The Gymcats had a few goals this week, including increasing their overall team score, improving beam and making strides in national rankings. Mission accomplished.
The entire meet against the University of Washington was extremely close, and neither team knew who won upon finishing. The team waited anxiously as the judges calculated all the scores.
At the end of the night, the Gymcats took down the GymDawgs 195.750-195.675 in front of the home crowd.
The Gymcats’ overall score was the highest team total of the season. The No. 21 Arizona team hopes to rise in the national rankings after their performance, but have to wait for the new rankings to come out.
“”I think we did really well. We all set a team all-around goal and we beat it by .75,”” said Deanna Graham.
The Gymcats had their work cut out for them since Washington had a slight lead after the first three events. The Gymcats struck disaster however, as senior captain Sarah Tomczyk took a tumble during her beam routine.
“”That was one of our shakiest beam performances yet,”” said head coach Bill Ryden. “”I’m not quite sure what we are going to do with that, but we have to do something.””
Heading into the last event of the night, the Gymcats were down by 0.375 and knew they needed great floor routines to pull out a win.
The Gymcats started off with three solid routines from; Talyn Curry, Molly Quirk and Katie Matusik. They scored 9.750, 9.850 and 9.850 on floor, respectively. The floor routine had special meaning to Matusik, who returned from an injury.
“”It was the first time I did (floor) ever in college,”” Matusik said. “”So I was pretty excited and emotional.””
Aubree Cristello started off the high scores for the Gymcats. Cristello was rewarded a 9.875 for her routine, creating a small chance for a comeback.
Next up was Tucson native Graham, who followed up Cristello with an outstanding routine. The team and crowd was pumped up during Graham’s routine, and Ryden was seen pumping his fists as Graham stuck each landing.
“”It was awesome, I was just excited to get out there and do what we do in the gym,”” Graham said. “”Yeah I knew it was a good one when I hit, I was just excited for the team and our score.””
Everyone in the arena let out a gasp as the judges revealed that Graham received a 9.925 for her routine.
Last up for the Gymcats was Tomczyk, who made up for her fumble during her beam routine, by scoring a 9.900 on her floor routine.
“”Deanna (Graham) is a great floor worker. The only little bobble she had was landing her first tumbling pass,”” Ryden said. “”It was set up for Sarah (Tomczyk) who actually has a harder floor routine then Deanna, and then Sarah hit a home run. They were relaxed they were having a good time, and that’s when the scores usually come.””
