Feb. 16, 2013
COMPLETE RESULTS
TUCSON, Ariz. – Despite winning two of four events, the No. 14 Wildcats fell to No. 8 Nebraska 195.400 – 195.625 in today's “Flipping for the Fight” meet.
The Wildcats clinched the first event of the night, posting a 48.975 to start the meet and win the event. Junior Shana Sangston opened the meet for the Cats with a 9.725 and sophomores Amber Wobma and Kristin Klarenbach tied for second overall with twin scores of 9.825. Also a sophomore, Danielle Buchanan made her career debut on the event to tie for third place with senior Aubree Cristello with scores of 9.800.
“Vault was a great experiment. Because Jordan and Allie were both out and previously had been staples in our lineup we needed someone to come in. Danielle just started vaulting again last week and came through with a strong score; she really stepped up tonight,” head coach Bill Ryden said.
From there Arizona had some difficulties on the non-leg events, earning team totals of 48.475 and 48.675 on bars and beam respectively. Cristello was the highlight on bars, taking third place with a 9.775. On beam Wobma tied her career high 9.800 to also take third place overall.
“The girls did what I asked on bars and beam. We did what we could on those events. Compared to what we've been doing at other meets I'm very proud of the girls regardless of the scoring,” Ryden said.
The Wildcats didn't let the difficulties get them down: the floor team came back to smash out a 49.275 to wrap up the meet and win the event by three tenths. Sangston opened her second event of the night, starting off with a 9.775. The scores only went up from there, with the Cats taking the 1, 2, and 3 podium spots. In third place was junior Jordan Williams who returned to the lineup after a one meet hiatus to earn a 9.825. Silver went to the double Arabian twins Klarenbach and Cristello who both totaled scores of 9.875. The highlight of the event, however, was a second consecutive floor title for freshman Jessie Sisler who earned a near perfect 9.925.
“Jessie is legit; she is a legitimate floor star. The end of our floor lineup is very exciting, it's fun to sit back and watch and Jessie's floor score was well deserved. She's got a national level routine, her twisting technique is some of the best in the nation bar none and when she's on there is literally no deductions to take,” Ryden said.
Cristello was the lone gymnast to compete in the all-around, taking second place with a 39.175.
“I'm proud of the girls. People who only look at the score won't get the true story of tonight's meet. People fought hard against a lot of adversity, and newcomers stepped up and gave it all they had,” Ryden commented.
The Cats jump back into conference competition next week, traveling to Corvallis, Ore. to take on No. 13 Oregon State. The meet is set to take place Friday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. PT.
