| |||||
 
|
 [ Monday, March 14, 2005 ] Lions improve on beam, pick up pair of wins
Women's Gymnastics
By Dan Graybill
Collegian Staff Writer
It's funny how things work out. For the Penn State women's gymnastics team, the beam had been a problem early in the season, consistently being the low score in meets. But the last two meets, the beam has been the deciding factor in the outcome. It produced two wins. The Nittany Lions beat Arizona State on March 4, 195.550-194.350, and Friday they scored a 196.025 to take care of Boise State (195.950), San Jose State (193.450) and Seattle Pacific (192.650). |
||||
|
"These meets ... showed we can do well on the road," Penn State coach Steve Shephard said. Against the Sun Devils, the Lions had a 1.150-point lead going into the final event. For Penn State that was the beam, so it was important that the Lions hit the routines in order to preserve the win. They came out and hit a 48.875, while Arizona State scored a 48.825 on the floor. Kate Stopper scored only an 8.575, but everyone else came through as each gymnast scored at least a 9.700. Kristal Uzelac scored a 9.850 to win the event. Corissa Pirkl came in second with a 9.825. During the quad meet, Penn State kept it close with Boise State. The Broncos held the lead after the first two rotations. After the first, Penn State was trailing 48.950-48.525, with a shaky uneven bar routine. The Lions moved to the beam, where they scored a season-high 49.150 while Boise State scored a 48.975 on bars. This closed the gap to .250 points. The Lions used to the beam to catapult themselves into good floor and vault events to take the meet. Genavieve Shingle finished third on beam with a 9.875 and Stopper finished tied for fourth with a 9.850. Lisa Clark finished fourth in the all-around at Arizona State and second at Boise State. Kristal Uzelac finished second at Arizona State. Meredith Hoover finished fifth at Arizona State and sixth at Boise State. Following the Arizona State meet, the Lions moved up to 13th in the GymInfo.com poll, and they got to drop their lowest score, which helps them with their regional qualifying score, a mark that helps determine a trip to the NCAA Championships. They also trained in Arizona following the meet with the Sun Devils, before heading to Boise State. They had to train in club gyms, often with too little space or improper equipment. It was meant to give the team a chance to have a nice break in some warmer weather. Clark won the vault at the Boise State meet and Penn State took the top four spots in the event. Uzelac won the bars at both meets and Stopper won the floor exercise at Boise State.
R E L A T E D L I N K
This link will open in a new browser window.
| ||||
|
Blogs
About
Contact Us
Back Issues
Advertising
Copyright © 2008 Collegian Inc.
Updated: Friday, March 18, 2005 1:33:54 PM -4
Requested: Saturday, September 06, 2008 9:10:54 PM -4 Created: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 6:52:41 PM -4 | |||||
Send an 