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Life > Athletics > Gymnastics > 4/19/08
ARNO-TEMPLET WINS TWO MORE NATIONAL TITLES
Meet Results
 SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (April 19) – Texas Woman’s University senior Courtney Arno-Templet closed out her remarkable college gymnastics career in style on Saturday afternoon by winning both the bars and beam individual event titles at the 2008 USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships at The Gold Dome in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Arno-Templet won the national title on bars with a cleanly executed 9.875 bar set. It was a typically excellent performance on the event by the Coppell, Texas product.
“Courtney’s effort on bars today proved to everyone why she has been the number one ranked bar worker in the USAG all season long,” said TWU head coach Frank Kudlac. “She had a powerful swing and she looked sharp on virtually every skill.”
Arno-Templet (pictured above) was even better on beam, as she turned in a nearly perfect routine to win the event with a career-high tying score of 9.900.
“I’ll be honest,” stated Kudlac, “that was maybe the best I’ve ever seen from Courtney on beam. She was controlled, she was tight, and she just nailed everything from start to finish. That was spectacular.”
With Saturday’s wins, Arno-Templet is now a four-time individual event national champion. Last season (2007) she won the title on bars. In 2006, as a junior, she was the best in the USAG on beam.
Kudlac went on to say that it was only fitting for Arno-Templet to be on the podium in her final meet as a college gymnast.
“Courtney is a winner, plain and simple. She’s anchored our team on bars and beam for the last four years. More often than not she came through with a big score for us. I’m thrilled to see her win two titles in her last competition for the Pioneers,” he explained.
 Six other TWU gymnasts competed in Saturday’s individual event finals in addition to Arno-Templet. Junior Brittany Parker (pictured at right) scored a 9.737 to finish second in the final vault competition. Freshman Amanda Walker posted a 9.750 to tie for third on bars. Freshman Mollie Blessing grabbed fourth on vault (9.712) and ninth on floor (9.650). Junior Tonya Pipkorn was fifth on beam (9.650) and sixth on floor (9.775). Junior Amie Boles tied for ninth on floor (9.750) while senior Nicole Poling, also making her final appearance as a TWU gymnast, came in ninth on vault (9.450).
“I was very pleased with our individual results today,” said Kudlac. “I asked our kids to give me all they had last night (when the Pioneers won the team title of the USAG competition). I know that I was emotionally and physically drained after that so I can’t imagine what they felt like. But they rose to the occasion and represented TWU in a tremendous fashion.”
The 2008 USAG All-American teams were announced prior to the meet on Saturday. Poling (vault), Parker (vault), Blessing (vault and floor), Arno-Templet (bars and beam), Walker (bars), Pipkorn (beam and floor), and Boles (floor) earned first-team honors. Freshman Jennifer Liberato (vault and bars) and Poling (floor) were second team choices.
TWU assistant coach Lisa Klein was voted by her USAG college coaching peers as the 2008 USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate Assistant Coach of the Year.
Arno-Templet and Poling also received USAG Senior Athlete awards in recognition of their four years of USAG collegiate competition.
Eleven TWU gymnasts - Arno-Templet, Boles, freshman Alexa Brennan, junior Amy Hulbert, senior Jennifer Kingsbury, junior Brista Michael, sophomore Keri Miller, Parker, Pipkorn, sophomore Leslie Pladson, and Poling - were named 2008 USAG Scholar Athletes (an award given to all sophomore, junior, and senior gymnasts with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale). TWU student-assistant coach Brisa Fuentes was also recognized as a 2008 USAG Scholar Athlete.
“This was a great day for the Pioneers,” concluded Kudlac. “To have so many of our TWU gymnasts and coaches take home USAG awards speaks volumes about the quality of this team and the quality of this program.”
TWU Individual Gymnast Scores at the 2008 USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championship Individual Event Finals (listed with place):
Vault: Brittany Parker, 9.737 (T-2nd); Mollie Blessing, 9.712 (4th); Nicole Poling, 9.450 (9th).
Bars: Courtney Arno-Templet, 9.875 (1st); Amanda Walker, 9.750 (T-3rd).
Beam: Courtney Arno-Templet, 9.900 (1st); Tonya Pipkorn, 9.650 (5th).
Floor: Tonya Pipkorn, 9.775 (6th); Amie Boles, 9.750 (T-7th); Mollie Blessing, 9.650 (9th).
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