Gymnastics: WVU Takes Third at EAGL
March 27, 2010 06:22 PM | General
March 27, 2010
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| Amy Bieski |
DURHAM, N.H. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team scored 195.075 and finished third at the 2010 East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championship this evening at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, N.H.
North Carolina, ranked fifth in the league entering today’s championship, won its fourth EAGL title with 196.025 points. NC State finished second with 195.7 points. Host New Hampshire scored 194.7 and finished in fourth place, while Pitt finished in fifth place with a 194.4 team total.
The Mountaineers (19-9, 12-2 EAGL) earned their second-best score of the season. The squad has finished in the top three at the league championship in nine of the last 11 years.
WVU finished third on beam (48.7) and vault (48.9), and fourth on bars (48.775) and floor (48.7).
Junior Amy Bieski, a 2010 all-EAGL first team all-around honoree, tallied 39.1 points and finished seventh overall. Bieski has scored seven 39.0-plus marks this season and 14 in her career. She ranks seventh on the WVU all-time list. Additionally, this evening’s score pushes the Nanticoke, Pa., native’s career-point total to 1,435.8 and moves Bieski into 17th place on the WVU all-time career points list.
UMD’s Abigail Adams, NC State’s Taylor Seaman and UNC’s Kara Wright tied for first place with 39.325 points.
The Mountaineers opened the meet on vault and were tied with UNC through one complete rotation with 48.9 points.
Sophomore Tina Maloney put forth one of her best efforts of the year, matching a season-best 9.825 and finishing eighth overall. Bieski followed Maloney in the rotation with a 9.8 vault, while senior Chelsi Tabor anchored the event with a 9.775 score.
Seaman and UNC’s Zoya Johnson tied for first place on vault with 9.9 scores.
WVU strung together five solid bars routines in its second rotation and scored 48.775, the team’s third-best mark of the season. The squad pushed its team total to 97.675 points and moved into third place.
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| Alysha Pretzello |
Junior Alysha Pretzello anchored the Mountaineers’ lineup with a career-best 9.825 routine and finished seventh overall with the meet’s fourth-best mark. The Diamondhead, Miss., native had previously never scored above a 9.75. Sophomore Nicole Roach, a 2010 all-EAGL first team bars honoree, finished second for the Mountaineers with a 9.8 score. Bieski and junior Emily Kerwin tied for third place on the team with 9.725 points.
UNC’s Morgan Evans captured the bars crown with a 9.9 score.
The Mountaineers carried the momentum from bars to beam in the third rotation and scored 48.7, their second-best mark of the year. Through three rotations, WVU owned 146.375 points and sat in fourth place.
Senior Kiersten Spoerke tallied a team-best 9.8 score, her third 9.8-plus mark of the season, and finished in sixth place overall; Spoerke’s point total was the meet’s fourth-best. Tabor and Bieski, both 2010 all-EAGL second team beam honorees, finished second on the squad, eighth overall, with 9.775 marks, while Roach and senior Shelly Purkat earned 9.675 scores.
The Tar Heels’ Christine Nguyen, the 2010 EAGL Gymnasts and Senior of the Year, finished first on beam with 9.875 points.
WVU concluded the meet with a solid showing on floor and scored 48.7 points.
Bieski, a 2010 all-EAGL first team floor honoree, anchored the Mountaineers’ lineup with a team-best 9.8 routine, good enough for sixth place overall. Purkat finished second on the team with 9.75 points, while Spoerke and Maloney tied for third place with 9.725 scores.
Seaman and teammate Brooke Barr finished first on floor with matching 9.925 marks.
The Mountaineers now must wait to hear if they have qualified for the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. WVU will host the meet on Saturday, April 10, at 6 p.m., at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers have qualified for the regional championship in 31 of the last 32 years.
