Gymnastics: No. 18 WVU Goes 1-2
January 17, 2009 10:32 PM | General
January 17, 2009
| Iowa 194.350 Michigan State 194.200 #18 West Virginia 193.700 Illinois State 190.700 Jenison Field House east lansing, mich. |
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Meet Results |
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| Stat Comparison | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Vault | 48.825 | 48.175 | 48.775 | 48.650 | ||||||||||||||
| Bars | 48.175 | 45.775 | 48.725 | 48.775 | ||||||||||||||
| Beam | 48.625 | 48.075 | 48.125 | 47.650 | ||||||||||||||
| Floor | 48.725 | 48.875 | 48.575 | 48.625 | ||||||||||||||
| Top WVU Gymnasts | ||||||||||||||||||
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EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 18 West Virginia University gymnastics team finished in third place with 193.700 points at Michigan State this evening at Jenison Field House.
Iowa (4-2) won the meet with 194.350 points, while the host Spartans (3-2) finished second with 194.200 points. Illinois State (0-5) finished in fourth place with 190.700 points.
Senior Mehgan Morris paced the Mountaineers and finished in third place in the all-around with 38.800 points. Iowa’s Jenifer Simbhudas finished first in the all-around with 39.075 points.
Junior Shelly Purkat (flu) was a last-second scratch for the Mountaineers, while sophomore Naja Johnson could not compete in all four events due to an injury.
“Not having a full lineup was disappointing this evening, but overall I’m pleased that the team was able to step-up and still compete – that speaks a lot to our depth,” says Coach Linda Burdette. “The team knows that it can improve upon this performance, and will look to do so next week.”
The Mountaineers fought for a second-place position heading into the fourth rotation and only trailed the Hawkeyes by .125 points, 146.175-146.050, but could not overcome the deficit on the balance beam, earning 47.650 points to the Hawkeyes’ 48.175 score on the uneven bars.
The Mountaineers fell behind after one rotation, scoring 48.625 points on the floor, while Michigan State totaled 48.775 points on the vault. Iowa matched WVU in the first rotation, scoring 48.625 points on the balance beam, and Illinois State trailed with 45.775 total points on the uneven bars.
Sophomore Amy Bieski led the Mountaineers through their first rotation, scoring a meet best 9.850 points with an exceptionally strong floor performance, while Morris finished second with 9.750 points. Freshman Tina Maloney made her career debut in the WVU floor lineup and scored a solid 9.675 points.
WVU fell to third place through two rotations with 97.275 points, including 48.650 total points on vault. The host Spartans moved on to the uneven bars and retained their lead through two events with 97.500 points, while the Hawkeyes pushed ahead of WVU into sole possession of second place with 97.350 points, earning 48.725 points on floor. The Redbirds remained in fourth place, earning 48.075 points on the beam for a running score of 93.850.
Junior Chelsi Tabor again anchored a solid vault lineup for the Mountaineers, finishing first on the apparatus for the second-straight week with a meet best 9.825 points. Bieski finished second for WVU with 9.750 points, while sophomore Emily Kerwin finished third with 9.725 points. Morris improved her vault score by .125 points and opened WVU’s vault rotation with the squad’s fourth-best finish of 9.700 points.
In the third rotation, the Mountaineers improved on their season opening bars team-point total by .300 points and concluded with an apparatus-best score of 48.775 points. Iowa totaled 48.825 points on vault and moved into first place with a score of 146.175. MSU fell to third place with 145.625 points, including a 48.125 showing on beam, while ISU retained its fourth-place standing with 142.525 points following a 48.675 floor rotation.
Morris again led the team on bars with a meet-best score of 9.825. Bieski totaled 9.800 points, for second place overall, while Johnson and sophomore Jessica Young finished third (9.750) and fourth (9.725) on the team, respectively.
Tabor not only opened the Mountaineers’ beam rotation, but also finished first on the squad with 9.700 points. Sophomore Stephanie Keaton made her season debut on the beam and finished with a score of 9.625, the squad’s second-best mark.
The Mountaineers next open their 36th home season and begin EAGL competition on Friday, Jan. 22, against Pitt at 8 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
