COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 24-ranked West Virginia University gymnastics team tallied a season-best road score of 196.1 and finished second this evening inside St. John Arena.
 
The No. 23-ranked Buckeyes placed first with a 196.85 total, while Temple finished third with a 194.0 score.
 
The Mountaineers (16-7, 0-4) hit 24-of-24 routines for the fifth time this season. WVU's score, just 0.025 points short of its season high, ranks No. 31 in program history.
 
"Overall, I'm thrilled we can come into a really tough environment and hit 24-for-24," Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. "We earned our first 196.0 score on the road, and that was our goal. Hitting this mark this close to the postseason means we're hitting our stride at the right point of the year. We still had mistakes today, and the team knows that. I know we can fix those and continue to shoot higher."
 
The Mountaineers tied the Buckeyes for first on vault with a 49.05 total, their third-best score of the season. WVU finished second to OSU on the other three events, scoring 48.975 on uneven bars and balance beam and 49.1 on floor. The Mountaineers' beam score is a season high, while their bars total is their top road score of the season.
 
Senior Kirah Koshinski returned to the all-around for the first time since the 2019 season opener on Jan. 4 and finished second overall with a career-best 39.35 showing. Junior Abby Kaufman finished fourth with a 39.175 showing.
 
"This was Kirah's first four-for-four showing in a meet, and her performance today mirrors where this team is right now," Butts said. "They aren't letting themselves coast. They want to keep getting better and better. I'm thrilled for Kirah – she proven she's a force in the all-around. Same goes for Abby – she was consistent again, and she continues to be a rock for this team."
 
Buckeye Jamie Stone finished first in the all-around with a 39.5 score.
 
The Mountaineers opened the meet on uneven bars and tallied 48.975, matching their second-best total of the year. Senior Jaquie Tun again paced WVU, this time scoring 9.825 and finishing fourth overall. Sophomore Sydney Marler and Koshinski tied for seventh place with matching 9.8s, a career high for Koshinski, who competed the event for just the second time ever. A pair of freshmen tied for 11th place, as Esperanza Abarca and Kendra Combs earned marks of 9.775. Kaufman finished with a 9.75 score.
 
"We can still do better on bars," Butts remarked. "I'm thrilled where we're at right now, but I think we can still get one or two more tenths out of this lineup. That will help us build toward the 197.0 score we need to get to the National Championships. This lineup is a testament to how hoard this team fights every day."
 
OSU's Jenna Swartzentruber and Claire Gagliardi tied for first on bars with 9.875s.
 
Three 9.825 scores helped WVU tally a season-high 48.975 on balance beam in the second rotation. Koshinski, Kaufman and freshman Taylor Sell tied for fifth place with the team-best mark. The score is a career-high for Sell and a season-best mark for Kaufman. Abarca finished ninth with a 9.775 total, and sophomore McKenna Linnen tallied 9.725 in the lineup's No. 1 spot. Freshman Rachel Hornung scored 9.7.
 
Stone scored 9.925 for the balance beam victory.
 
The Mountaineers' 49.1 showing on floor in the third rotation is their third-best score away from Morgantown this season. Koshinski continues to set the standard on floor, and the Berwick, Pennsylvania, native finished second on the event today, scoring 9.875 in the third rotation. Tun and Linnen tied for fifth with 9.825 totals, while Hornung placed ninth with a 9.8. Kaufman and junior Erica Fontaine earned marks of 9.775 and finished 10th overall.
 
Stone also finished first on floor exercise with a 9.95.
 
WVU capped the meet with a 49.05 showing on vault, the team's third-best score of the season. Koshinski earned a team-best 9.85 and placed second, while Kaufman finished third with a career-high 9.825. In just her second lineup appearance, Abarca earned 9.8 and tied Tun for sixth place. Hornung opened the rotation with a 9.775 total, good for ninth place, and sophomore Michelle Waldron scored 9.75.
 
Ohio State's Sydney Jennings won vault with a 9.9.
 
With the loss, WVU falls to 13-19 all-time against the Buckeyes (6-7, 3-6 Big Ten). The Mountaineers improve to 48-1 against the Owls (8-13, 1-1 ECAC).
 
Next up for the Mountaineers is a mid-week meet at No. 21 Arizona State, with No. 19 BYU, on Wednesday, March 13, at 8:30 p.m. ET.