The Arizona Gymnastics team was back at McKale Center Saturday night where they defeated Iowa State, 195.850 to 194.325. The GymCats have been through a rough week but showed that no matter what the circumstances are, they can still dominate the floor.
With boots on both ankles, key gymnast senior Selynna Felix-Terrazas cheered on her team instead of being in the line-up. Felix-Terrazas sprained both of her ankles last weekend in the quad meet while doing her floor routine. Along side Felix-Terrazas was all-around gymnast junior Madison Cindric also wearing a boot on her foot. When coming back to training for the meet against Iowa State, Cindric broke her toe. Both athletes should recover in the next 4-6 weeks.
Starting the meet off on vault, the GymCats wasted no time getting the scores up with the help of the freshmen GymCats. Freshman Jenny Leung earned a 9.750 followed by sophomore Lauryn Mattson earning a 9.725 with an Arizona Stick. Freshman Heather Swanson finished off the ‘Cats with a 9.775 ending the rotation with 48.575.
It was nothing but high numbers for the GymCats during the second rotation on uneven bars as they swung their way to the top earning a high score of 49.225. The crowd didn’t stop stomping their feet as the Arizona Stick became a regular occurrence.
“The week leading up to today was very emotional,” said sophomore Danielle Spencer, “but it was a very good time to grow and see if we could come together as a team and I really believe we did that tonight. The feel out there tonight was amazing and magical.”
Senior Krysten Howard started her team off strong on bars scoring a 9.800. Sophomore Haylie Hendrickson had a shaky warm-up but that didn’t stop her as she hit a strong routine earning the high score of 9.875. Following behind Hendrickson were strong performances from freshman Christina Berg earning 9.875, junior Victoria Ortiz with 9.825 and Spencer with 9.850.
“I was really inspired because I know what it was like being hurt last year and how it feels like for the whole team to have my back,” said Hendrickson. “So I wanted to do the same for them [Felix-Terrazas and Cindric] as they did for me last year.”
Arizona held the lead through the third rotation on the balance beam as they took high scores from Howard earning a 9.825 followed by Ortiz with a 9.800.
The GymCats entered the fourth and final rotation showing nothing but excitement as they had smiles across their faces. Freshman Maddi Leydin, Mattson and Skyler Sheppard showed their skills and earned a score of 9.775 followed by Howard with a high of 9.875. Showing more than just tumbling passes, junior Kennady Schneider showed off her dance moves around the floor earning her a high 9.875. Arizona took the win over Iowa State 195.850 to 194.325.
“I was really proud of the team, they have been through a lot of adversity this week,” said Arizona head coach Tabitha Yim. “A lot of different people had to step up and fill some roles and I thought they did that beautifully.”
The Wildcats will be back on the road to Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. to take on the Stanford Cardinal on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m.
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