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PIONEERS PLACE FOURTH AT MIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
 CHICAGO, Illinois (Mar. 31) – The Texas Woman’s University Pioneers scored a 191.250 to place fourth at the 2007 Midwest Independent Conference (MIC) Championships on Saturday in Chicago, Illinois.
The host team of the meet, the University of Illinois-Chicago, claimed the MIC title with a winning team score of 193.900. Illinois State scored a 193.375 to finish second, Southeast Missouri State University came in third with a 193.300, TWU was fourth, and Centenary College placed fifth with a 190.575.
After beginning the meet with a bye, TWU opened competition on balance beam. Sophomore Brittany Parker and freshman Leslie Pladson started the event off well for the Pioneers, recording matching scores of 9.700. Unfortunately, the next three TWU beam workers suffered falls, and, in the process, pushed the Pioneers team beam score to a disappointing 47.075.
The Pioneers moved from beam to floor exercise. TWU fared well on the event, as all six of the Pioneers floor workers scored a 9.550 or better. Sophomore Amie Boles performed a wonderful routine, posting a TWU team-best 9.750 and tying for second in the individual floor exercise results. Three Pioneers – freshman Rachel Zimmerman, sophomore Tonya Pipkorn, and junior Nicole Poling – recorded 9.700 scores and tied for fifth in the individual floor exercise results. Overall, the TWU team floor exercise total was 48.425, their second highest team score of the year on the event.
After floor exercise, TWU went to vault. Three Pioneers – sophomore Amy Hulbert, sophomore Brittany Parker, and Poling – scored a 9.750 on their vaults. The trio finished tied for fifth in the individual vault results. Collectively, all six of the TWU vaulters hit, and the Pioneers team vault score was an impressive 48.425.
The Pioneers final event of the night was uneven bars. Senior Courtney Arno, TWU’s anchor on the event, stepped up and hit a 9.850 routine. Arno’s score was a TWU team-high and tied her for second in the individual bars results. Sophomore Brista Michael also did well for TWU on bars, recording a score of 9.650.
TWU head coach Frank Kudlac had mixed feelings after the meet.
“We had a rough start tonight having to count two falls on beam. That put us in a hole that we just couldn’t recover from. In a competitive meet, as this one was, it is really difficult to make up ground when you have a subpar performance on any event. On a positive note, I was pleased with the way we responded to the adverse situation. Our floor team was outstanding and they turned in their best performance of the year. Another positive was our work on vault. All six of our vaulters hit and we came away with a good team score on that event,” he said.
Kudlac remains confident that his team can bounce back from this result and be ready for their next meet, the 2007 USAG National Championships being held in Seattle, Washington, April 19-21.
“While we didn’t do as well as we would have liked tonight, we still have an exciting opportunity ahead of is at the upcoming USAG National Championship meet. We won the championship last season (the eighth in TWU team history), so we should be very confident. I expect us to rest up, have a strong week or so of practice, and go to Seattle ready to compete for the USAG crown,” he explained.
Several TWU gymnasts were recognized with MIC postseason honors following Saturday night’s meet. Courtney Arno, Catherine Schnoes, Jennifer Kingsbury, Nicole Poling, Amie Boles, Amy Hulbert, Brista Michael, Brittany Parker, Alexa Brennan, Keri Miller, Leslie Pladson, Rachel Zimmerman and Brenda Campbell were named to the MIC Scholastic All-Conference team. Arno was also voted as the MIC Senior Athlete of the Year. Arno and Boles earned spots on the MIC All-Conference first team. Additionally, TWU’s graduate assistant coach, Lisa Klein, shared the MIC Assistant Coach of the Year award with Southeast Missouri State’s Brogan Jacobsen-Evanson.
For additional information, please contact the TWU Sports Information office at (940) 898-2373.
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