The Arizona gymnastics team will have double duty this week, as they face off against UCLA and bring awareness for breast cancer in their annual “”Flip for the Fight”” competition.
The No. 18 Gymcats (2-2) will compete against the No. 6 Bruins today at 7 p.m. in McKale Center. In its second home meet of the year, Arizona is hoping to extend its winning streak to three.
“”Hopefully we can correct some issues,”” said head coach Bill Ryden. “”I think competing in front of that home crowd was just the next step for learning for that young team. We have done a lot of learning for the first third of the season, now we are in the second third, and now it’s time to bear down and secure postseason.””
Last week, the Gymcats had an attendance of 1,688 and hope to have the same crowd support this week.
“”I don’t know if it was a factor,”” Ryden said. “”It was something new that we haven’t experienced.””
Assistant coach John Court believes that the team learned from last week’s first experience in front of their home crowd.
“”I think we got it all out of our system. You can’t tell until you get out there,”” Court said. “”It was the same thing when we went to Arkansas, which was our first meet of the year and it was really exciting.””
Redshirt junior Miranda Russell pushed through a knee injury to earn first place on her bar set, receiving a 9.850 for her set.
“”It was good to finally be back,”” Russell said. “”It’s actually one year today since the surgery. I’m starting to practice floor and tumble again. It hurts a lot but it’s getting better.””
The coaching staff is very happy with the season, especially with how young the team is and the amount of injuries they have encountered. Ryden said that he would give his team an ‘A’ or ‘B+’ so far this year.
“”We have overcome a lot of things that we weren’t planning on,”” Ryden said. “”We were dealt a pretty poor hand originally, and I think we have played it pretty well.””
“”I’m very excited for the rest of the season,”” he added. “”I feel we have grown immensely and shown more in areas quicker than I thought we would.””
IF YOU GO:
Fans that wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness will receive $1 off admission, and any breast cancer survivor will also receive $1 off admission.
