. West Virginia is 6-1 all-time vs. Ball State, including their last meeting, a Mountaineer win in the 2003 season opener at Pitt.
