Thursday, March 25, 2010

“Championship hungry women’s gymnastics team host Big 12 tournament this weekend (The Daily Nebraskan)” plus 2 more

“Championship hungry women’s gymnastics team host Big 12 tournament this weekend (The Daily Nebraskan)” plus 2 more

Championship hungry women’s gymnastics team host Big 12 tournament this weekend (The Daily Nebraskan)

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 09:04 PM PDT

Brendan Carl

DAILY NEBRASKAN

It's been three years since the Nebraska women's gymnastics team last won the Big 12 Conference Championship.

This year, the competition takes place at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. That fact has the Cornhuskers feeling more hardware is within reach.

On Saturday, Nebraska will host No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 14 Missouri and No. 16 Iowa State as the four teams compete for the conference title.

While the Sooners are the clear favorite, Nebraska coach Dan Kendig is not ready to give them the trophy just yet.

"Our intentions are to come out strong, put pressure on them and see what happens," Kendig said. "We have our work cut out for us. If this meet was at Oklahoma, it would be a lot more difficult, but we're in Lincoln."

The location will not be the only difference from last year's championships for the Huskers. Junior Maria Scaffidi, the team's best all-around competitor, will be competing after spending last year out with an injured Achilles.

Scaffidi and her teammates share a hunger for the conference crown this year.

"We want it so bad this year," Scaffidi said. "Hopefully everything that we worked for will all come together at this meet."

Scaffidi and senior Kathryn Howard both still remember winning the championship as freshmen, and that memory has been a driving force for them this season.

"I always look back to my freshman year when we won and it was just the greatest feeling ever. To be on top again would be really, really amazing," Scaffidi said. "The trophy is one thing. It's awesome to hold the big trophy, but to know that you are the Big 12 champ is the main thing."

Although they reminisce about winning, both would like to keep defeat out of their minds.

"I don't want to think about losing," Howard said.

With the high level of talent among the Big 12 programs, Kendig said it will be a very tight competitive meet.

"I don't think any of the teams can come in here and make a mistake and come out on top," Kendig said.

While he doesn't believe a team that makes errors will win, Kendig said a mistake-free Husker squad has a chance to be victorious.

"I have total faith in this team and confidence in this team to go out and hit a routine," Kendig said. "If we (hit all 24 routines), I see us standing on that award stand."

brendancarl@dailynebraskan.com

 

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Utah Utes gymnastics: Red Rock seniors aim for strong finale (Deseret News)

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 09:48 PM PDT

SALT LAKE CITY — Ask Utah's Greg Marsden to characterize his four-woman senior class, and the long-time gymnastics coach is momentarily at a rare loss for words about the group that will be honored prior to tonight's Senior Night meet.

The 11th-ranked, 10-3 Utes are up against No. 35, 4-10 BYU to complete the regular season for both clubs in the Huntsman Center. Utah can win the NCAA women's 2010 attendance title for all sports if it draws 12,474 or more fans for this meet. Its current average is 14,049.

"It's a mixed group. Very different personalities from very different backgrounds," Marsden says about his seniors.

There's German Olympian and World Championships veteran Daria Bijak, Annie DiLuzio from the U.S. elite program and Folsom, Calif.; Level-10 product Jamie Deetscreek from Hatboro, Pa.; and former walkon Beth Rizzo, in her fifth year, from Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Bijak and DiLuzio have been at or near their best lately, Deetscreek fighting to follow up a very successful junior year in which she set a Ute record for consistency and Rizzo is trying to overcome injuries that sidelined her much of the last two seasons.

As different as they are, they have one thing in common: They have satisfied themselves. They say they leave with no regrets, no unfulfilled personal promises.

"I feel like I've finally figured things out," said Bijak, coming off two of the best all-around scores of her career (career-high 39.575 followed by 39.525 at Florida last week), and I go into the meet with not as much pressure as I did at the beginning of the season. I'm really enjoying what I do right now."

When she arrived in Utah, Bijak spoke English but was unsure of college gymnastics. It's far more team-oriented than the international style, and there's less time to practice. "I feel really comfortable with the gymnastics I'm doing now. I'm not doing as hard routines as I did with elite, and I'm really confident with them, and I'm still scoring very well."

DiLuzio was NCAA vault runner-up as a freshman but has battled elbow and leg problems her whole career. Still she's scored 9.95 on floor four times and on vault once this season.

As for tonight's finale — the Utes host the 2010 North Central Regional April 10, but this is the last regular-season meet in the Huntsman.

"It's exciting, it's sad, it's so many different emotions," DiLuzio said. "It's crazy because it is coming to an end — and the realization that there's no more gymnastics in a month, there's no more going in the gym to work out and no more assignments to do.

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Olympic Gymnastics Center athletes vault to the top of Washington (Bremerton Patriot)

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 02:16 PM PDT

A pair of young gymnasts who train at the Olympic Gymnastics Center in Silverdale are state champions now.

Aliyah Cabrera, 9, and Samantha Wallace, 10, both of Poulsbo, took first place in their respective age divisions in the vault competition at the 2010 Level 7 Washington State Championships last weekend at Seattle Pacific University.

Competing in the Child A division, Cabrera won the vault with a score of 9.725. She placed third in both the beam and all-around competition, registering scores of 9.5 and 37.175.

Wallace competed in the Child B division, winning the vault with 9.45 points and placing fifth in the all-around with a score of 36.025.

"They worked really hard all season," coach Greg Mutchler said. "They are going to shoot even higher next year."

Forty-eight teams and more than 200 athletes competed at the state competition, and Olympic Gymnastics finished 14th overall with a team score of 109.8. Leading Edge Gymnastics Academy of Everett won the team competition with 113.8 points.

Mutchler sent six Level 7 athletes to the competition, Nicole Hansen, Vicky Camp, Danessa Blandford and D'Anne Davidson being the others. Hansen took sixth in the all-around in the Child B division, while Davidson placed fourth in the all-around in the Senior D division.

"We're getting a real young group moving up," Mutchler said. "They all did really well."

Central Kitsap Reporter Sports writer Wesley Remmer can be reached at sports@centralkitsapreporter.com or (360) 308-9161.

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