The Arizona GymCats fell to the LSU Tigers Friday night in McKale Center for the final home meet of the regular season, although Arizona posted a season-high home score. That high score included a season-best on the uneven bars and tied the season high score on floor. Arizona also honored its seniors, Haylie Hendrickson, Danielle Spencer and Lauryn Mattson, for their accomplishments and hard work over the past four years.
To kick off the GymCats’ last meet, they began on the vault. Although the scores throughout the rotation were solid, the Tigers clawed their way up to take the lead, going into the second rotation with a score of 49.600 to 48.750.
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Heading to the bars for the second rotation, Hendrickson opened with an impressive routine and nailed her dismount to earn a season-high score of 9.850. Chrissy Berg anchored for the ‘Cats with a beautiful routine to tie her collegiate-high of 9.975. She took home second place behind LSU’s Sarah Finnegan, who earned a 10.000. The Cats trailed LSU 98.050 to 99.275.
Arizona moved to the beam for the third rotation. Although Hendrickson closed out on beam with an amazing routine to tie her season high of 9.875, the GymCats found themselves lacking the high scores they needed to surpass the Tigers with a score of 146.950 to 148.750.
The ‘Cats headed to the floor to close out the night. Heather Swanson nailed all her passes on floor and ended with a double full, punch front to earn a 9.825. Courtney Cowles pumped up the crowd and hit all her passes to tie her collegiate high of 9.850. Maddi Leydin performed an amazing routine and stuck her last pass to earn a collegiate high of 9.925. Berg anchored on floor with a fantastic routine to tie her collegiate high of 9.900.
Although the GymCats were able to put up a battle, the Tigers took the meet with a final score of 196.225 to 198.175. Arizona Gymnastics also welcomed back alumni for a reunion that occurs once every 10 years.
Although the GymCats’ season comes to an end they aren’t quite done yet. They will head to West Valley City, Utah for the 2019 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships that will be held in Maverik Center on Saturday, March 23. This will be the first ever neutral site championship for Pac-12 Gymnastics.
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