University of Washington - Home

Jan. 24, 2012

Weekly Release

SEATTLE - After three straight weeks on the road to open the season, the No. 22 GymDawgs will finally have the chance to compete in front of a home crowd for the first time in 2012. The Huskies opened the season at Michigan State and despite some missteps on floor, they rebounded with a solid score on beam to get the win. A Husky won all four events, including the all-around in this meet. In week two, UW was narrowly defeated by No. 14 Boise State, but Washington did post their highest combined team score of the season. A Husky won three of the four events, as well as the all-around, during this meet. Last weekend versus No. 14 Stanford, Washington again improved on their team score, with an even more narrow defeat. Amanda Cline again reigned victorious on vault. The Huskies are excited to take on another highly ranked opponent this week, in hopes of continuing their steady improvement from the past three weeks.

Scouting No. 1 UCLA
The GymDawgs will face UCLA in their first home meet of the season at 7 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. Washington last faced UCLA in the Pac-10 Championships near the end of last season when UCLA finished second with a score of 196.750 and Washington finished third with a score of 196.025, tying for their best ever finish at Pac-10's. Washington last faced UCLA during the regular season at the beginning of the 2010 season, also in Seattle, when also-then No. 1 UCLA defeated Washington 196.125-194.875. Washington and UCLA have faced six times and UCLA has come away victorious in all six contests. UCLA is 3-0 to start the season, defeating Utah, California, and San Jose State so far in 2012. UCLA jumped from seventh to tied for first place in this week's poll after recording a national-best 197.575 in their win over San Jose State last weekend.

Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championships To Be Televised on Fox Sports Net
Fans will have the special opportunity to see the Husky GymDawgs on Fox Sports Net in March. As part of the Pac-12 conference's agreement with Fox Sports Net, the Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championships will be televised on the network. The competition will take place on March 24, 2012 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on the campus of the University of Utah. The championships will be tape-delayed and played at a later date, TBD, during the weekend after March 29, 2012. The Husky gymnasts and other Pac-12 gymnasts are honored and excited for this event, as this will be the only televised collegiate gymnastics event for the 2012 season. Jim Watson will provide the play-by-play and Olympic gold medalist Amanda Borden will provide analysis.

Huskies Post Big Numbers In Narrow Loss At Stanford
No. 14 Stanford continued their four-straight season home winning streak, as the GymDawgs were narrowly defeated by the Cardinal in the Huskies' third of three straight road meets to begin the season. Washington again improved upon their combined team score, scoring 195.725 to Stanford's 195.925, setting a season best score for the third week in a row. The Huskies recorded team season-highs on all four events as well. UW posted a 49.050 on bars, a 49.025 on vault, a 48.750 on floor, and a 48.900 on beam. Junior Amanda Cline won her second vault title of the season with a season-high 9.875. Fellow junior Paige Bixler set a season-high 9.825 on beam and freshman McKenzie Fechter posted a career-high 9.850 on floor. Senior Ruby Engreitz set a career high in all-around and sophomore Aliza Vaccher competed in all-around for the first time this season, after battling back from injury.

Rogers Posts Big Numbers Vs. Boise State
In their second of three-straight road meets to start the season, No. 16 UW came from behind but was barely edged out by No. 14 Boise State, who won the meet 194.400-193.425. Despite the loss, it was Washington's highest score of the season. A Husky won three of the four events as well as the all-around as junior Lauren Rogers won vault and all-around, junior Megan Whitney won the balance beam, and freshman McKenzie Fechter won the floor. This was the first career vault title for Rogers, as she scored a career best 9.875. Boise State's Ciera Perkins won the bars with a 9.900.

Engreitz, Cline, Bixler & Fechter Help Team to Opening Meet Win
UW won its 2012 opener at Michigan State, 193.175-191.825. Although the Husky scores weren't quite what they expected and despite several falls on floor, UW rebounded to post a solid score on beam and still get the win. A Husky won all four events including the all-around which was won by senior Ruby Engreitz. Engreitz also won the bars. Junior Amanda Cline won vault, junior Paige Bixler was top on beam and freshman McKenzie Fechter won the floor.

Purple Tops Gold In Annual Intrasquad Meet
The Purple Team defeated the Gold Team in the annual intrasquad meet at Alaska Airlines Arena on Dec. 10. The winning team consisted of Ruby Engreitz, McKenzie Fechter, Kylie Sharp, Paige Bixler, Phoebe Tham, and Aliza Vaccher. Because it was an intrasquad meet, the scores are not made public and do not count towards the student-athletes' individual or team scores. Senior Amanda Cline continued her success from the 2011 season, emerging victorious on vault and winning the event for the Gold Team. Lauren Rogers, Madison Podlucky, and Megan Whitney also scored high on the vault. Rogers, Engreitz, and Hatsune Akaogi all tied for top honors on bars. Paige Bixler led the way on the beam for Purple, while Akaogi, Whitney, and Engreitz also scored high on the event. Engreitz won the floor as well as the all-around title, while Tham and Fechter were also solid on the event.