MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A season-best score of 196.425 pushed the West Virginia University gymnastics team to a sweep of its regular-season finale this afternoon in the WVU Coliseum.
No. 24-ranked Penn State finished second with a 195.525 total, and NC State finished third with a 195.3. No. 22-ranked Ohio State placed fourth with a 194.925.
WVU's wins over the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions are the team's first against ranked foes this season. The Mountaineers finish the year at 7-4 inside the WVU Coliseum.
"They love these seniors, and today was all about this senior class," associate head coach
Travis Doak said. "This senior class has had a heart of passion since they walked through the door, and they led this team to the energy level we needed today."
The Mountaineers (19-9, 0-4) matched the 15th-best score in program history thanks to three first-place event showings. WVU was most impressive on balance beam, where all six gymnasts scored 9.8 or better, giving the Mountaineers a season-high 49.3 score. The total matches the second-best score in program history and the Mountaineers' record inside the WVU Coliseum.
"The strength of that event is our depth," Doak added. "We have great routines that we still haven't seen yet. They push each other so hard on that event. We're seeing that lineup come together because everyone has bought in. When you have depth pushing the gymnasts in the lineup, you're going to get stronger and stronger, and that's what we need as we move into the postseason."
WVU also finished first on floor exercise (49.275) and vault (49.15) and third on uneven bars (48.7).
In just her second career all-around appearance and her first of the season, senior
Jaquie Tun finished first today with a career-high 39.425 score, which ranks No. 34 in program history.
"Jaquie's least favorite event is beam – it challenges her mentally," Doak said. "She's a wonderful athlete, and she's wonderful to coach."
Junior
Abby Kaufman placed third in the all-around with a 39.025 total.
The Mountaineers opened the meet with their best home vault score of the season, tallying 49.15, their second-best total of the year. Senior
Kirah Koshinski scored 9.925 for the second consecutive meet and earned her sixth vault win of the year. The Berwick, Pennsylvania, native has scored 9.9 or better seven times this season and a program-record 25 times. Tun finished second overall with a 9.875, her best score since earning a career-high 9.9 at Pitt on Jan. 12. Kaufman finished fifth with a 9.825, while freshman
Rachel Hornung tallied 9.8 in the lineup's opening position and placed eighth. Sophomore
Michelle Waldron chipped in a 9.725 mark.
Freshman
Esperanza Abarca paced WVU on the uneven bars in the second rotation, scoring 9.8 and finishing sixth overall. Tun and freshman
Kendra Combs placed 10th with 9.775s, while sophomore
Sydney Marler and Kaufman earned scores of 9.75 and 9.6, respectively, and WVU finished with a 48.7 total.
Penn State's Lauren Bridgens earned the event win with a 9.875.
Four Mountaineers finished in the top five on balance beam in the third rotation. In her first lineup appearance of the season, Tun tied for the event win with a career-best 9.9, the first 9.9 mark awarded to a WVU gymnast on beam this year. Hornung and senior
Carly Galpin tied for third place with career-best 9.875 scores, while sophomore
McKenna Linnen placed fifth with a career-high matching 9.85. Kaufman and Koshinski tied for 12th place with 9.8s.
Prior to today's 49.3 showing, WVU had not scored higher than 48.975 on balance beam this year.
Koshinski claimed her 10th floor title of the season in the fourth rotation, winning the event outright with a 9.9 score. The mark is her 22nd career floor score of 9.9 or better, a WVU program record.
Tun scored 9.875 on floor and finished second, while Hornung and Linnen tied for fourth place with 9.85s. Kaufman finished ninth with a 9.8. WVU's 49.275 team total matched its third-best score of the year.
With today's win, WVU improves to 28-14 all-time against the Wolfpack (16-6, 6-1 EAGL). The Mountaineers are 8-39 against the Nittany Lions (10-9, 4-6 Big Ten) and 14-19 against the Buckeyes (7-10, 3-7 Big Ten).
Following today's meet, the Mountaineers honored their 2019 senior class of Galpin, Koshinski and Tun.
Next up for the Mountaineers is the 2019 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on Saturday, March 23, at 2 p.m. EST in Norman, Oklahoma. The meet will be broadcast on ESPNU.
