*UPDATE: Due to inclement weather Rutgers and New Hampshire will not be flying out for the competition. Arizona will still compete against Denver at 4 p.m. on January 6 in McKale Center.* 

TUCSON, Ariz. – After putting months of hard work in during preseason, Arizona gymnastics finally prepares to open their 2018 season at home on Jan. 6 against Denver.
 
Live tweets of the meet will be available on Twitter (@ArizonaGymCats) and live streaming will be available once the meet begins. Live stats will be also accessible at athletics.arizona.edu/gymstats/20180106/htm. 
 
"We are excited to start our season and welcome three strong teams into McKale," said head coach, John Court." The program is looking forward to a great night of gymnastics, and we're constantly working on both our short and long term programmatic goals."
 
Arizona welcomes back 11 returning GymCats, including sophomores Christina Berg, Courtney Cowles, Jenny Leung, Maddi Leydin, and Heather Swanson, juniors Haylie Hendrickson, Lauryn Mattson, and Danielle Spencer, and seniors Madison Cindric, Victoria Ortiz, and Kennady Schneider.
 
The newest faces for the Wildcats include four freshmen: Payton Bellows from Southwick, Massachusetts, Sydney Freidin from Westchester, California, Laura Leigh Horton from Houston, Texas, and Adra Parks from West Des Moines, Iowa.
 
Last season the GymCats hit several news highs, including a season high team score of 196.275 - earned two different times, first while competing at UCLA and second while competing at the Pac-12 Championships.
 
Arizona also earned consistently high team scores on all four events, including a 49.125 on vault at home against Cal, a 49.275 on the uneven bars against Oregon State, a 49.300 on the balance beam away at UCLA, and a 49.200 away against Stanford and Arizona State.
 
Individually, the GymCats had strong competitors on all four events last season. Victoria Ortiz earned a new season and career high of 9.950 on the uneven bars while competing at Washington. She joins GymCat greats, such as Heidi Hornbeck, , and earned the second highest uneven bars score in Arizona history. Madison Cindric also helped lead the Cats to a fantastic season by earning a season high all-around score of 39.325 while competing at BYU, coming in just shy of her career high of 39.350 in the all-around competition.
 
"The team had transformed really well from last season to this season," said captain Madison Cindric. "We have really focused on our small goals for each individual event this year, and if we reach those goals we are going to have a fantastic season."
 
This season the Cats will host five home meets throughout the season and will see Pac-12 rivals UCLA, Utah, California, Stanford, Oregon State, and Arizona State. The Wildcats will also see Iowa State, Arkansas, Air Force, San Jose State, UNC, and LSU this season.
 
For continued coverage of Arizona Gymnastics, follow the team at arizonawildcats.com/gymnastics, on Facebook at facebook.com/ArizonaGymnastics, and on Twitter @AZGymnastics.