The No. 24 Arizona women’s gymnastics team suffered its fourth loss of the season Friday night in McKale Center, but on an individual note many of the Gymcats put up respectable scores.
It seems, however, that everything has to come together as a team for the Gymcats if they want to pick up their first win of the season.
The meet kicked off on the vault right away in front of 1,753 fans at the Gymcats’ “”Flipping for the Fight”” promotion, the team’s annual meet to promote breast cancer awareness.
Arizona scored a season-high 49.2 points on vault as Sarah Tomczyk, Colleen Fisher, Bree Workman and Deanna Graham all scored over 9.800. Graham posted a personal-best score of 9.900.
“”Deanna is pretty special, there’s no doubt about that,”” UA assistant coach John Court said of the freshmen vaulter. “”She’s becoming a hometown favorite here and she is one of the best in the country, hands down.
“”I have been in gymnastics a long time,”” he added, “”and I haven’t seen many people that do that vault better than she does.””
Despite putting up season highs, the Gymcats’ vault scores did not hold up to Stanford’s by a count of 49.350 to 49.200.
The ladies then took to the bars, which would cost them the meet.
“”It’s disappointing because those bar routines are just so loaded,”” said UA head coach Bill Ryden.
Unfortunately the slips would wreak major consequences for the Gymcats and the errors on the bars proved too much of a margin to make up.
However, for Rebecca Cardenas it would be much different.
Cardenas scored a 9.825 in the event – setting a personal best – and took second overall behind only Carly Janiga’s score of 9.900 for the Cardinal.
Ryden was very impressed with Cardenas’ scores, saying, “”I don’t know what else to say. She is doing a great, great job.””
As the ladies headed over to beam, they trailed the Cardinals 97.225 to 98.175.
The beam event proved much more successful for the Gymcats as they put up a season-high 48.725 and took the event ahead of Stanford’s 48.450.
As Arizona expected, both Britnie Jones and Briana Bergeson pulled through in the event for the Gymcats.
Jones reeled in a 9.875 in her home debut and the freshman posted a career-best mark in the event. Bergeson scored a 9.950 on the event.
“”You can definitely see the capabilities of Britnie and Beamer,”” Ryden said. “”They are seriously good.””
In taking the beam event, the Gymcats went into the final floor event still trailing the Cardinal.
Floor, like vault and beam, also yielded another team best for the Gymcats as they racked up 49.225 points. Graham, Cardenas, Workman and Tomczyk all scored over 9.800. Tomczyk and Cardenas each scored a 9.875, earning the freshman Cardenas yet another season-best performance.
“”It feels amazing to finally be out here,”” said Cardenas. “”Every time I go out there I get a little more and more experienced, and I know that the more we go out there, the better we can be.””
The Gymcats won the floor routine by a long shot, 49.225 to 48.950, but early slips on the bars would prove fatal to an otherwise-solid Gymcats performance.
The final score left the Gymcats just shy of the Cardinal, 195.575-195.175.
Despite the loss, Ryden still holds high expectations for his squad.
“”We’re kicking ourselves for giving up a 196, that’s how we look at it. It’s tiring, to just almost be there,”” the head coach said. “”A 195 is a very respectable score. There are programs that can get it, obviously, but there are far more that can’t. At least we’re on the right side of the ledger.””
