Mountaineers Set Season-High Road Total - West Virginia University Athletics

Sunday, March 4

Pittsburgh, Pa.

2:00 PM

West Virginia University

196.075

196.475

Pitt

Results

Photo by: Steven Prunty

March 04, 2018 04:42 PM | Gymnastics

Results

By: Shannon McNamara

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – For the second straight week, the West Virginia University gymnastics team tallied a season-high road score, as the Mountaineers earned 196.075 and placed third today at Pitt's quad meet inside Fitzgerald Field House.

Penn State (7-5, 1-4 Big Ten) scored 196.65 and finished first overall, while the host Panthers (6-11, 3-1 EAGL) earned 196.475 and placed second. Temple (15-8) finished fourth with a 194.25.

The Mountaineers (8-9, 0-3) scored 49.0 or better on vault and floor en route to their second-best team score of the season, finishing second on both events with scores of 49.2 and 49.225, respectively. WVU also finished third on uneven bars (48.825) and balance beam (48.825).

WVU has scored 196.0+ in two of its last three meets.

"It's always a challenge to start on beam, especially in a loud atmosphere," Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. "I feel they nailed it and got us off to a strong start. We rolled from there. I knew we would get a 196.0 score today, but they had to fight for every tenth.

"We had a great showing from our fans today, and we could feel their energy throughout the meet. We just need to keep this going on the road throughout the month of March."

The Mountaineers opened the meet hitting their first five routines on balance beam and scoring 48.825. Sophomore Abby Kaufman paced the team and finished tied for fourth place with a season-high match 9.825. She previously earned the mark on Feb. 18. Junior Kirah Koshinski finished 10th overall with a 9.775, while senior Jordan Gillette and junior Carly Galpin tied for 13th place with matching 9.75s. Freshman McKenna Linnen opened the rotation with a 9.725.

Pitt's Haley Brechwald and PSU's Briannah Tsang earned the balance beam win with 9.875 totals.

WVU's push began in the second rotation, as the Mountaineers tallied 49.225 on floor, the team's second-best mark of the year and their highest floor score away from Morgantown. A trio of Mountaineers tied for second place, as Koshinski, Gillette and senior Zaakira Muhammad scored 9.875. The mark is a career-high matching score for Gillette. Kaufman and sophomore Chloe Cluchey added 9.8 scores, good enough for 11th place. Additionally, sophomore Erica Fontaine opened the rotation with a 9.775.

"We had to make a last-minute adjustment on floor today, and the six who went in and competed did a phenomenal job," Butts said. "It was a tremendous help in our climb to a season-high road score."

Tsang scored 9.925 in the third rotation and finished first overall.

Four scores of 9.85 or better on vault in the third rotation pushed the Mountaineers to a 49.2 score, the team's second-best mark of the year. For the second straight meet, senior Robyn Bernard tallied a career-high 9.925 in the lineup's No. 1 spot. Today, she tied for the event win, marking her first career victory. Koshinski tied for fourth place with a 9.875 score, while Muhammad and sophomore Julia Merwin each scored 9.85, good enough for sixth place. Junior Jaquie Tun added a 9.7 mark.

Needing a strong rotation to secure its 196.0+ road score, WVU delivered on bars in the fourth rotation, as the Mountaineers earned their second-best score of the season with a 48.825 total. Tun tied for fifth place with a 9.825 total, her best mark since earning 9.85 at Iowa State on Feb. 2. Muhammad and Cluchey tied for ninth place with 9.775s, a season-high matching score for Cluchey. Bernard and Gillette each earned 9.725, and Kaufman tallied a career-high 9.7.

Penn State's Lauren Bridgens finished first on bars with a 9.925.

"We had a lot of great individual performances today," Butts added. "Robyn earned a career high on vault for the second straight week, and she really opened that lineup with a bang. Kirah had an incredible showing on vault and floor today and also helped us on beam. Zaakira put forth a great effort on three events, and Jordan did excellent in front of her family and hometown crowd."

Tsang scored 39.5 and finished first overall. A WVU gymnast did not compete in the all-around today.

With today's results, WVU improves to 46-1 all-time against Temple and drops to 7-39 against the Nittany Lions. The Mountaineers maintain a 60-14-2 all-time edge against the Panthers.

The Mountaineers face Pitt again next Sunday, March 11, this time at No. 19 George Washington, with action set to begin at 1 p.m.