Dec. 10, 2011
SEATTLE - The annual gymnastics Intrasquad Meet in December is a great way for the coaches and gymnasts to get used to competition in front of fans before the actual meets start in January. The 2011 Intrasquad meet went to the Purple team who defeated the Gold team. The Purple team consisted of Ruby Engreitz, McKenzie Fechter, Kylie Sharp, Paige Bixler, Phoebe Tham and Aliza Vaccher. Because this was an intrasquad meet, the scores will not be made public and the results do not count towards the student-athletes scores or team scores. "Every time we do an intrasquad or something like this you expect some nerve and falls but you really want to see if they are focused, thinking about details, giving it everything they got, and I thought our seniors really helped show that today," said head coach Joanne Bowers. Senior Amanda Cline (Aurora, Colo.), who led the team all of last season on the vault, was victorious once again, winning the event for the Gold team. Lauren Rogers, Megan Whitney and Madison Podlucky also posted good scores on the vault. There was a three-way tie on the bars between junior Rogers (Plains, Pa.) and Engreitz from the Purple team and redshirt junior Hatsune Akaogi (Cupertino, Calif.) from the Gold team. Junior Phobe Tham (North Vancouver, B.C.) was just behind these three in the scoring. "It felt good to be back on the floor," said Akaogi, who missed last year with an injury. "We looked really good. I was excited for the energy we had so I'm really excited for this year." Junior Paige Bixler (Rowlett, Texas) led the way on the beam for Purple. Whitney, Akaogi and Engreitz also performed well on the event. Engreitz also won the floor and took the all-around title. Tham and Fechter were solid on floor as well. The men's club team also competed during the meet as Joey Lawrence won the all-around, floor, rings and vault. Jon Chapman took top honors on the pommel horse, even bars and high bar. |
