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No. 25 Mountaineers Outperform Pitt
March 11, 2016 10:53 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 25-ranked West Virginia University gymnastics team closed its home season in winning fashion, defeating Pitt, 195.925-193.875, tonight in front of 1,266 fans at the WVU Coliseum.
The final result was never in question, as the Mountaineers (9-6, 0-3) jumped out to a 48.925-48.875 lead in the first rotation and never looked back, rolling on to their second-best home score of the year.
“I think tonight was a good way to end the home season,” Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. “I was proud of how we fought tonight. I saw some fatigue, we were a bit rattled on vault and there were a few emotions because it was Senior Night, but this is a great score, and it will certainly help our Regional Qualifying Score. We weren’t affected by outside factors, and that is great to see, and we again closed the meet with a strong performance on floor.”
In their final career meets at the WVU Coliseum, all three of the Mountaineer seniors scored 9.825 or better on an event, with Audrey Tolbert and Jaida Lawrence finishing second on beam (9.825) and third on vault (9.825), respectively. Melissa Idell tallied a 9.825 on floor, the third-best score of the meet, and finished in fourth place.
“Our seniors ended their careers at the Coliseum about as strong as they could,” Butts added. “I was proud to see them end their Coliseum careers like this.”
The Mountaineers took the win on each event, posting a meet-high 49.225 on floor, 48.925 on vault and bars and 48.85 on beam.
Zaakira Muhammad finished first overall for the second time in her career with a 39.05 showing; she has tallied 39.0 or better in all three career all-around competitions. Junior Alexa Goldberg placed fourth with a 38.5 mark.
“Zaakira overcame a minor pre-meet injury and still won the all-around, and I was really happy to see that,” Butts said.
Freshman Kirah Koshinski opened the meet strong, matching her career-high vault mark of 9.925 and finishing first overall. The Berwick, Pennsylvania, native has earned five vault victories this year. Muhammad finished second with a 9.875, and Lawrence placed third with a 9.825. Sophomore Robyn Bernard opened the rotation with a sixth place, 9.75 showing.
Goldberg earned her fifth bars win of the year with a 9.875 score. Freshman Tiara Wright tied for second place with a 9.825. The podium finish was the second straight for the Wilmington, Delaware, native. Classmate Jaquie Tun tied for fifth place with a 9.775 score, the third-highest mark of the meet, while Bernard and Muhammad chipped in 9.725s.
Coming on strong late in the season, Tolbert landed on the beam podium for the third straight week, pacing the team with her second place, 9.825 score. Freshman Carly Galpin finished fourth with a 9.8, while Wright placed fifth with a career-high 9.775. Goldberg opened the rotation with a 9.75, and Idell added a 9.7 score.
For the second straight week, Koshinski tied a teammate for the floor win, scoring 9.875 and sharing the top of the podium with Goldberg. The duo have combined for five floor victories this year. Muhammad finished in third with a 9.85, and Idell followed in fourth place with a 9.825. Wright added a career-high 9.8, good enough for sixth place.
“As good as our seniors were tonight, I have to give a nod to our freshman class – our newcomers are contributing some big-time scores this year,” Butts concluded.
With tonight’s win, WVU improves to 56-12-2 all-time against the Panthers (5-14, 2-4 EAGL).
The teams have a quick turnaround this weekend, as they will meet again on Sunday, this time at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House. The second edition of the 2016 Backyard Brawl is set to begin at 2 p.m.
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