Nov. 9, 2011
SEATTLE - Nov. 9 is national signing day for many sports including gymnastics. In 2011 head coach Joanne Bowers and her staff are proud to announce the three newest Huskies that signed National Letters of Intent for the 2012-13 school year. Eliza Barach, Sheridan Metcalf and Allison Northey will attend UW and compete for Bowers and the Husky assistant coaches, David McCreary and Elise Ray. Barach is a Level 10 gymnast from Albany, N.Y., where she competes at World Class Gymnastics in Latham, NY, under the direction of coaches Joan and Bobby Piehler. She attends Bethlehem Central HS in Delmar, NY and carries a 3.72 GPA. She is the daughter of Christina Barach and Marc Barach. She is a five-time National Qualifier. In 2011, she took first place on bars, beam, and AA at the Parkettes Invitational, placed second on bars, third on vault and AA at Regionals and 11th on floor at Nationals. In 2010, Barach placed first on bars and third AA at the State meet, first place on vault and bars, second on floor and third in the AA at Regionals. She placed 12th on beam and 21st in the AA at Nationals. Coach Bowers says, "Eliza is a very strong all-around gymnast and outstanding competitor. She is very dynamic on vault and floor, but just as strong and skilled on beam and bars. Eliza is a hard worker and we feel will continue to improve and excel at UW." Metcalf hails from Mesa, Ariz,, and attends Mt. View HS where she is boasting a 4.2 GPA. She competes for Desert Devils and has been coached by Kristin Fanning, Wesley Jones, and Shelly Eaton, where many current and former Huskies also competed in club. She is the daughter of Laurie and Mern Metcalf. She was named the 2011 Most Outstanding Gymnast for the state of Arizona and the 2011 JO Gymnast of the Year for Arizona as well. She swept the gold medals at the state championships and qualified for JO's by placing third on the bars and sixth in the all-around at Regionals. She qualified to Nationals and placed eight on bars and 10th in the AA. In 2008 she won the all-around, vault and uneven bars titles at the Level 10 State Championships. She also won the all-around title at 2008 Level 10 Regional Championships and earned gold medals on uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. At the JO Nationals she won the bars, was third in the all-around, fourth on the flour and sixth on vault. Coach Bowers says, "We feel blessed to have someone of Sheridan's quality to join our program. She is a tough competitor and can help us on every event. We have a history of successful gymnasts from her club and we fully expect Sheridan to follow in those footsteps." Northey is from Sammamish, Wash., and attends Skyline HS, where she has a 3.75 GPA. She is the daughter of Lori and Steve Northey. She competes at Gymnastics East, where she is coached by Kim Rogers, Tammy Carney, and Remus Dragan. She has been a National qualifier for the past three years as a level 10 gymnast. In 2011, she placed first on beam and second on vault at the Battle in Seattle meet, first on beam and second on bars, vault and AA at the Manhattan Classic, At Regionals, she placed fist on vault, bars and the AA and second on floor. At Nationals, she was sixth on beam and seventh on floor. She was named Gymnast of the Year at Gym East and qualified to compete at the Copa Quetzal International Meet in Guatemala. In 2010, she placed first on floor, second on beam and fourth in the AA at Regionals and qualified on to Nationals. Coach Bowers says, "Allie is so beautiful to watch on bars and beam, but has potential to help us everywhere. We have been watching her for the past couple of years and feel she is going to blossom in college. " Coach Bowers comments about this recruiting class: "This class has the potential to be great! With their work ethic, skill sets, and determination, we expect big things from them. They are talented gymnasts, excellent students and wonderful young women. They have had tremendous success academically and competing at the Junior Olympic level. We are confident they have the ability and drive to continue the gymnastics team's pursuit of academic and athletic excellence." The University of Washington gets its season underway Sat., Dec. 10th at 5 p.m. with the annual Purple & Gold Exhibition in the Alaska Airlines Arena. Admission is free and the event will conclude with an autograph signing by the team and a silent auction. |
