The No. 14 Arizona gymnastics team brings out the best in its opponents.
Brigham Young was the third team in a row to score a season high against the Gymcats, defeating Arizona 195.675-195.300 Friday in Provo, Utah. Southern Utah came in third with a 194.875.
The Gymcats never rebounded from a rough first rotation on the balance beam, and UA head coach Bill Ryden said he was surprised the team even placed second despite stellar performances from juniors Karin Wurm, Danielle Hicks and Rachelle Silberg.
Although Arizona was scheduled to start on bars, a mechanical problem forced the team to switch to beam, where freshman Brittney
Morgan opened the rotation with two falls, her first of the season. Her 8.525 was dropped, forcing Arizona to count a 9.650 from sophomore Briana Bergeson and a 9.375 from senior Jamie Holton for a total of 48.525.
Arizona’s woes continued on floor, where the team finished with a 48.825 after two falls.
“”To start off that way on beam, I had hoped that we would come back on floor, and then (we) have two falls on floor, which is so unheard of,”” Ryden said. “”I don’t even remember the last time we had two falls on floor. We don’t fall even one time on floor.””
The team rallied somewhat on vault, posting a 49.000, and finished with a 48.950 on bars.
Arizona may have been distracted by the change in rotation, but that was no excuse for a substandard performance, Ryden said.
“”I don’t think there really is an excuse other than just looking in the mirror, looking at ourselves and saying, ‘You know, we didn’t perform. We didn’t live up to what we wanted of ourselves, standard-wise,’ “” Ryden said.
Still, a few jewels stood out among Arizona’s performers. Ryden credited the team’s three juniors with the top performances of the evening.
“”The junior class, all three of them, did everything they could, and I think almost everybody else had problems,”” he said.
Wurm won the all-around with a career-high 39.425 and notched first place on the bars (9.925). She and Silberg took 9.825s on vault to tie for second behind BYU’s Dayna Smart (9.900).
Wurm said she didn’t even think about topping her career-high score going into the meet.
“”I go to each event and try to improve on each event, and then if I happen to improve enough on each event that they add up to a higher score, then that kind of works out,”” she said.
Hicks’ 9.900 on beam also earned her first place on that event for the fourth time this year. Wurm and freshman Miranda Russell finished in a four-way tie for third on beam with 9.800s. No other Arizona gymnast placed within the top three on any event.
“”All the juniors definitely stepped up this meet, and there were definitely some mistakes made by the other girls, but we always win and lose as a team,”” said Hicks, adding that she hopes the team can use Friday’s meet as a learning experience as it heads into Saturday’s Pacific 10 Conference Championships.
“”I think it’ll just really make us tough it up and really bring our A-game, knowing that we’re not perfect,”” she said. “”We just have to use it to our advantage.””
