University of Arizona
UIC, Sacramento State, UW-Stout
Arizona Finishes First in Home Opener
01/17/2015 | Gymnastics
Tucson, Ariz. - No. 18 Arizona defeated three teams before a crowd of 1,902 at McKale for the season's home opener on Friday. After a quad meet against University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Stout and Sacramento State, the Wildcats finished the meet with a team score of 195.250.
“It was definitely a good learning meet for us,” head coach Bill Ryden said. “Considering the youth we have on the team, we're still continuing to grow. We were better than last week but we definitely made a lot of little errors. I think as we go into February and March, however, this team has the potential to be very good. “
To start off the competition, the Wildcats competed on vault earning a team score of 48.775.
Junior Shelby Edwards led the team scoring a 9.875. Sophomore Gabby Laub contributed a score of 9.825. Behind Laub was junior Jessie Sisler who earned a score of 9.750. Senio All-Around gymnast, Allie Flores, scored a 9.650. Selynna Felix-Terrazas, a sophomore, contributed a score of 9.675 on the event. Rounding out the vault scores was freshman Madison Cindric with a score of 9.575.
Edwards' and Laub's scores earned them a first place finish and a third place finish, respectively.
“The couple hops we had on vault were perfect examples of the overall theme of the meet,” said Ryden. “We can definitely do our skills well but we have to do it correctly during the meets. Unfortunately tonight we made a lot of simple errors. Shelby (Edwards), however, had a great vault tonight.”
The team then moved onto bars finishing with a score of 48.875. Sophomore Krysten Howard and freshman Victoria Ortiz both had successful routines earning a pair of 9.875's. Ortiz's score outscored her score at Alabama of 9.775, earning her a new career high. Felix-Terrazas scored a 9.725. Flores and Laub each contributed a 9.700 to the overall score. Junior Lexi Mills received a 9.150.
Howard and Ortiz tied for first place on the event.
“Both Victoria (Ortiz) and Krysten (Howard) were outstanding tonight,” said Ryden. “The event tonight showed us what we are made of. Some of them stuck their dismounts and for the ones who didn't, we know that's what we have to do. It was a lot of little mistakes that cost us.”
From bars, the Cats scored a 48.550 on beam.
Senior Shay Fox scored the highest for the team on receiving a score of 9.850. Cindric contributed a score of 9.750. Behind her, Flores earned a score of 9.725. Mills, Schneider and Sisler received scores of 9.700, 9.475 and 9.00, respectively.
“We didn't count a fall but we counted a lot of errors,” Ryden said. “They'll grow and they'll get accustomed to the pressure. The freshmen will learn and the upperclassmen just have to get used to that pressure again.”
Despite the couple falls on beam the team managed to capture first, second and third place for the event. Fox was the highest scoring athlete on the event with Cindric just behind her in second, and Flores rounding out the awards in third place.
“Last week at Alabama I think they got a little reality check on floor,” Ryden said. “And we reacted and grew from that experience. That's something I hope to do after every meet, we just have to keep growing and growing.”
With a running score of 146.150, the team moved on the fourth and final rotation, floor.
Finishing first on floor was Flores who was the only top three gymnast for Arizona. She also finished first in the All-Around competition scoring a 38.950.
Looking ahead, Arizona will travel to Los Angeles to face Pac-12 opponent UCLA on Monday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. MST. The meet will be aired on the Pac-12 Network. The next home meet for the WIldcats will be on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. against No. 4 Utah. For continued coverage of Arizona Gymnastics, follow the team at facebook.com/ArizonaGymnastics and on Twitter @AZGymnastics.
