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Life > Athletics > Gymnastics > 1/19/08
PIONEERS PERFORM WELL IN FRONT OF PACKED HOUSE
Meet Results
DENTON, Texas (January 19) - An enthusiastic crowd of 1,110 fans made their way into Kitty Magee Arena on Saturday night to see the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers take on the University of Oklahoma Sooners in a college gymnastics dual meet.
The Pioneers and the Sooners, the ninth-ranked team in this week’s GymInfo poll, did not disappoint the assembled masses, flipping, twisting, and vaulting their way to respective team scores of 192.800 and 196.450.
The meet attendance was the second highest in the thirty-year history of the TWU gymnastics program. The only time more people saw the Pioneers compete in their home arena was on January 29, 2006, when 1,134 witnessed a triangular meet between TWU, Air Force, and OU.
“That was such an electric atmosphere in the arena tonight,” said TWU head coach Frank Kudlac. “I am so impressed with the fan support we received from the TWU community and the city of Denton as a whole.”
The evening began with a pre-meet concert from Denton’s very own two-time Grammy Award winning band, Brave Combo. Once the musical entertainment was over, the Pioneers and the Sooners stepped into the spotlight.
TWU started the meet by hitting all six of their vaults en route to recording a vault team score of 48.050. Freshman Mollie Blessing posted a Pioneer-best 9.700 vault mark to finish fourth on the event behind the Sooners’ Kiara Redmond-Sturms (9.900), Mary Mantle (9.800), Jacquline Flanery (9.750), and Natalie Ratcliff (9.750).
 Senior Courtney Arno-Templet (pictured at left) led another six-for-six effort on bars for the Pioneers. Arno-Templet, the 2007 USAG Collegiate National Champion on the event, scored a 9.875 on the apparatus, finishing second only to Oklahoma’s Redmond-Sturms (9.925). Freshman Amanda Walker was another standout on bars for TWU, tallying a 9.700 score less than two weeks after falling on the same event at the Cancun Classic. As a team, the Pioneers finished with a bars total of 48.425.
“Courtney was phenomenal, as usual,” explained Kudlac. “She is competing a new routine this year, and to be hitting at such a high level this early in the season is outstanding. She went up against some steep competition on bars tonight and she came up big.”
It was a night of mixed results on beam for TWU. Junior Tonya Pipkorn executed a stellar routine for a score of 9.750. Freshman Kristie Costa was also impressive in her collegiate beam debut, scoring a 9.700. The Pioneers, however, could not build on the momentum of Pipkorn and Costa’s performances, as they were forced to count a fall on the event and finished with a beam team total of just 47.575. Oklahoma’s Haley DeProspero won the beam individual event title for the night with a score of 9.925.
TWU regained its form on floor exercise. Five Pioneers - junior Amie Boles (9.775), junior Amy Hulbert (9.775), Pipkorn (9.750), senior Nicole Poling (9.725) and Blessing (9.725) - earned scores of 9.70 or better to help TWU to a team floor total of 48.750. The fact that Oklahoma’s Sturms won the event with a score of 9.950 did nothing to take the shine off of a sterling floor performance by the Pioneers.
“That’s the way we should look on floor,” stated Kudlac. “Floor is your anchor event at home, and it’s imperative that you score well. We did that tonight, and it was definitely a welcome sight.”
Three OU gymnasts took part in the all-around competition. Redmond-Sturms won the all-around title with a total score of 39.650. Ashley Jackson was second with a total of 38.875 while DeProspero came in third with a mark of 38.600.
The Pioneers will look to build on their stellar effort tonight when they host another home meet, next Sunday, January 27, at 2:00 p.m. versus Maryland, Denver, and Air Force. Fans are encouraged arrive early for the meet, as the first 150 people through the doors will receive a free “Pioneer Proud” drawstring bag. The TWU gymnasts and coaches will also conduct a free one hour youth gymnastics clinic immediately following the meet.
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