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Mountaineers Open 2017 Slate Sunday
January 07, 2017 12:59 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens its 2017 season at Maryland on Sunday, Jan. 8, at 1 p.m., inside the XFINITY Center, in College Park.
Sunday’s meet is a Beauty and the Beast contest, and the Maryland wrestling team will compete against Navy simultaneously. Links for live scores and a web stream are available at WVUsports.com.
The Mountaineers are 4-6 in season openers under sixth-year coach Jason Butts. The squad has opened its season on the road in eight of the last nine years.
“We’re ready to go,” Butts said. “We had a long preseason. We’ve been hitting in our intrasquads, and we had a great week of practice over Christmas break. We want to hit 24 routines Sunday.”
The teams last met in 2015 and split the contests, with WVU tallying a 193.5-193.025 win over UMD in the season opener in College Park on January 9. The Terrapins were victorious in the second meet, narrowly edging the Mountaineers, 195.35-195.2, at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 22. WVU is 37-18-1 all-time against UMD.
“We have a lot of athletes that are from the Maryland area, and they’ve been to this arena before, either to compete with us or to watch us compete,” Butts explained. “I think this should be a familiar atmosphere for our team, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Ten Mountaineer gymnasts return to competition following an 11-8 (1-5) showing in 2016. The squad is led by seniors Brooklyn Doggette and Alexa Goldberg. An Ivyland, Pennsylvania, native, Goldberg, expected to compete in multiple events Sunday, needs just 7.05 points to reach the 1,000 career-point plateau. With 17 career uneven bars victories to her name, Goldberg looks to again anchor the event for the Mountaineers.
“Alexa trains so hard in the gym every day, and it’s paid off for her,” Butts added. “She should compete in the all-around on Sunday. She had a great preseason. Alexa leads by example, and she’s helped us reach our ‘Rise Up’ theme this year by her performance in practice.”
Sophomore Kirah Koshinski also returns following an All-America rookie campaign in 2016. The reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year, the Berwick, Pennsylvania, native is the team’s top-returning gymnast on vault (9.875 avg.), balance beam (9.722 avg.) and floor (9.848 avg.).
Five freshmen also look to make their college debuts this weekend: Chloe Cluchey, Kassidy Cumber, Erica Fontaine, Abby Kaufman and Julia Merwin.
Led by eight-year coach Brett Nelligan, Maryland posted a 7-20 (1-14 Big Ten) record in 2016 and finished in 10th place at the Big Ten Gymnastics Championship. Senior Sarah Faller and freshman Alecia Farina were selected as Maryland’s Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch in December.
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