The No. 15 Arizona gymnastics team placed fifth at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships Saturday at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.
Arizona head coach Bill Ryden said the team was disappointed with its performance coming off of one of its best meets of the year March 18.
The Gymcats started on the uneven bars and posted a 48.300. Junior Aubrey Taylor led Arizona with a 9.775, and sophomore Karin Wurm followed with a 9.700.
Ryden described the meet as uncharacteristic of an Arizona squad that has been sharp all year.
“”Things sort of unraveled,”” he said. “”We started out on bars, and I thought we did good. The scoring was a little tight, but that’s expected first event. That’s the luck of the draw.””
The unraveling started on the second rotation, when Arizona moved to the balance beam. The Gymcats had to count two falls in the event, but were led by junior Jamie Holton, Wurm and sophomore Danielle Hicks, who all posted scores of 9.825.
Arizona moved to the floor exercises for the fourth rotation, where Wurm and Holton again led the Wildcats with scores of 9.775 and 9.750, respectively.
On its final rotation, the team moved to the vault and posted its highest team score of the night with a 48.000. Holton tied for eighth overall with a 9.850, Wurm scored a 9.800 and Taylor and sophomore Rachelle Silberg followed with scores of 9.725.
Ryden said the falls on beam and during floor exercises really hurt the Gymcats’ chances to compete at the level to which they had been accustomed.
“”If we did some more of the little things, I think we could have competed for fourth,”” Ryden said. “”Even if we were just at our normal competitive level, we should’ve been competing for third. Counting the two falls on beam, having your best vaulter fall … it’s unfortunate.””
No. 11 UCLA (196.800), No. 17 Oregon State (196.400) and No. 9 ASU (193.900) finished ahead of the Wildcats on Saturday, with No. 35 Washington (192.750) and California (192.725) taking sixth and seventh places, respectively.
“”At a meet with competition like this, you have to come with your absolute best,”” Ryden said. “”You have to be able to say ‘I gave it 100 percent, that was my best.’ Other than Jamie and Karin, we really didn’t get much. There are definitely some girls who are disappointed they didn’t have their best.””
Wurm, the reigning Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week, was Arizona’s best performer Saturday and earned ninth place in the all-around with a total score of 39.100. Hicks and Taylor were the other Wildcats to compete in all four events and earned 13th and 16th places, respectively.
UCLA senior Kate Richardson (39.550) won Gymnast of the Year after placing second in the all-around.
Despite a disappointing performance, Ryden said Arizona should keep its No. 15 ranking nationally as the Gymcats wait to see where they will compete in the postseason.
