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PIONEERS FINISH SECOND IN USAG FINALS
ITHACA , N.Y. – Texas Woman’s University finished second in the team finals for the second year in a row at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships hosted by Cornell University.
Rutgers University won the title with a score of 193.025, in their first year of USAG competition, followed by TWU (192.175), the University of California-Davis (191.500) and Seattle Pacific University (191.500).
The finals were a match-up between the second through fifth ranked teams in the USAG. Only top-ranked Centenary College , the 2004 national champion, was missing from the meet.
TWU posted the highest scores on the vault and floor exercise but the Scarlet Knights won two events, the uneven bars and balance beam, as well.
“First of all I congratulate Rutgers . They are a strong program and deserve tonight,” head coach Frank Kudlac said. “I am equally proud of my team for the effort they gave. We were almost mistake free, counting just one fall. We moved up from the underdog into a very respectable second place. Since 1992, we have finished either first or second with the exception of one year.”
The Pioneers began their quest for an eighth national crown on the vault. Catherine Rodriguez -Schnoes stuck her landing to start the rotation and meet for TWU with a score of 9.550. Brisa Fuentes (9.550), Nicole Poling (9.600), Jessica Brozovich (9.500) and Brittany Abney (9.500) followed her lead to combine for a 47.700 team mark.
In fourth place, TWU moved on to the bars. In the finals, the Pioneers couldn’t better their semifinal mark of 48.500 but posted a respectable 48.300 led by Brisa Fuentes with a 9.825 mark.
On the beam, the Pioneers posted a score of 47.350 to remain in third place. Abney recorded a 9.700 to pace the team. Rodriguez-Schnoes and Courtney Arno each added 9.575 marks, respectively.
Needing to make up some ground TWU headed to the floor. Thecla Gavin started the event with a score of 9.800. Next, Fuentes added a 9.700 in only her third floor performance of the season. Jennifer Bolli (9.775), Abney (9.725) and Rachel Goddard (9.825) completed the lineup for a team score of 48.825.
“We had one of the best performances of the year on floor. We have worked hard to improve and gave a total team effort,” Kudlac added. “We’ll look forward to bringing some individual national titles home tomorrow. Any one of our gymnasts has the ability to bring home a championship. We are represented on every event which is a very good thing. I believe our family and fans back home would be very proud of our effort tonight.”
The championships conclude on April 16 with the individual finals at 2:00 p.m. Five Pioneers, Brozovich (vault), Arno (bars and beam), Fuentes (bars), Abney (floor) and Gavin (floor) qualified for the competition with a top eight finish in the team semifinals.
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