Feb. 9, 2013

COMPLETE RESULTS

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Arizona women's gymnastics team posted a 195.950 to earn first place in the annual "Chicago Style" meet. The University of Pittsburgh came in second with a 194.750, Texas Woman's took third with a 192.825 and Illinois State completed the meet with a 191.125.

Technically the "home" team, the Wildcats started the night on vault, increasing their team score by almost a point from the previous week posting a 49.125.

"Vault has obviously been a little bit difficult for us the past few meets, but I have to compliment the girls this week. The vault team took it upon themselves to overcome the issues we've been having and they all did a great job," head coach Bill Ryden said.

Junior Shana Sangston started the lineup with a 9.700 followed by junior Barbara Donaldson with a career high 9.825. Sophomore Allison Flores then posted a 9.725, senior Aubree Cristello took second on the event with a 9.875 and sophomores Kristin Klarenbach and Amber Wobma tied for third with a 9.850.

Per Olympic order, the Cats moved on to bars where they earned a 48.750. Highlights of the event included a debut performance from Sangston for a 9.725, Cristello and sophomore Danielle Buchanan tying for third with twin scores of 9.775, and Flores earning the event title in front of her home crowd with a 9.825.

"I think despite the score bars was the high point for the team. Since Jordan was out of the lineup we needed to have someone step up, and Shana did that. When she landed her set the whole team erupted," Ryden said. "Everyone had really good sets all things considered, and I think both the girls and the coaches were really proud of our effort."

After a fall from routine one, the beam team performed under pressure for a 48.975.

In the second lineup spot freshman Jessie Sisler made her official lineup debut, posting a 9.750.

"Jessie has been doing exhibitions for us in the past few weeks and for her debut we gave her a brand new beam set. Even though she is a freshman she handled this routine like a veteran. I am so proud of her; she did a great job stepping up," Ryden said.

Other contributions came from Wobma, Quirk, freshman Shelby Edwards, and Cristello. Wobma earned a 9.775, Quirk took second with a 9.800 and Edwards earned her first collegiate event title with a new career high 9.825 to tie with Cristello.

Cristello then earned her second title of the night in the last event and Sisler made her second career debut both tying for first place with twin scores of 9.875 on floor. Also with regards to "seconds", Quirk took second on the event with a 9.850. Scores of 9.775 and 9.725 from Flores and Sangston respectively totaled a 49.100 on the event.

"Every other event had its issues; floor was the one event that went as planned. It was a great way for us to finish and seal the win and seal the meet," Ryden said.

Cristello earned yet another all-around title this week, posting a 39.350 for first place. Flores took third with a 38.475.

"We walked out of the meet with a smile regardless of the score because the team really fought for this one. We still have our issues and little things we need to fix, but we saw some great leadership and some great gymnastics in this meet," Ryden said.

The Cats will look to continue on the up next week in their annual "Flipping for the Fight" meet. The team will be taking on Nebraska this coming Saturday, February 16 at 4:00 p.m.