Gymnastics: WVU's Season Ends at Regionals
April 08, 2006 09:11 PM | General
April 8, 2006
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ATHENS, Ga. – The 22nd-ranked West Virginia University women’s gymnastics team tied for fifth place with a team score of 193.925 in the NCAA Southeast Regional Saturday night in front of a crowd of 7,196 at the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.
West Virginia concluded its season as the Mountaineers failed to advance to nationals, which required them placing in the top two at the meet. No. 1-ranked defending national champion Georgia (197.425) won the meet and, along with second-place Nebraska (196.35), will advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks. The rest of the field included third-place Missouri (195.325), and fourth-place North Carolina (194.3). WVU tied NC State for the final spot.
The Mountaineers, scoring below 194.0 for only the fifth time this season and the first since Feb. 18, had to overcome early adversity and several adjustments to their normal lineups. There were three events during the meet that WVU had a gymnast in the lineup with two or fewer attempts for the entire year.
“Yes, it’s a disappointment, but we still had a pretty good meet,” said West Virginia head coach Linda Burdette. “If we do you everything we are capable of doing we could have advanced. We had some injuries and had to shuffle the lineup so we had some new people in there. You have to make do with what you’ve got, and I’m happy with what we did despite the circumstances.”
Junior Janáe Cox compiled her fifth-highest all-around score of the season with a 39.125 for ninth place overall. Cox did not qualify for nationals for the first time in her career, which required her to finish in the top two amongst all-arounders on teams that did not qualify. Cox missed a bid to nationals by 0.05 points. Missouri’s Adrianne Perry (39.25) and North Carolina’s Christine Robella (39.175) qualified instead. The all-around champions for the meet were Nebraska’s Emily Parson and Georgia’s Kelsey Ericksen with scores of 39.5
The Mountaineers swung their lowest bars score in the last five meets and their fourth-lowest of the season with a 48.425. The first-rotation event included a pair of 9.75s by Cox and freshman Mehgan Morris for 13th-place overall. Freshman Erica Watson also carded a 9.675.
Junior Aimee Brown, competing in just her second bars routine of her career and fifth meet overall, hit on her routine with a career-high 9.625. Her only other bar routine of her career was a 9.35 at Pitt earlier this season.
West Virginia went straight to the balance beam without a bye for the second rotation. The Mountaineers scored a 48.275 on beam, which was 0.35 higher than their season average on the event, but only the second time they scored under 48.3 in their last seven meets.
Cox hit on her routine with a 9.775 good for 15th place overall in the meet. Senior Gretchen Richter, in her 43rd and final meet as a Mountaineer, also hit with a 9.75.
Other notables for West Virginia included Amie Bouchier’s 9.7, along with sophomore Kara Weaver, who competed in her first meet of the season and made her college debut on the balance beam with a 9.55.
After a bye in the third rotation and in fifth place (96.7) after all six teams had competed in two events, the Mountaineers competed on the floor in the fourth rotation trailing first-place Georgia (98.725) by just over two points and led last-place NC State by three tenths.
West Virginia was forced to shuffle its floor lineup just before the meet as Morris, the EAGL rookie of the year and a second-team all-EAGL gymnast on the floor, was removed from the lineup for sophomore Jaime Gold. Gold turned in a score of 9.425 in only her third floor attempt of the season. Morris, hampered by an injury, could not compete on floor but was able to go on bars for the meet.
Sophomore Katie McGregor led off the floor rotation with a career-high 9.675, while Cox anchored the set with a 17th-place score of 9.8, her seventh-straight floor score of 9.8 or higher this season.
Watson and junior Tynisha Dennis also tumbled scores of 9.75 apiece giving the Mountaineers a floor total of 48.675, just above their season average of 48.454.
Before ending the meet on a bye in the sixth rotation, the Mountaineers vaulted a fifth-rotation score of 48.55. Cox led West Virginia with a 9.8 for 12th place overall, while Watson landed a 9.775. Gold vaulted a 9.75 as the lineup’s anchor.
WVU’s season ends with its 28th postseason trip in the last 29 years (WVU qualified for nationals in 1995, 1999 and 2000). The Mountaineers also placed fifth in last year’s NCAA Southeast Regional. The Mountaineers 22-8 record this season is their 12th 20-win season in team history.
