TUCSON, Ariz. - The NCAA gymnastics committee announced Monday that senior
Kara Fry and junior Randi Liljenquist have earned individual berths to the
NCAA Championship on April 19-21 in Athens, Ga. The University of Georgia
is the host institution for the national championship, and the competition
will take place in Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum. Both Fry and Liljenquist
have qualified for their second trip to the national championship.
Kara Fry enters the national championship as the No. 3 at-large seed in
the all-around and will compete in the afternoon session of the all-around
finals on Thursday, April 19, at 4 p.m. MST. Fry will rotate with the
Denver Pioneers throughout the session.
Randi Liljenquist, who won the floor exercise event at the regional
championship, qualified to compete on floor at the national championship.
She is scheduled to compete during the morning session, beginning at 10
a.m. MST. She will follow the Oregon State Beavers, who will compete on
floor during the third rotation.
Fry was named 2001 South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year following
the regional championship on Saturday. She earned her second trip to the
national championship as the No. 3 at-large seed after posting a
third-place finish in the all-around with a 39.275 at the regional
competition. Fry also tied for ninth on vault (9.825), tied for sixth on
bars (9.825), tied for ninth on beam (9.775) and tied for 11th on floor
(9.850) at the regional championship.
"We are just so happy for Kara (Fry) because she truly has earned this
trip to the national championship," said Arizona head coach Bill Ryden.
"Kara has had a phenomenal season, and all she has done this year is
exactly what you would hope for from any senior. She definitely is doing
her best and most difficult gymnastics of her career. Kara has gone above
and beyond the call of duty, and she has turned it up so much in the last
year."
Fry, a 5-5 senior from Nazareth, Pa., has scored over the 39.000 mark in
nine out of 13 meets, and she has won four all-around championships this
season. Fry holds Arizona's top individual scores on bars (9.950) and beam
(9.900). Fry's career-high marks in all four events and in the all-around
have earned her a place in the Arizona record books. Her career-high 39.525
is the third-best all-time individual all-around score, and her career-high
9.950 on bars is No. 3 on the all-time performers' list. Fry's career-high
9.850 on vault is No. 10 on the all-time list, her career-high 9.900 on
floor is the No. 7 score, and her career-high 9.900 on beam is the No. 6
all-time mark.
Fry, who earned her first trip to the NCAA Championship as a freshman in
1998, has competed in 50 consecutive meets dating back to the first
competition of her freshman season. She also has proven herself as a
reliable all-around competitor for Arizona, as she has competed in the
all-around for the last 49 consecutive meets. Overall, Fry has competed in
a grand total of 197 events over the last four years.
Liljenquist, a 5-2 junior from Tucson, Ariz., earned the second NCAA bid
of her career after she tied for first-place honors in the floor exercise
event at the regional championship. She scored a 9.925 on floor to win a
share of the event title and automatically earned a NCAA berth in the floor
exercise event. All individual event winners who scored over a 9.800 at the
six regional championship meets automatically qualified to compete at the
national championship in that event, provided they were not members of one
of the 12 NCAA qualifying teams.
"Randi (Liljenquist) had a very difficult month of March, and she has been
fighting a lot of little problems since the week after the Arizona State
meet. She has been doing everything in her power to fight through the
problems, so it is great that she has a chance to turn the season around at
the national championship meet," Ryden said.
She made her first trip to the NCAA Championship as a sophomore last
season, and she earned second-team All-America honors in the all-around.
Liljenquist holds Arizona's top individual scores on vault (9.900), beam
(9.900), floor (9.950) and in the all-around (39.650) this season.
Liljenquist's career-high 39.650 in the all-around ranks as the No. 2
all-time score, and her career-high 10.000 on floor remains tied for the
top score in school history. Her career-high 9.900 on vault is the No. 6
all-time score, her career-high 9.925 on bars is the No. 7 mark, and
Liljenquist's career-high 9.925 on beam is the No. 3 all-time individual
score.
Fry and Liljenquist each have won 12 individual event titles this season.
Liljenquist holds 35 top-five finishes, and Fry has posted 32 top-five
finishes this year.
"Both Kara and Randi are so competition savvy, and they are both talented
enough to compete with anyone in the country," Ryden added.
Arizona made its 15th consecutive trip to the postseason and closed out
the season with a 9-22 overall record. The Wildcats finished third at the
NCAA South Central Regional Championship on Saturday, and the squad just
missed qualifying for one of the two regional team berths to the NCAA
Championship. UA finished third at the regional championship with a score
of 194.825. Nebraska won the regional with a score of 196.200, and Oklahoma
was the runner-up with a score of 194.925.
