Karin Wurm won her third straight all-around title Friday to lead the No. 14 Arizona gymnastics team to a victory over No. 34 Washington in Seattle.
Arizona (4-1, 2-1 Pacific 10 Conference) posted its highest score for an away meet this season, defeating Washington (1-4, 0-3) 195.300-193.925. It was Arizona’s first win at Washington since 1996.
“”It seems like every time we’ve had dual meets up there, something has gone wrong,”” said Arizona head coach Bill Ryden. “”The last two or three trips, we’ve come close, but then we end up shooting ourselves in the foot or something weird happens that robs us of the victory. So it was nice to sort of get that monkey off our backs.””
Wurm, a junior, posted a 9.875 on uneven bars to win that event for the third consecutive time.
“”Karin’s certainly finding (her groove) at this point,”” Ryden said. “”She’s competing very well.””
Wurm said the string of wins has boosted her confidence for future meets.
“”It’s something to work off of,”” she said. “”Hopefully it continues and our team continues to do well.””
Senior Aubrey Kelly, whose performance was limited the past two meets because of an ankle injury, returned on all four events Friday to finish third all-around.
“”It was exciting to do all four events again and be able to contribute to the team on all four events,”” she said. “”My performance definitely wasn’t up to par … but there’s little things that I can work on, and they can be fixed pretty easily.””
Kelly tied Washington’s Nikki Waiss for second on bars (9.825), and UA freshman Miranda Russell came in fourth (9.775).
On vault, freshman Brittney Morgan tied Washington’s Ashley Houghting for first (9.850), and Wurm tied Washington’s Kristen Omori for third (9.825).
Kelly and Russell posted 9.750s to finish in a four-way tie for second on floor exercise, while Houghting took first.
After struggling on beam in the first two away meets of the season, UA gymnasts dominated at Washington. Junior Danielle Hicks, the team’s leader on beam, took first place with a 9.850, while senior Jamie Holton and sophomore Briana Bergeson tied for second with 9.800s. Wurm, Morgan and Washington’s Kelly Gilbert shared fourth place with 9.725s.
“”We’ve had problems with (beam) in the past, but everyone stepped up and hit the routines, and that’s what counted,”” Wurm said.
Although Arizona’s performance wasn’t so steady in its first two away meets, the team brought more confidence and energy to the table Friday, Kelly said.
“”Everyone seemed to really believe in themselves,”” she said. “”We’re in a perfect spot for the season right now, because it’s only the fifth meet in, and we’ve already gone two meets without missing a routine. That usually is what you look for at the end of the season.””
Although there were some stumbles, Ryden said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance.
“”To go away and get a good road score, it shows the maturity of the team,”” he said.
