The No. 19 Arizona gymnastics team got back to its winning ways after defeating California 194.650 – 190.425 in McKale Center Friday night. The Gymcats (3-2, 1-2 Pacific-10 Conference) improved to 3-0 at home this season.
“”We started great and ended great tonight”” said UA head coach Bill Ryden. “”We tensed up a little bit on the (balance) beam, but we’re getting better.””
The Gymcats started the meet strong on the vault, placing the top-five scorers, with junior Bree Workman placing first with a 9.8 and freshman Colleen Fisher and senior Karin Wurm tying for second with 9.775.
The uneven bars proved to be a trouble spot for both squads, as Alli Szutu and Bridget Glass of California and UA junior Alexis Greene and freshman Kristen Schmeider hit the mat.
“”What’s sad about (the falling) is that it is so uncharacteristic of Alexis to fall and Kristen has been struggling,”” Ryden said. “”On bars we really have a lack of depth, so we really need to start hitting our routines until we have some healthy people back.””
Wurm rebounded strong after falling on the bars last week by scoring 9.875 to take the bars title on her way to the winning the all-around title.
“”It’s getting there,”” she said of her performance. “”It’s great to win the all-around, but it’s even better that it helped out team win.””
Arizona’s struggles continued on the beam as Ryden said that his team looked tense. Even though no Arizona gymnast fell, they “”left a lot of points on the table,”” Ryden said.
The lone Arizona bright spot on the beam was senior Danielle Hicks, who scored a 9.8775, tying a meet high for any event with Wurm’s score on the bars.
The Gymcats finished the meet strong on the floor as they scored a meet-high 48.925 for any single event. Junior Sarah Specht won the individual title with a score of 9.850, tying her personal-high in the event.
“”It felt good,”” Specht said of tying her personal high. “”It was awesome to perform that well.””
Overall, Ryden said that is team showed “”more positives than negatives,”” but that his team still is not where he would like them to be performance wise.
“”We are coming along slow(ly) and painful(ly), and we are definitely improving”” Ryden said. “”But we still have a long way to go.””
