Basketball is not the only Arizona sport to question the officiating of one of its games.
On Friday, the No. 18 gymnastics team placed second with a score of 195.625 behind Kentucky (3-7, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) in a tri-meet that also featured Western Michigan (4-11, 3-6 Mid-American Conference), after some questionable judging on the floor exercise.
“”(The judges) had some interesting interpretations of the rules,”” said UA head coach Bill Ryden. “”But we don’t control the scoring and that’s just part of our sport.””
The Gymcats’ (7-4, 3-3 Pacific 10 Conference) highest finishers on the floor were seniors Danielle Hicks and Karin Wurm, both of whom placed in an uncharacteristic tie for fifth with a 9.800.
“”The floor seemed biased,”” Wurm said. “”The scores just didn’t seem quite even, but I’m not a judge so I don’t get to make those decisions. One of the Kentucky girls even apologized to me about it after the meet.””
Despite the subjectivity of the judges, however, Ryden didn’t use it as an excuse.
“”We had enough good routines, but we had some mental lapses and it cost us,”” Ryden said. “”We feel that we’re a good team and we easily could’ve gotten a 196. We did it to ourselves.””
Arizona began the night on bars, and despite a fall by junior Beamer Bergeson, it was able to rebound as Karin Wurm placed first with a 9.850.
The Gymcats suffered another fall on the beam, an event that has seemed to plague them of the past few meets, but were led by a 9.900 from Bergeson and a career-high 9.975 from Wurm.
“”This is the first year that Karin has had a really strong beam routine,”” Ryden said. “”And it’s great to finally see it come around.””
On the vault, Arizona was led by junior Alexis Greene, who continued her strong comeback season by tying her season high with a 9.850, placing third.
Fortunately, the Gymcats difficulty in the meet was nothing compared to their flight home, as they did not return to Tucson until about 3 a.m. yesterday.
“”It was a really long day,”” Wurm said. “”I’m glad that it’s over.””
