Jan. 17, 2001 This Week: The Washington women's gymnastics team (2-1) plays host to Boise State (1-0) in the Huskies' first home meet of the season Sunday at 2 p.m. PT at Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The meet marks the return of the Washington gymnastics program to the Arena after competing in the Pavilion Addition last season while Hec Edmundson Pavilion underwent an 18-month, $43 million renovation. Levesque on This Week's Meet: "The team is really looking forward to competing in the Arena," says Husky head coach Bob Levesque. "The floor layout should be really great for both the gymnasts and the fans. I'm not sure how much our freshmen will appreciate the new building, but I know the juniors and seniors realize what a tremendous improvement this is, especially our new training gym. We have a pretty good rivalry with Boise State going. Our two scores last week were almost identical, so this is a meet that could be decided on a single fall, or in the last rotation." The Polls: Washington is ranked 18th nationally in this week's GymInfo Rankings after recording a score of 192.950 last week at Denver. Husky junior Stacy Wong is ranked sixth nationally on uneven bars after posting a career-best score of 9.925 at Denver. Senior Mandi Klug is 12th in the national rankings on balance beam after scoring 9.875 last week. Against the Broncos: Washington leads the series with Boise State 22-8. The Broncos won the dual-meet between the two teams last season 194.725 to 194.475 in Boise. Later in the season the Huskies finished above the Broncos at the NCAA Regionals with a fourth-place score of 195.250 while the Broncos scored 193.650 to finish fifth. Last Time Out: Washington opened the 2000 season at the University of Denver in a four-way meet with the Pioneers, California and Maryland. The Huskies took second-place honors with a score of 192.950 behind Denver's score of 194.175. Maryland was third at 191.925 while California scored 191.650. Washington junior Stacy Wong won the bars competition with a score of 9.925. Husky senior Lanna Apisukh was second in the all-around with a score of 38.825. The meet marked the first time that Wong had competed as a Husky since the 1999 season when she was limited to bars routines due to back surgery. She missed the 2000 season due to a knee injury. The meet was the first time that Wong competed as an all-arounder for the Huskies (38.725). Washington saw five freshmen compete during the meet including Amy Metcalf, Molly Seaman, Emily Pritchard, Kim Claussen and Gharde Geldenhuys. Levesque's Recap: "It was a good meet to start the season with five freshmen competing and another doing an exhibition," says Husky head coach Bob Levesque. "It was good in terms of establishing a base, learning from our mistakes, and see how much improvement we can make this week. We have identified some areas we need to concentrate on and we've worked on those things this week. Just getting the opening meet over is a plus for the freshmen." Next Week: Washington stays at home next weekend when the Huskies play host to Stanford and Seattle Pacifice on Jan. 28 at noon at Bank of America Arena. The meet was originally slated for a 2 p.m. start. Husky Breakdown: Washington's lineup includes six upperclassmen and seven seniors. Heading up this year's team are seniors Lanna Apisukh, Mandi Klug and Jessica Schedler. The three juniors on the team include Allison Bruce, Sidney Field and Stacy Wong. Washington's roster features seven freshmen, including four, Emily Pritchard, Molly Seaman, Kim Claussen and Gharde Geldenhuys, who are scheduled to compete in the season opener. Injury Story: Washington will be without junior Allison Bruce during the 2001 season. Bruce suffered a preseason Achilles tendon injury that will force her to miss the entire season. Last Year: Washington posted a 12-11 record including a third-place showing at the Pac-10 Championships and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA regionals in Corvallis. The Huskies finished 17th in the final GymInfo Coaches Poll. Washington's NCAA regional appearance was its 19th straight. The Huskies were led by all-Pac-10 performer Tiffany Simpson, who tied a school record with a 10.000 performance on floor during the season. Washington All-American Lauren Riesenman made her fourth straight appearance at the NCAA championships, competing as an all-arounder. Departed Seniors: Washington lost five starters from its 2000 team. The biggest loss was six-time All-American Tiffany Simpson, who was a fifth-year senior last year. She finished her career as the owners of the school records in floor exercise (10.000) and balance beam (9.975). Simpson posted three 10.000 scores on floor during her career. Also graduated is Lauren Riesenman, a four-time performer at the NCAA Championships. Crystal Collins was a steady specialist on bars while Rhyan Pelander and Leah Waarmaki came on strong as seniors and were regulars in the Husky rotation. 2001 GymInfo Women's Gymnastics Rankings (Jan. 15, 2001)
Rank Team High Team Avg. 1 Utah 196.375 196.000 2 UCLA 196.200 196.200 3 Georgia 195.350 195.350 Alabama 195.350 195.350 5 Stanford 195.300 195.300 6 Illinois State 195.125 194.550 7 Florida 195.100 194.762 8 Nebraska 194.950 194.950 9 Minnesota 194.850 194.562 10 Bowling Green 194.825 194.825 11 Michigan 194.475 194.300 12 Denver 194.175 194.175 13 Oklahoma 194.025 194.025 14 Western Michigan 193.850 193.475 15 Ohio State 193.500 192.875 16 Penn State 193.275 193.275 17 Kentucky 193.000 193.000 18 Washington 192.950 192.950 19 Kent State 192.925 192.925 20 Ball State 192.900 190.787 21 Iowa 192.800 192.800 22 Auburn 192.350 192.350 23 New Hampshire 191.700 191.700 24 California 191.650 191.650 25 Rhode Island 191.625 191.625 |
