Aug. 2, 2010
SEATTLE - Head gymnastics coach Joanne Bowers, entering her fifth year at Washington, announced the 2011 schedule this week. The Huskies finished 23rd in the final rankings last year and look to improve upon that finish after having no seniors on last year's team. The schedule includes four of the top six teams at the 2010 NCAA Championships. The season opens at the home arena (Pauley Pavilion) of the defending national champion UCLA Bruins on Jan. 9 for the Pac-10 Preview. All Pac-10 schools will be in attendance, including Stanford which finished fourth at the NCAA's a year ago. "We are very excited about this year's schedule, starting with a Pac-10 Preview Meet at NCAA Champion UCLA," said Bowers. "It will be televised and hopefully will give more exposure to the Pac-10." Boise State, Illinois State and Seattle Pacific are welcomed to Bank of America Arena for the home opener on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. The Broncos were 17th in the final poll last year; Illinois State was 41st and Seattle Pacific 63rd, respectively. California then heads north the Seattle on Jan. 21, a team the Dawgs defeated last year by six points. Washington hosts Oklahoma on Jan. 28. The Sooners were the national runners-up a year ago. Washington hits the road for four-straight weeks traveling to Seattle Pacific (Feb. 4), Utah (Feb. 11), Arizona State (Feb. 18) and to Oregon State (Feb. 25) to face the Beavers, San Jose State and UC Davis. On March 4 the Huskies return home to host Michigan State in a special meet that includes the Washington men's club team vs. Arizona State. The final home meet of the season is March 11 as the Dawgs welcome Air Force and Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. "The non-conference schedule is also tough with Oklahoma coming to us and us going to Utah," Bowers said. "Michigan State, Boise State, Illinois State, Air Force, and SPU will round out the other non-conference part of our schedule. We are always excited to bring in top programs for our fans to see, plus it only helps our program improve as we are trying to get our program to the National level." The Pac-10 Championships will see Washington head back to UCLA for the second time during the season on March 19. The NCAA Championships begin on April 2 and conclude with the NCAA Nationals, April 15-17, in Cleveland, Ohio. We are fortunate to belong to a very prestigious conference, so those meets help us have an advantage of competing against high level programs and gets us ready for the post season. |
