MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opened the 2019 season tonight with a third place, 194.15 showing at the Cancun Classic inside the Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Ballroom in Cancun, Mexico.
No. 9-ranked Michigan placed first with a 196.05 mark. Iowa State earned a 194.275 score and finished in second place, while Rutgers placed fourth with a 189.8 total.
Despite opening the meet in fourth place following a rough start on uneven bars (47.525), the Mountaineers (1-2, 0-1) regrouped to finish first on balance beam (48.775) and floor exercise (49.05) before ending the night on vault (48.8).
"Honestly, this was one of our best opening meets in program history," Mountaineer coach
Jason Butts said. "We had nerves and made mistakes, but that's what the first meet is for. I loved this team's attitude and competitiveness tonight. A lot of times, when you don't open a meet well, it's hard to get going again. These athletes regrouped quickly and stepped right back up. We followed our bars rotation with fantastic routines on beam and floor, and we kept the ball rolling. It's exciting to see our potential this early on in a season, and we can build on tonight."
WVU finished third on vault and bars.
"We let nerves get the best of us on bars tonight," Butts added. "That's a tough event to start the year on, and it's not our most consistent event right now, but the skills are there. We just need to regroup in practice this week."
Three hit routines on uneven bars in the first rotation were offset by a few miscues by the Mountaineers. Freshman
Esperanza Abarca was the highlight for the Mountaineers, as she opened the lineup and paced the team with a 9.8 score. Senior
Jaquie Tun finished second on the team with a 9.75 mark. Making her career bars debut, junior
Julia Merwin finished third on the team with a 9.675 score.
The Mountaineers were again paced by a freshman in the second rotation, as
Rachel Hornung's 9.8 powered WVU to a 48.775 score. Competing in the lineup for just the second time in two years, junior
Erica Fontaine finished second on the team with a career-high 9.775. Junior
Abby Kaufman and senior
Carly Galpin each scored 9.75, and sophomore
McKenna Linnen opened the rotation with a 9.7.
"We did a great job bouncing back on beam," said Butts. "They fought hard on that event. We are a very solid beam team, and I know we can clean up the little details."
WVU's best showing came in the third rotation, as the Mountaineers earned three marks of 9.8 or better and tallied a 49.05 total. Senior
Kirah Koshinski staked her claim as one of the nation's best on the event, anchoring the lineup with a 9.925. She continues to rank No. 6 in program history with 14 career floor scores of 9.9 or better.
Tun preceded Koshinski in the floor lineup and matched her career high with a 9.85 showing, tying for third place. Linnen opened the Mountaineers' lineup for the second consecutive rotation and earned a 9.8 mark. Fontaine followed in the lineup with a 9.75 score, and Kaufman added a 9.725.
"Our five counting routines were gorgeous and so solid," enthused Butts. "Their dance was beautiful, and the crowd and the judges really enjoyed these routines.
"To be able to say that floor and beam can carry this team is awesome. I really believe those events will push us this year. I'm proud of this team, and I credit (associate head coach) Travis (Doak) and (assistant coach) Kaylyn (Millick) for really working on these routines."
On vault in the fourth rotation, Koshinski again paced the Mountaineers, scoring 9.8. Merwin and Hornung tied for second on the team with matching 9.775s, while Tun finished with a 9.75 score. Additionally, in just her fifth career lineup appearance, sophomore
Michelle Waldron matched her career high with a 9.7 mark.
A pair of Mountaineers competed in the all-around tonight. Kaufman finished third overall with a 38.375 total, and Koshinski tallied 38.3 in her career all-around debut.
With tonight's win, the Mountaineers improve to 57-0 all-time against Rutgers. WVU drops to 4-20 against Michigan and 6-8-1 against Iowa State.
Next up for the Mountaineers is a quad meet at Pitt, with Eastern Michigan and Utah State, on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m., inside Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
