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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Wildcats carry on full beam ahead

The No. 25 Arizona gymnastics team could be jumping up a few spots in the rankings after its weekend performance against Brigham Young University.

The Wildcats put up 195.350 total team points, besting the Cougars during the Saturday-night meet. The Wildcats erased a 0.300 point deficit in the final event with their beam team to take home the win.

“”It was a good meet, but once again we had a singular problem event,”” said head coach Bill Ryden. “”It was a lot of the same story. We didn’t give up and ended up with our best event of the night.””

Arizona put an end to its beam woes, scoring a season high 49.200. Juniors Katie Matusik and Deanna Graham scored a 9.925 and a 9.900, respectively.

“”They were really top-notch routines,”” Ryden said. “”With Katie (Matusik’s) routine especially, I was watching it and as she was getting ready to do her dismount, I had no deductions. It was literally flawless.””

Although the Wildcats put together three good events, they struggled during the floor routine. The Wildcats only put up a team total of 48.200 during the event, putting them behind heading into beam.

“”Honestly I think we just got a little bit exposed, some of the kids had a little bit of trouble adjusting to the bounciness of the floor,”” assistant coach John Court said.

“”That cost us a couple of out of bounds and that didn’t help.””

Court said that these mistakes do happen sometimes and that the six gymnasts on the floor team have done more good than bad throughout the season. Ryden added that small deductions, like extra steps during their tumbling passes, cost the team.

The Wildcats head to UCLA next week for their second straight road meet. The meet will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Arizona will have its hands full with the No. 9 Bruins, the defending Pacific 10 Conference and national champions.

“”We definitely need to improve floor landings,”” Court said. “”If we have the same meet and we land better on floor, we are going to score eight to nine tenths higher, period.””

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