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INJURIES, MISTAKES COST TWU IN SEASON OPENING LOSS AT BYU
 PROVO, Utah (Jan. 12) – Key injuries and critical mistakes cost the Texas Woman's University Pioneers gymnastics team in a season-opening 193.325-185.675 loss to the Brigham Young University Cougars in a dual meet on Friday night in Provo, Utah.
Juniors Jennifer Kingsbury and Brisa Fuentes were the most notable of the several injured TWU gymnasts that were unable to compete against the Cougars. Both student-athletes were slated for multiple events in this meet, thus, their absence severely impacted the Pioneers scoring potential.
"Jennifer Kingsbury was scheduled to compete in all four events tonight," said TWU head coach Frank Kudlac. "We were already working without Brisa Fuentes, so when Jen went down late this week, that really put us behind the eight ball."
The Pioneers began the meet on bars, and in her first event as a collegian, freshman Rachel Zimmerman scored a TWU team-high 9.475 on her routine. Pioneer sophomore Brista Michael (pictured at right) also performed well, registering a 9.450 score. Two BYU gymnasts - senior Kacie Capra-Callens and junior Kylee Draper - tied for first on the bars event with identical 9.825 scores. Zimmerman finished fifth for TWU and Michael earned a sixth place finish with her solid effort. Senior Courtney Arno, TWU's top bar worker, was on her way to a 9.775 bar score before suffering an uncharacteristic fall on her dismount.
Because of their rash of injuries, TWU only had five gymnasts compete on the vault. Sophomore Brittany Parker tallied the Pioneers top score, 9.675, good enough to tie for third on the event with the Cougars' Jenna Kerbis. TWU's vaulting effort was hampered by two falls. BYU junior Dayna Smart won the vault event with a 9.750 effort.
Sophomore Amie Boles posted the Pioneers top score on floor exercise, delivering a 9.475 routine. Sophomore Amy Hulbert also showed well on floor for TWU, as she recorded a 9.400 score. Boles finished fifth, and Hulbert sixth, in the event. Smart was again the star for BYU, winning the floor exercise competition with a career-best tying 9.850 score.
On beam, Zimmerman and sophomore Tonya Pipkorn both scored a TWU team-high 9.70. Falls again caught up to the Pioneers on this event, as the TWU gymnasts hit on only three of their six beam routines. Smart continued her meet-long dominance, tying for the beam high score, 9.800, with her teammate, Jenna Kerbis.
Junior Nicole Poling competed as an all-arounder for the first time in her Pioneer career. Poling finished with a 35.800 all-around score.
Kudlac said after the meet that he hoped his young team (13 underclassmen are on the TWU roster) would learn from their errors on Friday night.
"Honestly, we competed like it was our first meet of the season. We made a lot of first meet mistakes, mistakes that shouldn't be made. Our team is very young, and their experiences tonight, both good and bad, should help us down the road," he explained.
The Pioneers gymnastics team will next be in action on Sunday, January 21, when they open their 2007 home schedule with a 2:00 p.m. triangular meet in Kitty Magee Arena against Central Michigan and Brown.
For more information, please contact the TWU Sports Information Office at (940) 898-2373.
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