Utah just missed the 197 mark in defeating Washington in front of 12,359 fans. Frosh led Utah once again. Mary Beth Lofgren won the VT and BB while classmate Corrie Lothrop won the FX and AA (39.5). Stephanie McAllister won the UB for Utah.
Link: Utah Release
BYU posted a season high 195.2 to defeat TWU, which managed just 188.525. On VT, BYU's Mickell Merrell and Natalie Eyre tied with TWU's Bethany Larimer for the title. On UB, the Cougar's Madeleine Johnson tied with teammate Haylee Rollins. TWU's Brittany Johnson won the BB while BYU's Jennifer Lezeu won the FX.
Link: BYU Release
ASU rebounded from an injury plagued meet last weeked to post a 194.45 to defeat Cal. No squad was likely happier tonight than Cal, which found out the program will be reinstated and no longer terminated after the end of the season. ASU's Beate Jones won the AA and tied with teammate Madison Snowden for the FX title. Frosh Sammie Seaman won the VT and tied for the UB title with teammate Stephanie Hangartner. On BB, ASU's Christina Salavec tied with Cal's Nicolette Lew for the title.
Link: ASU Release
Stanford edged Pac 10 rivals Oregon State and UCLA in another showdown. Stanford posted a 196.475, led by Shelley Alexander's wins on the BB and in the AA. Teammate Ashley Morgan tied for the FX title with UCLA's Olivia Courtney. UCLA posted 196.3 for third, led by Tauny Frattone's win on the VT. Oregon State edged UCLA with a 196.35, with Leslie Mak tying for the UB title with Stanford Allyse Ishino and Nicole Pechanec and UClA's Samantha Peszek and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs.
Link: Stanford Release
Arkansas' Mariah Howdeshell won the UB and teammate Jamie Pisani tied for the FX title to lead the Gym Backs. LSU frosh Maliah Mathis won the BB and tied for the FX title. LSU's Sarie Morrison won the AA and tied for the VT title with teammate Ashley Lee.
Link: LSU Release
Bama defeated visiting AU, breaking the 197 mark with a 197.075. Bama was led by Kayla Hoffman, who won the AA with a 39.525 and who picked up the win on FX and a tied on VT with frosh teammate Diandra Milliner. Teammates Ashley Sledge and frosh Jordan Moore tied for the UB title. On BB, it was two more frosh, Kim Jacob and Sarah DeMeo, who tied for the title.
Link: AU Release
Illinois held off hosts Missouri 195.4 to 195.0, to claim the title in the Pink Out meet. Allison Buckley won the AA for Illinois with a 39.25, and tied for the VT title with Mizzou's Sandra Ostad. Illini teammate Melissa Fernandez won the BB. Mary Burke tied for two event titles for Missouri, tying with teammate Allie Heizelman on the UB and Lauren Swankoski on the FX. .
Link: Mizzou Release
UW Whitewater defeated host La Crosse, led by Allyse Dierienger's wins on UB and BB.
Link: UW-L Release
UW Eau Claire's Danielle Schulzetenberg led her squad with a win in the AA. Stout's Naomi DeLara won VT and FX.
Link: UW Stout Release
SEMO defeated visiting Illinois State, led by senior Brianna Gaddie's 9.9 win on the VT. Gaddie also won the FX. Teammate Christina Sundgren captured the UB title. Illinois State's Hannah Deutsch won the BB.
Link: SEMO Release
PSU defeated host UNC, 195.925 to 192.975. PSU was led by Sharaya Musser, who posted a big 39.575 to win the AA. She also captured event titles on the VT, FX and BB. PSU's Natalie Ettl won the UB.
Link: PSU Release
In a partial victory for boosters, Cal's women's gymnastics program has been restored. As previously announced, the Cal's women's team was slated to be cut at the end of this season. The victory, however, is unfortunately only partial. Cal's men's program is still set to be cut. Cal is restoring women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse and men's rugby. Men's gymnastics and baseball are set to be cut at the end of this season.
Cal stated that philantropic commitments would be used to fund the programs on an interim basis. In the days leading up to the decision, many vocal boosters noted that a good portion of the $12M already pledged was tied to Cal restoring all of the programs. The baseball boosters were particularly vocal.
Cal stated that it is counting on $7 to $8 Million of the original $12M pledged by boosters. It says the amount raised by the baseball and men's gymnastics programs was insufficient to support the programs for the seven to 10 years required by the administration. It also noted that the rugby boosters had pledged support for the two women's programs as well.
In recent days leading up to the decision, the mainstream media has demonstrated how the previously announced decision was likely to throw the Cal program into violation of Title IX. Legal action was clearly on the horizon. To mitigate this situation, Cal reportedly was also acting to cut down the roster sizes of the remaining Cal men's programs while encouraging the existing women's programs to expand their rosters. By the supporting the two women's program, the rugby program, with its 60 man roster, hopes to mitigate the impact of its large roster on Cal's Title IX compliance.
Supporters of Cal's baseball program are reacting harshly to the disappointing news.
Link: Cal Release and Chancellor's Statement
In a rare Wednesday night meet, Penn defeated Ursinus, West Chester and Wilson. Penn's Megan Milavec won the FX and the AA while teammate Dana Bonincontri won UB and BB. Monica Durham of Ursinus won the VT.
Link: Penn Release
The regular season is nearly done, and it seems like we just got started! With teams now finalizing their lineups, peaking their training and fine-tuning their routines, here are some observations as we hit the final stretch of the 2011 season. In these last few weeks, a lot can happen that will impact a team's postseason chances...
I recently had 3 athletes I am advising receive verbal athletic scholarship offers from 3 different college coaches. Obviously the families were thrilled with the opportunity for their children to be recognized and awarded well before the senior year in high school.
As an advisor, I am asked many questions about the college quest and lately the area of verbal commitments seems to top the list. I would like to share my personal thoughts on what has become a popular recruiting strategy that is used by prospects and college coaches alike.
As you would expect, Florida remains at the top of this week's Troester.com GymInfo National Rankings. They lead all events but BB, where Stanford retains the top spot.
Individually, frosh Mackenzie Caquatto of Florida takes over the top AA spot after her debut. UGA frosh Lindsey Cheek remains atop the UB standings (she has competed just once). Utah's Kyndal Robarts leads the VT, although she has not competed since her injury. Oregon State Leslie Mak leads the BB once again, after hitting again this weekend. On FX, Stanford's Shona Morgan debut performance joins teammate Ashley Morgan and Florida's Ashanee Dickerson at the top of the standings.