March 6, 2012
Weekly Release
SEATTLE - Friday's meet vs. Central Michigan and San Jose State will be the final regular season meet at home for UW's four seniors. The meet starts at 7 p.m. and live stats, audio/video and chat will be available for free at www.gohuskies.com.
Scouting San Jose State
San Jose State ranks 31st in this week's RQS standings with a 194.410. They have an average of 194.097 and a high of 194.950. The Spartans have won their last five meets, most recently defeating Alaska Anchorage, 194.125-186.300 on March 2. They have wins of Cal and Arizona from the Pac-12. Thomasina Wallace has been named the WAC Gymnast of the Week three times this year, breaking her own school in the all-around with a 39.525.
Scouting Central Michigan
Central Michigan is 43rd overall with an RQS of 193.560, an average of 193.300 and a high of 194.950. The Chippewas have won their last three meets, defeating Northern Illinois, George Washington and Kent State. Last week against NIU they scored a season best 194.950, winning by over a point. Freshman Tori Garcia was named the MAC Co-Specialist of the Week for her performance vs. NIU.
A Look At The Seniors
Four Huskies will be honored at the end of the meet Friday, prior to the awards ceremony. This senior class is the second to go through head coach Joanne Bower's program since she took over six years ago. Hatsune Akaogi (Cupertino, Calif.), Amanda Cline (Aurora, Colo.), Ruby Engreitz (Kirkland, Wash.) and Anna Epps (Mill Creek, Wash.) are the seniors of 2012. Akaogi was named to the Pac-10 all-around second team her freshman year. She competed in the all-around in every meet her freshman year and all but one meet her sophomore year. She missed her junior with a torn ACL. Has career-highs of 9.850 on vault, bars and beam, a 9.775 on floor and a 39.225 in the all-around. Cline was named second-team All-Pac-10 vault as a junior and honorable mention All-Pac-10 Academic. She has career-highs of 9.925 on vault, 9.825 on bars, 9.775 on beam, a 9.750 on floor and a 38.835 in the all-around. Engreitz was named GoHuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week and nominated for the AAI award this season. She earned the Provost Academic Excellence Award at the WESPYS, named team specialist on bars, First-Team Pac-10 All-Academic, Second-Team All-Pac-10 on bars and Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week last season. She has career-highs of 9.900 on vault, 9.925 on bars, 9.825 on beam, 9.875 on floor and a 39.350 in the all-around. Epps missed 2011 with an injury and that would lead to her having to retire before the 2012 season. She earned Pac-10 Honorable Mention All-Academic in 2010. Has career-highs of 9.725 on bars and 9.775 on beam.
Bowers Nears Career Milestone
Head coach Joanne Bowers can reach two coaching milestones on Friday with two wins. Bowers has a 49-55 record in her sixth year at UW and 98 career wins.
2012 Seattle Regional Tickets On Sale
For the first time since 2009, an NCAA Gymnastics Regional will be held at the University of Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena on April 7. This will be one of six NCAA Regional sites around the country and will include six teams and other qualifying individuals that will be announced two weeks prior to the event. Tickets went on sale Friday, Jan. 27 at 8:30 a.m. PT. You can order by walking into the Husky Ticket Office in the Graves Building on campus or by calling the ticket office at (206) 543-2200. Tickets are also available on ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $12 for reserved seating, $9 for general admission adult, $6 for children and students and $4 for the group discount of 15+. More information about the 2012 Seattle Regional will be posted as the event gets closer.
UW TV To Tape Delay All Home Meets
UW TV (Chanel 27 in the Puget Sound Region) will tape delay all five of the 2012 home gymnastics meets. UW TV will tape each meet live and air them on a later date. The Arizona State meet will air on March 9 and the SJSU/Central Michigan meet on March 16. All meets will air at 10 p.m. PT. Fans can watch the live streaming of the event under Husky All Access for free at www.gohuskies.com. Live chat and stats will also be available online for free. A former gymnast herself, Alisa Mowe will be calling all of the action for you on the live stream and on the UW TV broadcasts. This is her fifth year calling the meets and has been tabbed one of the best across the country. Visit http://www.uwtv.org/gymnastics/ for more information on UW TV's coverage of Husky gymnastics and other UW sports.
Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championships To Be Televised on Fox Sports Net
Fans will have the special opportunity to see the Husky Gym Dawgs 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 In The National Rankings
As a team, UW ranks No. 24 in the second RQS rankings of the season with a 195.025. UW has an average of 194.686 and a high of 195.725 that they have scored twice. As a team, UW is 25th on vault (48.935) 19th on bars (48.860), 21st on beam (48.750) and 23rd on floor (48.915).
Fechter Named GoHuskies.com Student-Athlete Of The Week
Freshman gymnast McKenzie Fechter has been named the GoHuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 27-March 4. The Mequon, Wis., native led the Huskies in the Pac-12 Dual Meet last Friday and the upset over No. 22 Arizona State. UW posted its team-best season score of 195.725 and improved its RQS to 195.025. Fechter won the all-around, knocking off one of the top 25 all-around performers in the country, Beate Jones. Fechter won the all-around with a 39.250, her second-highest collegiate all-around score. She tied for fourth on vault (9.775), won the bars (9.850), placed sixth on the beam (9.825) and was fourth on the floor (9.825). Her bars scored tied a career-high. It was the first all-around title for Fechter as a Husky and her first bars win as well.
UW Upsets ASU In Seattle
Against one of the hottest teams in the country, the No. 23 UW gymnastics team pulled an upset over No. 22 Arizona State in a Pac-12 Dual Meet at Alaska Airlines Arena. UW tied its team season-best with a 195.725 while ASU scored a 193.850. The Huskies started strong on vault with a 48.875 and then moved to bars while posting a 48.975. On beam, UW didn't count a fall and scored a 48.875 and finished with a strong score of 49.000 on floor. UW led ASU after every rotation and outscored the Sun Devils on every event. Sophomore McKenzie Fechter (Mequon, Wis.) won the all-around with a 39.250, upsetting one of the top 25 all-rounder's in the country, Beate Jones from ASU who took second with a 39.050. She tied her season-high on the bars, winning the event with a 9.850. Fechter also had strong performances on vault placing fourth (9.775), beam placing sixth (9.825) and floor taking fourth (9.825). Sophomore Aliza Vaccher (Eugene, Ore.) was the only other Husky to compete in the all-around and took fourth with a 39.750. Junior Lauren Rogers (Plains, Pa.) had a stellar night, winning the vault with a 9.825 and the floor with a new career-best 9.850 with senior Ruby Engreitz (Kirkland, Wash.). Junior Paige Bixler (Rowlett, Texas) won the beam, tying a season-best with a 9.875. Junior Megan Whitney (Mesa, Ariz.) also tied a season-high on beam, placing second with a 9.850.
