Gymnastics Preview
January 13, 2006 12:05 PM | General
January 13, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- You can hear whispers about it every January when gymnastics season starts at West Virginia University. Asking about it at most schools would be rather ambitious, but not at West Virginia where the Mountaineers have made their presence felt on a yearly basis. It, however, hasn’t happened at WVU for five years now. That, alone, warrants high hopes and lingering anticipation, but there’s something a lot more substantial about it this year.
 |
||
| Two-time NCAA participant Janae Cox is hoping to have her teammates join her at nationals this year.
All-Pro Photography |
“It” is the Mountaineer gymnastics team going to nationals, and the question is “Will this be the year?” The whispers have deepened into an audible tone this year.
Could it be because so many younger gymnasts got experience last year? How about junior Janáe Cox returning as a two-time individual qualifier for nationals? Is it the new freshman class that people have raved about? And the team’s enthusiasm in the off-season, that has to be the reason, right?
“It’s possibly the enthusiasm, but I think it’s because we were so close last year,” says head coach Linda Burdette. “The last couple years we’ve been really close to getting to nationals. I think that has fueled their fire so they can say, ‘Let’s do a little bit more and see if we can get there.’”
Technically, West Virginia was 1.475 points away last year from qualifying for nationals with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Gainesville, Fla., a site that produced eventual national champion Georgia.
West Virginia compiled a record of 17-7-1 last year and made its 27th appearance at regionals in the past 28 years, but it is the team’s elusive fourth appearance at NCAA Championships since 1995 that has caused anticipation for the 2006 season.
A new code of points for NCAA gymnastics, something that is updated every four years, goes into effect this year. But that should not bother this WVU team. The Mountaineers have tremendous depth as all of their top-six gymnasts in each event have start values of 10.0. That’s something rare for Burdette, who enters her 32nd year as head coach, and it’s also why she feels so fervent about her team’s credentials.
“I think this year’s team has even more potential because we have more depth and they came back in better shape,” Burdette says. “We are further along at this point in the preseason than we were last year because they are able to move quicker through the transition to new skills and upgrading.”
Last year’s team was young and started slow before picking up steam for the last six meets heading into regionals. Once at regionals, an eye-popping 54 percent of its competing lineup was either freshmen or sophomores.
There is a significant shift of experience this year as half of the 18 gymnasts have competed at regionals, and half are now juniors or seniors.
“Now that we have an equal balance between the underclassmen and the upperclassmen that has helped,” Burdette says. “But there are a lot of factors that have to do with it. The coaching staff has also been together; this is our third year as a group. It seems like we are all on the same page in trying to figure our how to take the next step.”
The next step one would think is nationals, but Burdette doesn’t want to adhere to the whispers.
“I don’t dwell on the fact that it’s nationals (and only) nationals,” Burdette explains. “You preach to the girls that it’s one thing at a time. Our goal is to come out a little more prepared for our first competition than we were last year. It took us a little while to get on the ground and get running. Once we did, I felt last year’s team had the potential to go to nationals.”
Hitting the ground running this year starts with Cox, a second-year captain from Otisco, Ind., who is already one of the most accomplished all-around gymnasts in school history with two trips to nationals to her credit. Cox won the balance beam competition with a career-high 9.925 and tied for the all-around title with a 39.475 at the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) championships last year.
Experience last year by fellow juniors Tynisha Dennis and Cheryl Goldenfield will pay huge dividends for the Mountaineers this year.
A Bowie, Md., native, Dennis was a three-event specialist last year on floor, beam and vault. Dennis, a first-team all-EAGL selection on the floor, proved she could post high marks on a consistent basis with seven scores of at least 9.8 on floor including a career-high 9.925.
Goldenfield, who hails from Columbia, S.C., also competed on the vault, beam and floor last year. She was consistent on the beam as a first-team all-EAGL pick compiling a 9.785 regional qualifying score.
Much of the team’s leadership will come from the uneven bars lineup as two of this year’s captains and a senior were specialists on bars last year. They include senior Alyssa Desantis, the 2003 team’s most valuable gymnast from Steubenville, Ohio; junior captain Sabrina Noonan, of St. Charles, Ill.; and sophomore captain Katie McGregor of New Kensington, Pa.
The team’s other senior is Madisonville, Texas, native Gretchen Richter, who made her season debut midway through last year and became a valuable asset on vault, beam and floor during the team’s stretch run.
Amie Bouchier of Midlothian, Va., and Aimee Brown of Mobile, Ala., complete the solid junior class for the Mountaineers. Bouchier gained experience from regionals two years ago but sat out last year with an injury.
Jaime Gold is back as a sophomore after becoming the team’s only freshman to compete in every meet last year. The second-team all-EAGL vaulter from Gahanna, Ohio, competed primarily on two events last year: vault and floor.
Kara Weaver of Ravenswood, W.Va., Margaret Ann Moore of Moseley, Va., and Rachel Hardin of Canal Winchester, Ohio, are also key sophomore contributors. Moore and Hardin saw action on the beam in three meets last year, while Moore also filled in admirably on vault and floor as a reserve. Weaver showed a lot of promise before succumbing to a season-ending knee injury two meets into the year.
The freshman class this year should contribute immediately laden with potential all-arounders and gymnasts with national experience: Erica Watson, Heather Izer, Mehgan Morris and Liz Rouse.
The evidence of just how good this WVU team can be and how far it can go seems to have no limits. But to pacify any lingering questions about “it,” Burdette offers this hint: “This team has the skill,” she adds. “As long as we stay healthy we have the skill to be a competitive team at the national championships.”
