MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Turkey Team trumped the Pilgrim Team, 16-15, at the West Virginia University gymnastics team's annual Fall Classic Intrasquad, held Nov. 15 at Cary Gym.
 
Four Mountaineers paced both teams with perfect four-for-four showings in the all-around. For the Turkey Team, senior Kirah Koshinski and junior Abby Kaufman tallied four hit routines each. For the Pilgrims, senior Jaquie Tun and freshman Esperanza Abarca were a perfect four-for-four.
 
"It's hard to rely on all-arounders because there is so much wear-and-tear on their bodies after a long season," Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. "Yesterday was a testament to their hard work. Those four gymnasts are working hard, and they were firing all day."
 
Butts was most pleased with the beam and floor lineups while also noting that depth will build on vault.
 
"I'm very pleased with beam and floor, as well as vault," he explained. "We're thin on vault right now, but we have good vaults. I don't think we made a single mistake on beam or floor. There were a few wobbles and low landings, but those things are fixable.
 
"We had a lot of gymnasts step-up yesterday," Butts said. "Sydney (Marler) and Rachel (Hornung) were bright spots on beam, and Kassidy (Cumber) looked great on floor. Michelle (Waldron) is doing her best vault right now.
 
"We have a long way to go on bars. We need to get a few gymnasts back who can't train at the moment. The skill is there on that event, and the lineup has come a long way throughout preseason training. We just have a little more progress to still make."
 
Following today's practice, the Mountaineers will break for a week to enjoy Thanksgiving with their family and friends. WVU will return to practice on Monday, Nov. 26, and the Mountaineers open the 2019 season at the Cancun Classic on Jan. 4.
 
"This team's attitude was great throughout the intrasquad, and the energy was up all day," Butts said. "They are having fun, and I can see that they're already a close-knit team. We still have a lot of work to do, and that's OK. We can't coast until January; we're going to have to work on our consistency so we aren't playing catchup. We need to be ready for our first meet."