Gymnastics: Tabor Named Team MVP
April 29, 2010 06:20 PM | General
April 29, 2010
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| Chelsi Tabor |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team celebrated the 2010 season and handed out its team awards this evening at its postseason banquet.
Senior Chelsi Tabor was named the Mountaineers’ most valuable gymnast. The honor, voted upon by members of the gymnastics team, is a career first for the Beckley, W.Va., native.
“I think it’s an honor be voted MVP by your teammates,” says 36-year coach Linda Burdette-Good. “Chelsi’s leadership and enthusiasm in meets were exactly what we needed this year.”
Tabor capped off her four-year WVU career with a banner senior season. A steadying influence and proven anchor in the Mountaineers’ vault lineup, Tabor finished the season with a 9.855 vault regional qualifying score (RQS) and ranked 47th in the nation, 10th in the Southeast region and second in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL). She finished fifth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships with a 9.875 vault and set a career-high mark with a 9.95 vault on March 6. With two 9.9-plus vaults this season, Tabor pushed her career total to seven and ranks sixth on the WVU vault all-time list.
A two-time 2010 EAGL Specialist of the Week, Tabor also earned a permanent spot in the beam lineup this year after a 9.7 season debut on Jan. 24. She scored a career-high 9.8 twice, including a third-place finish at Penn State on Feb. 20, paced the squad with a 9.664 average and ranked 23rd in the Southeast region with a 9.74 RQS.
“Chelsi’s beam work improved so much this season,” Burdette-Good says. “She became a force for us on that event and had arguably her best year yet.”
Tabor also proved her strength on the floor this season, competing in five the year’s final six meets and averaging a 9.706 score. For her efforts all season, Tabor was named to the EAGL’s vault and beam second teams.
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| Amy Bieski |
Junior Amy Bieski, a 13-time all-EAGL honoree, earned the Joseph Medrick Award as the team’s top all-around gymnast with the highest scoring average. Bieski, a team co-captain from Nanticoke, Pa., concluded her third Mountaineer campaign with a 38.873 points-per-meet average. She ranked 37th in the nation, fourth in the Southeast region and second in the EAGL with a 39.145 RQS.
The most-decorated Mountaineer gymnast this season, Bieski reached the podium 29 times, including a third-place beam finish at the regional championships with a career-best 9.85 score. Competing as an all-arounder in all 13 of the Mountaineers’ meets, Bieski, a four-time 2010 EAGL Gymnast of the Week, earned 505.35 points this year, the 15th-best season point total in program history. Additionally, she broke onto the WVU all-time career points list and ranks 16th with 1,474.9 points.
Junior Faye Meaden earned the Sally Medrick Award as the squad’s most improved gymnast as voted upon by team members. A Fairfax, Va., native, Meaden made her Mountaineer debut this season after sitting out her first two years with multiple injuries. A bars and floor specialist, Meaden competed in all 13 meets and achieved personal-best scores of 9.775 on bars and 9.75 on floor. A two-time EAGL all-Academic honoree, Meaden was named the EAGL Rookie of the Week twice this season.
Sophomore Jenn Sharon was honored this evening with the John Quackenbush Award for Mountaineer Spirit. The award is presented annually to the gymnast who displays the most perseverance and enthusiasm for the sport of gymnastics and is named in honor of the late John Quackenbush, a great parent and friend of the Mountaineer gymnastics program. Sharon, a Virginia Beach, Va., native, and 2009 NACGC/W Scholastic All-American, saw action on the beam twice this season.
Also honored this evening were the four Mountaineer seniors – Tabor, Shelly Purkat, Kiersten Spoerke and co-captain Ashley Wilson.
WVU concluded the season with a 19-9 record, including two victories over ranked opponents, and scored 195.075 points at the EAGL Championship on March 27 for a third-place finish. The Mountaineers ended their year on a high, scoring 195.1 points, their second-best score of year, and finishing fourth overall in front of a home crowd at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on April 10.
