Gym Blog: A Time to Fight
February 20, 2015 03:34 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Each time the West Virginia University gymnastics team competes inside the WVU Coliseum is special. With only five or six home meets a season, the Mountaineers treasure the time spent competing in front of their loyal, supportive fans.
This Sunday’s meet will be even more special.
The Mountaineers host the third-annual “Wendy M. Roach Invitational” Pink Meet on February 22. Named after former WVU gymnast and current graduate assistant Nicole Roach’s mother, the meet is held annually to promote breast cancer awareness.
“This meet is really important because it hits a lot of us on a more personal level,” said senior Lia Salzano, a freshman in 2012, Nicole’s senior season. “This meet is for Wendy. I’ve known Nicole for so many years and competed with her, so it’s definitely more personal for me.”
Wendy passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer on January 1, 2013, at the age of 50. The Mountaineers fight in her memory each year.
“’Fight’ is one of our biggest motivators for the season – we’re always fighting to do better – and the women and men with breast cancer are fighting one of the biggest battles there is,” Salzano said. “Who better to look to for inspiration than them?”
“This is a disease that affects so many people,” said Mountaineer coach Jason Butts. “The more that we can raise awareness, even in our little realm of gymnastics, will help make this disease even more treatable.”
Butts’ own grandmother, Mary Hendershott, had a double-mastectomy many years ago and beat the disease. He appreciates the value of each person doing his or her own part to continue to raise awareness, and therefore he sees the invitational as a yearly staple on the Mountaineers’ schedule.
“Ultimately, we compete each year at this meet in remembrance of Wendy,” he said. “She was the ultimate ‘gym mom’ and a fantastic Mountaineer. We will fight this week for Wendy, Nicole and their family.”
The “Wendy M. Roach Invitational” against No. 25 New Hampshire, Maryland and Rutgers will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youth and senior citizens and $2 for groups of 10 or more. All WVU students are admitted free with a valid WVU student I.D. A free WVU shuttle bus will be available for WVU students from the Mountainlair and the Brooke/Braxton Towers loop a 1 p.m., and return service to the Mountainlair and the Brooke/Braxton Towers loop will be available for an hour at the conclusion of the meet.
Fans are encouraged to wear pink Sunday. The Mountaineers will accept sundry item donations for Morgantown’s Betty Puskar Breast Care Center at the Blue Gate prior to the competition. Additionally, the first 500 fans will receive a pink rally towel, courtesy of WVU Healthcare, and a pink bracelet.
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Though it’s hard to believe, the Mountaineers have only four more regular-season meets before the Big 12 Championship at Oklahoma on March 21.
Regional qualifying scores (RQS) will determine the national, regional and conference GymInfo Polls beginning Monday. RQS determines the top 18 teams that are seeded on a national basis for the NCAA Regional Championships. The top 36 teams in the final GymInfo Poll will qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships.
A team RQS is calculated by taking a squad’s six highest scores, three of which must be from a road meet, dropping the top score and averaging the remaining five.
WVU currently owns an RQS of 194.485, based on the average of the team’s first six scores after dropping the Mountaineers’ season-high mark of 195.35.
The squad is in a good position to continue to push its RQS higher, as the team will compete inside the WVU Coliseum in three of its final four regular-season meets. Additionally, WVU’s score earned at the conference championship is eligible to count toward its final RQS.
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Alums – have you RSVP’d for the 2015 Gymnastics Alumni Reunion yet? This year’s reunion is set for Saturday, March 14. All alumni and family are invited to an open house at Cary Gym at 3 p.m., with our regular-season finale against Penn and Cornell set for 4 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum. A fun reception is scheduled for later that evening.
All pertinent information can be found HERE. Make sure you RSVP today!
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Stay warm this weekend, and remember to wear pink and bring your sundry item donations with you Sunday. Let’s Go, Mountaineers!
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