MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens its 2019 season at the Cancun Classic on Friday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m., at the Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Ballroom in Cancun, Mexico.
The Mountaineers will compete against No. 9-ranked Michigan, Iowa State and Rutgers.
The Mountaineers will open the meet on uneven bars. WVU's complete rotation order is UB-BB-FX-V.
"We have to go into this meet and hit 24 routines," Mountaineer coach
Jason Butts said. "You put in so much time and effort in the preseason. We're ready to go out there and show everyone what we have. More importantly, we want to show everyone that we're one of the best programs in the country.
"This team is working hard and knows what it needs to do to be successful. It's refreshing – this group has a lot of self-awareness. Even the freshmen know where they need to step up."
The Mountaineers are 5-7 in season-opening meets under Butts, who enters his eighth season as WVU's head coach. WVU is 0-1 in season openers against Big 12 Conference opponents, falling 195.375-193.375 at Denver on Jan. 9, 2016. Friday marks the ninth time in 11 years WVU opens on the road.
WVU shows a 56-0 record against Rutgers. The Mountaineers are 4-19 against Michigan and 6-7-1 against Iowa State.
Eleven gymnasts return for the Mountaineers, including seniors
Carly Galpin,
Kirah Koshinski and
Jaquie Tun, who paced WVU on all four events in 2018.
The trio leads a WVU team that finished last season at 13-13 (0-6 Big 12). The Mountaineers scored 196.0+ four times in 2018 and hit the mark in three of their last four regular-season road meets, becoming the first team in program history to achieve the feat.
Koshinski ranks No. 1 on the team with 1,109.4 career points and 32 career wins. She led the Mountaineers on vault and floor in 2018, earning season averages of 9.885 and 9.848, respectively. A three-time All-American, Koshinski, a native of Berwick, Pennsylvania, has been named to the NACGC/W Regular Season All-America Second Team Vault each year since arriving in Morgantown.
Tun, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, paced the Mountaineers on uneven bars in 2018 with a 9.775 average. Galpin, a native of Boonsboro, Maryland, paced WVU on balance beam with an average of 9.752.
Tun is expected to compete in the all-around this season. In her lone career appearance, she scored 39.175 and finished fourth at George Washington on March 11, 2018. Junior
Abby Kaufman, as well as Koshinski, could also see time in the all-around.
Five freshmen will make their Mountaineer career debuts Friday:
Esperanza Abarca,
Kendra Combs,
Rachel Hornung,
Kristin Lang and
Taylor Sell.
Led by 13-year coach Jay Ronayne, ISU finished the 2018 season ranked No. 24 nationally, scoring 196.0 or better four times and earning a 20-12 (2-4) record. Then-junior Meaghan Sievers qualified for the 2018 NCAA National Championships on vault for the second time in her career and the first time since 2016.
The Wolverines, the five-time reigning Big Ten Conference champions, were tabbed to again win the league by the conference's coaches. Led by 30-year coach Bev Plocki, a former WVU gymnast and a member of the 2018 WVU Sports Hall of Fame, UM scored 195.125 in its exhibition quad meet on Dec. 2, 2018.
Fifteen letterwinners return for Rutgers' first-year coach Umme Salim Beasley, a former Mountaineer gymnast.
