Gymnastics Blog: Pilgrim Team Wins Fall Classic
November 12, 2014 05:00 PM | General
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Coach Jason Butts shares a moment with junior transfer Audrey Tolbert before her uneven bars routine.
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| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks Photo |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Pilgrim Team narrowly edged the Turkey Team, 26-24, at the West Virginia University gymnastics team’s annual Fall Classic, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at Cary Gym.
Held each year as one of the team’s final preparations for its regular-season opener, the Fall Classic pits the Mountaineers against each other, with gymnasts competing their routines in front of judges and fans. Nearly 100 fans in attendance watched 47 Mountaineer routines, a program record for this point in the season.
“Overall, I was really happy with tonight’s effort,” said fourth-year coach Jason Butts. “We’ve never competed this many routines before at the Fall Classic. We hit 40 routines, and I am pleased with that hit percentage. We had a few surprise falls, but that’s good because now we know what we have to correct before January.
“I thought today’s effort was much better than the effort I’ve seen at this event in the past. Way more things went right tonight then wrong. This was a really positive night. I also was very thankful for the crowd that came out to support – those extra eyes helped us put some needed pressure on the gymnasts.”
Led by stuck routines from senior Beth Deal on balance beam and junior Jaida Lawrence on vault, the Pilgrims took the win and bragging rights.
“Jaida’s vault was beautiful,” Butts enthused. “She had a fantastic landing. We hit 11 routines on bars, and that’s great. We also hit 13 of 16 beam routines, and I’m happy with that. That’s a big improvement over last year.”
Gymnasts were awarded one point for routines that did not contain a counted fall (0.5 deduction from the judge). A stuck dismount on the uneven bars and the balance beam, as well as a stuck landing on vault, also received an additional point. Additionally, gymnasts were award an extra point on floor exercise for showmanship throughout the routine.
Highlights for the Turkey Team included a fantastic uneven bars routine for sophomore Alexa Goldberg and an explosive floor routine from senior Dayah Haley.
“There were highs all over the gym today – the talent is definitely there this season,” concluded Butts. “We have to put up 24 routines in January, and we have a lot of routines to choose from. We have to fix the fluke mistakes that happened tonight and push for more depth on vault and floor so I’m comfortable with those numbers. There’s a lot of fine-tuning that will happen in this gym over the next two months that will help us start 2015 strong.”
WVU will compete in an intrasquad with Central Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 20, at the Atlantis Crown Invitational, in Paradise Island, Bahamas. The squad officially opens its 2015 slate at Maryland, with George Washington, on Friday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m.
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