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Life > Athletics > Gymnastics > Archives > 2003
News > March 29
PIONEER
GYMNASTICS TAKES SECOND AT INAUGURAL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
SHREVEPORT,
LA--The
Texas Woman's University gymnastics team (9-18) did not have
to count a fall for the fourth straight
meet and finished second to Illinois-Chicago
at the Midwest Independent Championships, hosted by Centenary.
The Pioneers recorded their highest road team score in school
history with a 195.975, only .025 of a point away
from the school record of 196.000. UIC won the conference
championship with a 196.575, followed by Centenary in third
with a 195.575, Southeast Missouri State in fourth with a 195.350
and Illinois State in fifth with a 193.500. Winona State pulled
out of the competition on Monday due to team injuries.
TWU turned in a new school record on beam with a 49.125,
eclipsing
the old mark of 48.850 set last year versus Kentucky on March
15.
“Winning second at our first-ever conference championship
is a great feeling. This is a tough conference to be in because
we are competing against three Division I teams and for us
to come out second speaks a lot of how good this team really
is. This is a nice way to end the regular season,” head
coach Frank Kudlac said. “This was a well rounded meet
for us because we started on bars and built momentum from there.
We ended on vault, which is kind of difficult because the girls
need fresh legs to finish well on that event. Now, we head
home and set our sights on the national championships, although
we might qualify as a team to the NCAA Regionals for the first
time in school history.”
With five schools competing in the Midwest Independent Championships,
the meet consisted of five rotations with TWU starting on bars.
They scored a 49.100, second only to Illinois-Chicago with
a 49.350. Alyson Cacciatore won the event with a 9.950, followed
by Luci Romberg (Foxfield, CO/Cherry Creek H.S.) and
Janelle Thibault of Centenary tied for second place with a
9.900. The Pioneers moved to beam and recorded a school record
49.125, but finished third behind Southeast Missouri State
(49.375) and Centenary (49.275). Ashley Godwin of Southeast
Missouri State topped the podium with a 9.975, followed by
Kaela Meinert of Centenary in second with a 9.950 and three
other gymnast tied for third place. Illinois-Chicago won the
floor exercise with a 49.025 with TWU in a close second at
48.975. Godwin won her second event of the meet when she tied
Jackie Jaworowicz of UIC with a 9.900. Lisa Klein of Illinois
State rounded out the top three on floor with a 9.875.
In their final event of the day, the Pioneers posted a 48.775
on vault, which placed them second behind UIC with a 49.125.
TWU's Luci Romberg tied for the top spot with teammates, Alyson
Cacciatore and Atlin Mitchell of UIC, with a 9.900. In the
all-around, it was Ashley Godwin of Southeast Missouri State
taking first place with a 39.550, followed by Romberg in second
with a new school record of 39.350. Cacciatore rounded out
the top three with a 39.150. The top three finishers on each
event earned All-Midwest Independent Conference honors. Romberg
came away with three All-Conference honors on vault, bars and
the all-around.
Other notable performances for TWU on the day were Stephanie
Loudat (Houston, TX/Cy-Falls H.S.) finishing sixth
on the beam with a new school record of 9.900 while Brandi
Smith (Smithville, TX/Smithville H.S.) tied for seventh
with a new career-high of 9.875. Dana Giametta (Brookshire,
TX/Terry H.S.) tied for ninth place on vault with a
new career-high 9.775 while Romberg set new career-highs
on vault (9.900), bars (9.900) and the all-around (39.350).
Up
next, the Pioneers await word if they will qualify as a team
to the NCAA South Central Regional Championships at the
University of Missouri on April 12. The following weekend,
TWU will host the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships
from Thursday, April 17 through Saturday, April 19 in Kitty
Magee Arena.
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