The No. 24 Arizona gymnastics team faced off against No. 12. Stanford University last weekend, losing to the Cardinal 196.025-194.675.

The Wildcats (0-2) were able to stick with Stanford (1-1) throughout the first three events but couldn’t capitalize in the competition’s last. Head coach Bill Ryden said he was pleased with the improvement his team showed from last week’s meet overall.

“”The problem for us was we just did not have good beam,”” Ryden said. “”I mean, we were neck and neck with them for three events and the last rotation they were on floor and we were on beam, and we had worse beam than we had last week so overall that sort of sunk us.

“”You know, we blew an event and were two points ahead of last week,”” he added, “”so we definitely improved and I was definitely happy.””

UA redshirt senior Sarah Tomczyk received a mark of 9.875 on the bars. It was a career high for Tomczyk, who took home first place in the event.

“”It was really nice because the five people before me went up and hit their routines, so you already know that five scores are counted so it kind of put me in a really easy position,”” Tomczyk said. “”I didn’t have to worry about hitting my routine or not hitting my routine.

“”I just went up and the first part of my routine felt great and as I went for my dismount I just visualized sticking it, and I stuck it,”” she added. “”It was just a great finish to an awesome event for us.””

In the final event of the competition, the Gymcats struggled on the beam, losing by 0.95 points.

“”Overall as a team we weren’t as sharp,”” Ryden said. “”Out of our six beam workers, (sophomore) Britnie (Jones) did fantastic, but the other five did less than what they were capable of.””

Jones received a 9.825 for her performance on the beam and first place in the event. Last week in the same event, she tied for first place against No. 7 Arkansas.

Two pleasant surprises for the Gymcats were freshmen Molly Quirk and Aubree Cristello. Both have put in career performances in the past two weeks after being forced to step in when the Gymcats were hit with several injuries.

“”I was pretty happy with myself. I mean, second college meet, and I went 4-for-4, which is the goal, to just hit all four routines,”” said Quirk, who posted a 9.7 in the vault. “”It is definitely nice to have at least one meet under my belt, kind of learn how things work in college, because it is different than club. But yeah, definitely with every time out you get a little more confident.””

Next Sunday, the Gymcats travel to Tempe to face ASU at 2 p.m.

“”If we give the same energy and the same mentality, I don’t think we will have any issues getting a win in,”” Tomczyk said. “”I think we’re going to go in there and kick butt.””