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TWU
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1
PIONEERS SET SCHOOL RECORDS, CAREER BESTS AND
SEASON HIGHS IN A VERY CLOSE WIN OVER UTAH STATE
 DENTON,
Texas – The Texas Woman’s University gymnastics
team had a night to remember as Rachel Goddard set the school
record on the beam, Courtney Arno tied the school mark on the
uneven bars and the team broke the record on the beam to defeat
Utah State, 195.950-195.900.
The Pioneers hit on all cylinders throughout the meet posting 18 season-high
and nine career best scores. In addition to the team school record on the beam,
they had season best team scores on the bars and floor exercise and their highest
overall score of the season.
“Well the team I saw on the floor tonight is the one I watch in practice
every day and finally showed up on the competition floor. All along I have told
this team how good they could be and they finally believed in themselves,” head
coach Frank Kudlac said. “We put it together in a very tight fought battle
that came down to the very last routine. The meet could have went either way
but to beat a team like Utah State for us we have to be at our very best and
that is certainly what we did tonight. We had some outstanding performances not
by a couple of people but everybody.”
 TWU trailed after the first rotation with a 48.475 on vault compared to a 48.675
on bars for the Aggies. Courtney Arno, a transfer from Utah State, set the
tone on bars tying the school record with a personal best score of 9.925 for
first place. Bethany Rehm and Addi Hundley added career high scores of 9.875
and 9.825 good for second and fifth place honors, respectively.
“Courtney won the bars. It was a very sweet victory for her in front of
her old team and coach which put an exclamation point on the win,” Kudlac
said.
With a slim lead the Pioneers moved to the beam. All six competitors for TWU
had a season-high score leading to the record 49.200 mark. After Brittany Abney
tied the school record with 9.900, Goddard recorded a 9.925 to claim the mark
and win the event.
“The beam team set a school record which doesn’t happen very often
as a team,” Kudlac added.
Needing a solid performance on the floor to maintain their lead, the Pioneers
posted a 49.075 as a team. Nakia Westbrook (9.875), Abney (9.900) and Goddard
(9.925) each had the best scores of their careers to lead TWU.
“I can’t say enough about the team effort. Now we are in the stretch
of things with maintenance practices and need to compete like this every time.
We set ourselves up for something very good. We compete a lot in the next three
weeks and need to post a good away score on Saturday at Oklahoma,” Kudlac
said.
Next the Pioneers face Oklahoma for the third time this season in a dual meet
in Norman, Okla., March 5 at 7:00 p.m.
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