Gymnastics: Mountaineers Place Third in Cancun
January 04, 2008 10:40 PM | General
January 4, 2008
MEET RESULTS
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| Amy Bieski |
CANCUN, Mexico – The No. 22 West Virginia University gymnastics team opened the 2008 season scoring 192.125 points to place third in the evening collegiate session of the fifth annual Cancun Classic at the Hilton Golf and Beach Resort in Cancun, Mexico Friday night.
No. 8 Oklahoma won the meet with 195.175 points while Iowa came in second at 192.875. Wisconsin-Whitewater finished behind WVU in fourth.
“I was very pleased with some of our performances tonight,” head coach Linda Burdette says. “Our two all-arounders were great. We did have some mistakes and it’s hard to do well when you have to count falls towards your scores in multiple events. I understand it’s our first meet and we had some positives tonight, but we also have a lot to work on to be more consistent.”
WVU’s two all-arounders were 2006 EAGL Rookie of the Year Mehgan Morris and freshman Amy Bieski, who was competing for the first time at the college level. Bieski finished in second in the all-around with 38.95 points while Morris tied for third with 38.775 points.
The Mountaineers opened the competition on the balance beam and scored a 48.075 in the event. Morris and sophomore Kiersten Spoerke tied for the team high with 9.725s. Morris’ score tied a career high. Bieski posted a 9.675 in her first event as a Mountaineer as WVU ranked third through the first rotation.
Scores improved on the next event, the floor exercise, as WVU posted 48.325 points in its second event. Senior Margaret Ann Moore hit her floor routine to score a career-high 9.775 in an impressive performance. It was Moore’s first in-season action since her freshman year in 2005. Bieski was solid again with a team-best 9.875 to place second before her teammate Morris hit for a 9.825 to tie for third.
On vault, West Virginia was highlighted by Bieski’s 9.8 and sophomore Chelsi Tabor’s career-best 9.825. Tabor would place second in the meet, individually. Freshman Emily Kerwin also tallied a 9.625 score from the judges in her first collegiate competition. The Mountaineers scored 47.700 points to bring the team total to 143.900 and ranked third heading into the final rotation.
West Virginia’s final event, bars, saw the Mountaineers put together a consistent showing to total 48.225 points. Senior Katie McGregor, sophomore Ashley Wilson and Bieski all netted 9.6s to start off the lineup. Senior Jaime Gold earned a 9.675 and Morris, a 2007 first team all-EAGL bars selection, closed the meet with a 9.75 to tie for third individually.
In the afternoon collegiate session, No. 10 LSU took first with a meet-record 195.725 points. The Tigers were followed by No. 15 Denver at 193.200, Minnesota at 192.272 and Texas Woman’s University at 190.900.
West Virginia next competes at a three-team meet at No. 9 Michigan with No. 14 Arkansas on Jan. 11. The meet is slated to start at 7:30 p.m., in Ann Arbor, Mich.
