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Life > Athletics > Gymnastics > 2/17/08
PIONEERS DOMINATE DIVISION II OPPONENTS
Meet Results
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (February 17) – The Texas Woman’s University Pioneers proved why they are the top-ranked NCAA Division II gymnastics team in country with a thoroughly dominating performance in a quad meet against West Chester University, Southern Connecticut State University and the University of Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon at the Sturzebecker Health Science Center in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The Pioneers posted a team score of 191.875 to easily win the first-ever meet in college gymnastics history featuring exclusively NCAA Division II teams (pictured below). Southern Connecticut State came in second with a 184.875 and the University of Bridgeport was third with a 184.625. West Chester, the host team, placed fourth with a mark of 170.600.
TWU gymnasts also claimed the five individual (vault, bars, beam, floor, all-around) titles awarded at the meet. Freshman Jennifer Liberato was the star of the day for the Pioneers, winning the floor exercise event with a career-high 9.825 and taking home the all-around crown with another career-high, 38.775. Senior Courtney Arno-Templet was the top performer on both bars (9.875) and beam (9.775) while freshman Mollie Blessing turned in a meet-best vault mark of 9.750.
For the first time this year, TWU did not have to count a fall in their team score. The mistake-free effort was the main reason for the Pioneers’ success, said TWU head coach Frank Kudlac.
“Today we finally found the consistency that we’ve been looking for all season long,” said Kudlac. “Falls are the obviously the biggest detriment to your team score. We eliminated those today and that was the key to our positive results.”
Kudlac was also pleased to see his squad justify its lofty spot in the national Division II rankings.
“It was tremendously exciting to have four Division II teams at the same meet for the first-time ever. That being said, I’m glad that our team rose to the occasion and showed why we are the best DII squad in the country. We wanted to send a message today and I think by not counting a fall and winning every event we did just that,” he explained.
The Pioneers’ outstanding day capped off what was a special weekend for Kudlac personally. TWU’s veteran leader, a 1978 graduate of West Chester University, was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday night. WCU officials worked with TWU on bringing Kudlac back to his alma mater for this occasion over the past few years.
“It’s been three years in the making,” Kudlac said. “I appreciate all that WCU did to make this happen. I can’t put a price on what this weekend’s experience has meant to me. I am just pleased to share it with my team, their parents, and my former teammates at WCU.”
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