MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team capped its two-meet weekend with a 197.15 - 195.35 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma this afternoon inside the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (15-6, 0-4) finished second to the Sooners (13-0, 3-0) on each event today, scoring 49.1 on floor exercise, 48.925 on uneven bars, 48.75 on balance beam and 48.575 on vault.
"It's tough to compete twice in 48 hours, but we're going to have to do it in the postseason, so this was good practice for that," Mountaineer coach
Jason Butts said. "This was a good experience for them. The energy was a little down coming out of the tunnel. I liked that they picked it up a lot on bars – we handed in five great bars performances. We had a few missed connections on balance beam, but we stayed on, and a few missteps on floor.
"We could have had a better performance today, but overall I was happy with their fight and their spirit."
Ranked No. 9 nationally, the Mountaineers saved their best for last, as WVU tallied four scores of 9.8 or better on floor exercise in the fourth rotation, including an event-winning 9.925 for senior
Kirah Koshinski. The victory was WVU's lone event win of the day. The Berwick, Pennsylvania, native has finished first on floor in all but one meet this season and has scored below 9.9 just twice.
"We keep looking for that 10," Butts said of Koshinski's floor routine. "Was today's performance a 10? It's all in the eyes of the judges. It was a beautiful floor routine, and I thought it was a 10. She's done what I think are 10.0 routines. She keeps nailing it, week in and week out, and I couldn't be more proud of her. I think she's going to keep rolling."
Koshinski continues to rank No. 2 in program history with 20 career floor scores of 9.9 or better. She needs one more 9.9+ mark to match TeShawne Jackson's (2000-03) program record of 21.
Senior
Jaquie Tun tied for fifth on floor with a 9.875. Sophomore
McKenna Linnen opened the rotation with a 9.85 mark and placed seventh overall, while junior
Abby Kaufman followed in the lineup and the standings with an eighth place, 9.8 routine. Freshman
Rachel Hornung chipped in a 9.65 score to round out WVU's 49.1 total.
WVU opened the meet with six hit vault, resulting in a 48.575 score. Koshinski and Tun paced the Mountaineers and finished tied for seventh with matching 9.75s. Sophomore
Michelle Waldron and Hornung tied for ninth place with 9.7s, and Kaufman added a 9.675.
OU's Olivia Trautman won vault with a 9.925.
The Mountaineers bounced back in the second rotation with a strong 48.925 showing on uneven bars, the team's fourth-best mark of the year. Tun paced the team and finished fourth overall with a 9.85 score, the second-best mark awarded today. The Chattanooga, Tennessee, native has scored 9.825 or better in four of the last five meets. Abarca and sophomore
Sydney Marler tied for seventh place with career-best 9.825 marks, while freshman
Kendra Combs placed ninth with a 9.775. Kaufman added a 9.65 score.
OU's Nicole Lehrmann and Brenna Dowell tied for first with scores of 9.9.
The Mountaineers' 48.75 showing on balance beam in the third rotation was their fourth-best score of the season and best team total since Feb. 10. Abarca anchored the lineup and placed a team-best fourth with a 9.825 score. Hornung finished fifth with a 9.8, while Kaufman and Koshinski tied for seventh place with 9.75s, a season-high matching score for Kaufman. Linnen opened the rotation with a 9.625 total.
Lehrmann won the balance beam title with a 9.9 showing.
Kaufman finished third in the all-around today with a 38.875 score. Dowell placed first (39.475) and teammate Anastasia Webb finished second (39.225).
Today's loss drops WVU to 1-17 all-time against the Sooners.
The Mountaineers return to the road next week and travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a 4 p.m. meet at No. 22 Ohio State on March 2.
