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What's Coming Up - The Arizona women's gymnastics team (4-12, 1-5 Pac-10)
opens a two-meet homestand this week, as the Wildcats prepare to battle the
fifth-ranked Stanford Cardinal (8-3, 3-1 Pac-10) on Friday, Feb. 23, at
7:30 p.m. MST, in McKale Center... Arizona is looking for its first win
since defeating both Oregon State and Denver at home on Feb. 2, in McKale
Center... Stanford has notched five straight wins after suffering a
disappointing loss to No. 1 UCLA in the second meet of the season on Jan.
19... Stanford is one of five Pac-10 teams ranked in the national top-25
poll this week... Three of Arizona's last four meets of the regular season
are at home... This week's meet marks the second of five dual meets that
Arizona will compete in prior to the Pac-10 Championship meet on March
24... Last season, Stanford defeated Arizona, 194.275-191.275, on Jan. 21,
2000, in Burnham Pavilion, and the Cardinal also finished in sixth place at
the 2000 Pac-10 Championships, while the Wildcats finished in seventh place.
Head Coach Bill Ryden's Weekly Analysis - "It was very disappointing to
lose such a close meet. We had so many positives, but it was heartbreaking
to be that close. Even though we lost the meet, we had our highest score of
the season on the road. We are starting to solidify our vault and bars
teams, and our floor team is doing a great job. We just need to keep
improving every week, and we need to rectify our beam problems before
Friday. Overall, we are competing much better as a team, and we are
starting to move up in the rankings. Stanford is a very good program, and I
think this weekend's meet is going to be a good competition. We are
definitely better now than we were last year at this point, and I feel good
about where we are going at this point in the season."
Arizona's Last Time Out - The University of Arizona women's gymnastics team
fell to the Washington Huskies, 195.500-195.575, on Feb. 18, in front of a
crowd of 814, in Washington's Bank of America Arena. Although Arizona lost
by only .075, the Wildcats posted a season-high team total (195.500) that
now ranks as the seventh-highest team score in school history. Arizona
dropped to 4-12 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-10 Conference, while Washington
improved to 8-5 on the season and 3-4 in the conference.
In addition to its season-high team total, Arizona also set a season-high
48.900 on vault and tied a season-high 48.700 on bars. UA's floor score of
49.175 is the squad's second-highest floor rotation mark of the season.
Eight Wildcat gymnasts - Lindsay Compitello, Nicci Filchner, Kara Fry,
Randi Liljenquist, Andi McCabe, Cori Messina, Mary Reiss and Heather
Straccia - each set or tied season-high and career-high marks in the meet.
Arizona won the team vault event and tied Washington for the team beam
event title. Washington won the team bars and floor events. The Wildcats
swept top individual event honors on vault and beam, while the Huskies took
top individual event honors on bars and floor. Arizona's Randi Liljenquist
and Washington's Lanna Apisukh tied for first place in the all-around.
Individually for the Wildcats, junior All-American Randi Liljenquist won
the beam title and set a season-high 9.900 in the event. Liljenquist also
tied for first-place honors in the all-around with a 39.275 - her
second-highest mark of the season. She tied for fifth on vault (9.750),
landed in fifth on bars (9.775) and tied for fourth on floor (9.850).
Liljenquist now holds eight individual event titles and 23 top-five
performances for the season.
Senior Kara Fry set a career-high 9.850 on vault and tied for first-place
honors in the event. Fry also tied for fourth on floor (9.850) and finished
fifth overall in the all-around (38.900). Fry now holds six individual
event titles and 18 top-five performances for the year.
Freshman Andi McCabe earned a share of first-place honors on vault, as she
posted a career-high 9.850 in her third collegiate vault competition.
McCabe also set a career-high 9.825 on beam and finished fifth in the
event. Senior Heather Straccia scored a career-high 9.725 on bars and
landed in third place on floor with a career-high 9.875. Senior Mary Reiss
matched a career-high 9.750 on beam and tied for fourth on floor with a
9.850.
Senior Nicci Filchner tied for third on bars after posting a season-high
9.800 in her only event of the afternoon. Sophomore Nikki Beyschau tied for
fifth on vault with a 9.750, while junior Lindsay Compitello set a
career-high 9.775 on beam. Freshman Cori Messina posted a career-high 9.750
on floor.
Scouting Stanford - The Stanford Cardinal (8-3, 3-1 Pac-10) enter this
weekend's competition after topping the California Golden Bears,
196.950-196.025, on Feb. 18... Stanford has notched five straight wins
since the squad suffered a disappointing loss to No. 1 UCLA on Jan. 19 in
the second meet of the season... The Cardinal rank second in the West
Region behind top-ranked UCLA, and the team's season-high total for the
year is a 197.425... Stanford ranks first on beam, fourth on both vault and
bars and 22nd on floor in the national poll... Cardinal freshman Lindsay
Wing ranks fifth in the all-around and fourth on beam in the national
poll... Freshman Caroline Fluhrer checks in at eighth on bars and 15th on
vault... Freshman Lisa Leveille is ranked No. 6 on beam, and senior Jen
Exaltacion is ranked No. 7 nationally on beam... Stanford opened the season
with a third-place finish at the Super Six Challenge behind No. 2 Alabama
and No. 4 Georgia... The Cardinal have tallied wins over Michigan, Florida,
Penn State, Washington, Seattle Pacific, Minnesota, Arizona State and
California... Stanford head coach Mark Cook (Chico State, '77) is in his
fourth year at the helm of the Cardinal program and holds a 57-27-2 overall
school and career record.
Wildcats in the Rankings - After beginning the 2001 season ranked No. 20 in
the preseason coaches' poll, Arizona has since dropped out of the top-25
rankings... Arizona, however, is climbing its way back into the rankings,
as the Wildcats moved up two spots to No. 29 in the Feb. 19 national
poll... This week, nine of Arizona's 2001 opponents - UCLA, Utah, Stanford,
Arizona State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Denver and California -
are ranked in the Feb. 19 national gymnastics poll... UA is ranked No. 10
nationally on floor - up one spot from last week's poll - and No. 23 on
beam... Junior Randi Liljenquist is the only Wildcat ranked nationally,
coming in at No. 15 on floor and No. 14 on beam... Arizona moved up one
spot in the regional rankings to No. 5 in the South Central Region... The
Cats are second on floor, third on vault, fourth on beam and eighth on
bars... In the individual regional rankings, Liljenquist is first on floor
and beam, eighth on vault and fourth in the all-around... Senior Kara Fry
is seventh in the all-around, 10th on floor, 19th on bars and tied for 18th
on vault... Freshman Aimee Estella is ranked 13th on vault... Freshman Andi
McCabe is 10th in the region on beam, while senior Mary Reiss is 11th on
floor... Senior Heather Straccia broke into the regional rankings this
week, checking in at No. 25 on floor... In terms of schedule strength, 10
of Arizona's 2001 opponents were ranked in the preseason coaches' poll...
Six Pac-10 teams - UCLA (1), Stanford (7), Arizona State (11), Oregon State
(12), Washington (16) and Arizona (20) - were ranked in the preseason
poll... Women's gymnastics rankings are posted every Monday at:
www.troester.com/gym/WRankings.
Arizona in the Record Books - Arizona's season-high team total of 195.500,
which was set in the Washington meet on Feb. 18, now ranks as the
seventh-highest team score in school history... Arizona's 195.500 mark was
only .800 from breaking the current team record of 196.300, which was set
on March 26, 1999, against Arizona State... UA posted a season-high 49.300
floor score on Feb. 11 against UCLA, Washington and Cal State Fullerton in
the UCLA Invitational... The floor score tied the second-highest floor
rotation mark in school history and was only .075 from matching Arizona's
school record of 49.375, which was set last year against Minnesota... UA's
season-high beam score of 48.875, which the team scored in the
Denver-Oregon State meet on Feb. 2, currently ranks as the 10th-best beam
rotation mark in school history... The score was a stark improvement from
the 47.575 mark that the Wildcats posted in the first meet of the season
against North Carolina State, New Hampshire and James Madison.
UA's Top-10 Performers - Senior Kara Fry and freshman Andi McCabe each
posted career-high marks of 9.850 on vault against Washington on Feb. 18...
Both Fry and McCabe vaulted into the Arizona record books by matching UA's
No. 8 all-time individual vault score... Fry has broken into four of the
five individual event categories thus far in her stellar gymnastics
career... In addition to her vault mark, Fry is No. 6 all-time in the
all-around (39.325), tied for No. 6 on beam (9.900) and tied for No. 5 on
floor (9.900)... Fry tied her career-high 9.900 on beam in the UCLA
Invitational on Feb. 11, as she defeated three U.S. Olympians en route to
the beam event title... McCabe posted her career-high 9.850 in only her
third collegiate vault competition... Previously, McCabe scored a 9.000 in
her collegiate vault debut against Denver and Oregon State on Feb. 2, and
she posted a 9.700 at the UCLA Invitational.
Cat Scratches - Arizona head coach Bill Ryden is in his third year at the
helm of the program (11th overall at Arizona) and holds a 25-41-1 career
and school record... Arizona notched two victories over North Carolina
State and James Madison on the road in the first meet of the 2001 season...
UA is 1-7 in neutral contests, 1-4 in away meets and 2-1 at home this
season... Six of Arizona's eight freshman have competed in the first five
meets of the season... So far this year, 13 Wildcat gymnasts have set or
tied season-high and career-high marks... Junior Randi Liljenquist leads
the team with eight individual event titles, including two all-around
titles... Liljenquist also has 23 top-five finishes... Senior Kara Fry has
six individual event titles and 18 top-five finishes... Freshman Aimee
Estella has a vault title and two top-five finishes... Senior Mary Reiss
has posted four top-five finishes... Sophomore Nikki Beyschau has four
top-five performances... Senior Heather Straccia and freshman Andi McCabe
each have two top-five finishes... Freshmen Cori Messina and Sheehan Lemley
and senior Nicci Filchner each have one top-five finish entering this
weekend's meet.
Injury Update - Freshmen Aimee Estella and Meagan Killpack will sit out the
remainder of the season after suffering ACL injuries... Estella, who won a
vault title in the first meet of the season at North Carolina State, tore
her ACL on the landing of her bar dismount during practice on Feb. 8...
Killpack, a walk-on, suffered the same injury on the first tumbling pass in
a floor exercise exhibition at the UCLA Invitational on Feb. 11... Estella
competed in five meets in her first season, and Killpack competed in three
meets... Estella posted career-high marks on vault (9.800), bars (9.175)
and beam (9.750), and Killpack set career-high marks on bars (9.100), beam
(9.325) and floor (9.650).
A Look Ahead - Arizona closes out a two-meet homestand next week when the
Wildcats face intra-state rival Arizona State on Friday, March 2, at 7:30
p.m. MST, in McKale Center... Arizona then travels to Minneapolis, Minn.,
to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday, March 10, at 8 p.m. MST.
