The Arizona gymnastics team competed in its first quad meet of the season at the University of Nebraska over the weekend. Arizona’s coaching staff wanted the Gymcats to raise the overall team score to a mid-195, but the team’s second-place finish with a score of 194.75 wasn’t far off.

“”It was a good meet, and the team competed well,”” said head coach Bill Ryden. “”Unfortunately we counted another fall on beam.””

The falls on beam came from two of the Gymcats’ most reliable performers, Colleen Fisher and Britnie Jones.

“”We had a fall from Colleen Fisher and Britnie Jones, two girls I would never expect to fall,”” Ryden said. “”That just sort of caught us off guard.””

The Gymcats had a rough start to the meet, with an overall score of 48.6 during the floor routine. When it comes to the first event of a meet the judges are very tight with their scoring, said Ryden.

The tournament atmosphere provided a new experience for Arizona, who had only competed against single teams prior to the weekend.

“”It was a much more fun competition. There was action going on everywhere,”” Ryden said. “”There was a lot less dead time, a lot less waiting around. You can’t alternate performers when there are four teams.””

— Kevin Nadakal