TUCSON, Ariz. — The GymCats have two meets during the final week of the regular season. First, Arizona will take on Sacramento State for the final home meet of the season on Thursday, March 10 in McKale Center. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. MST and will be live streamed
here.
Then, the GymCats will head to BYU for their final regular season meet on Saturday, March 12 at 12 p.m. MST.
"This is an exciting week for us," said assistant coach
Taylor Spears. "We have two opportunities to keep getting better and increase our NQS before we compete at Pac-12 Championships next weekend."
Seven GymCats posted career high scores and the team earned a season best score on floor of 49.425 - the seventh highest floor score in program history.
Malia Hargrove and
Emily Mueller each posted career high scores of 9.90 last week, Hargrove's was on vault and Mueller's was on floor. "I'm looking forward to one last meet in McKale for the season as well as heading to BYU for another great competition," said Mueller.
"I'm looking forward to being able to leave it all on the competition floor with no hesitation and with confidence," said Hargrove. "The GymCats have been working hard all season and we want to finish the season stronger than where we started."
A complete preview of both meets can be found below.
FINAL WEEK OF REGULAR SEASON: Arizona is set to host Sacramento State on Thursday at 2 p.m. for the final home meet of the season. Then on Saturday, the GymCats head to BYU at 12 p.m. for the final regular season meet.
LAST WEEK: The GymCats took on Oregon State last Friday and earned a 195.925 and a season best 49.425 on floor - the seventh best floor score in program history. Seven GymCats posted career high marks.
COACHES CHOICE: Sophomore
Elena Deets earned her first Pac-12 weekly honor with the Coaches Choice award following her standout performances on bars, beam, and floor against Utah.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN: Freshmen
Alysen Fears and
Emily Mueller have made huge impacts in the lineups for the GymCats. Fears holds season highs 9.80 on vault, 9.85 on beam, 9.90 bars and floor, and 39.350 in the all-around. Mueller has hit every routine so far this season and holds season highs of 9.850 on vault and 9.825 on bars, 9.90 on beam and floor, and 39.350 in the all-around.
FRESH FACES: The GymCats welcomed four newcomers to the team this season.
Alysen Fears,
Elizabeth LaRusso, and
Emily Mueller are all freshmen.
Lara Burhans transferred to the program from Utah State.
FAMILIAR FACES: Arizona returns 13 gymnasts from last season.
MacKinzie Kane enters her senior year and helped the GymCats finish the 2021 season ranked No. 35 on the uneven bars. Six juniors and seven sophomores will return for the Cats.
Malia Hargrove enters her junior season following her individual appearance on floor at the NCAA Championships.
G-PAC: Malia Hargrove and
Sirena Linton will represent Arizona in the student-athlete driven organzation "Gymnasts for Peace, Action, and Change." G-PAC's mission is to foster diversity and inclusion. Linton was a member of G-PAC during the 2021 season.
COACHING STAFF: The GymCats have a very accomplished coaching staff.
John Court enters his fourth year as head coach and 24th year on staff in Tucson.
Taylor Spears, the 2014 NCAA individual beam champion, is in her fourth season as assistant coach and has helped the beam team improve every year.
Peter Jansson enters his second season as an assistant with the GymCats, bringing his nearly 30 years of coaching experience.
PRESEASON POLLS: Arizona was picked to finish sixth in the preseason Pac-12 coaches poll. In the WGCA preseason poll, the GymCats were picked to finish 27th.
