Follow The Bruins At The Pac-10 Gymnastics Championships
March 21, 2009 | Gymnastics
March 21, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - The seventh-ranked UCLA Bruins are competing for their 14th Pac-10 Championship this afternoon at Stanford. Fans can follow the action live online at OSUBeavers.com. Major thanks to Oregon State SID Jason Amberg for running the live stats at the meet, and to Washington SID Andrea Chaknis and Nicole Goyette of the Pac-10 Office for their assistance.
Check this space as well for more information as the meet progresses.
Rotation 1 - Stanford starts on vault, Washington on bars, Oregon State on beam and Arizona State on floor. Stanford had an injury during warm-ups earlier today, with vault anchor Alyssa Brown being pulled from the lineup on vault and bars. It didn't affect the Cardinal much on vault, though, as Stanford had five scores of 9.8 or better for a team score of 49.35. Nicole Ourada and Shelley Alexander each scored 9.925. Stanford had Catherine Nguyen scheduled to go up last but did not need her score and thus did not compete her. Washington scored 48.45 on bars, led by a pair of 9.75s from Kristen Linton and Samantha Walior. Oregon State had a few wobbles on beam and a rare fall from Jami Lanz. Mandi Rodriguez led the Beavers with a 9.85. Arizona State on floor was led by a 9.8 by Beate Jones. Anchor Tiana Jean had a huge double pike opening pass that was stuck cold but unfortunately put her hands down on her double tuck last pass and scored 9.25.
Rotation 2 - UCLA opened with a 49.0 on floor. Mizuki Sato had a huge leadoff routine, nailing her 2.5 twist opening pass and sticking her double pike past pass. Vanessa Zamarripa had another charmer, scoring 9.825. Ariana Berlin bounded out a little on her middle 2.5 twist pass and recorded a 9.775. Aisha Gerber hit her full-in opening pass but fell back on her double pike last pass, scoring 9.3. Brittani McCullough had a great routine that scored 9.85, and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs scored 9.7 after stepping out of bounds on her double Arabian. Cal went 47.8 on vault, led by a 9.75 by Sophia Hocini. Briana Bergeson led Arizona on bars with a 9.8, although we are missing a score. If you blink and miss a score, it's really difficult to obtain that missing score. Washington was led by a 9.775 on beam by Amanda Cline and scored 48.35.
Rotation 3 - UCLA was on a bye in rotation three. ASU scored 49.0 on vault. Mary Atkinson and Nicole Harris each scored 9.85, and Beate Jones earned a 9.9. The Sun Devils' anchor, Kelly Reilly, had scores all over the place, getting a 9.7, 9.9, 9.5 and 9.65 for a final total of 9.675. Stanford on bars got a pair of 9.9s from Carly Janiga and Nicole Ourada and totaled 49.275. Arizona had three 9.8+ scores on beam but also had three low marks on beam. The Wildcats were led by Brianna Bergeson's 9.85. Oregon State had a strong floor set, scoring 49.225, led by a 9.9 from anchor Mandi Rodriguez. Stanford holds a 0.675 lead over Oregon State after two events.
Rotation 4 - Bruins on vault scored 49.3. Mizuki Sato led off with a powerful vault and hopped back, scoring 9.825. Brittani McCullough took a step back on her vault and scored 9.85. Ariana Berlin hit a big vault for a career-high tying 9.9. After Aisha Gerber's 9.775, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs recorded a 9.85, and Vanessa Zamarripa had a tiny step back on her otherwise perfect vault and then shuffled her feet, dropping her score to 9.875. Cal on bars was led by a 9.8 by Bridgette Glass. Stanford scored 49.125 on beam, led by a 9.95 from defending Pac-10 beam co-champion Carly Janiga. Washington went 48.625 on floor, led by a 9.85 from Samantha Walior. The Bruins' two-event total is 98.3, while Oregon State has a 97.95. Stanford is finished with three events and has 147.75. The Bruins will need a 49.45 on bars to tie.
Rotation 5 - The Beavers got three-straight career-highs to start vault, with a 9.8 from Stephanie McGregor, 9.85 from Brooke Barclay and 9.875 from Whitney Watson, and one to end, with a 9.95 from Mandi Rodriguez, leading OSU to a team score of 49.325. Arizona State scored 48.15, led by a 9.7 from Stephanie Hangartner. Cal had its best effort on beam with hit routines from its first five up. Bridgette Glass earned a 9.85 to lead the Bears. Arizona had all six athletes go 9.775 or higher, with three scores of 9.85 or better. Sarah Tomczyk led with a 9.875 in the anchor spot.
Rotation 6 - UCLA started off on bars with a 9.825 from Brittani McCullough, who stuck her blind half to double back dismount. McCullough got a 9.9 from one judge but a 9.7 from another. The two scores that counted were 9.8 and 9.85. Aisha Gerber nearly fell off the uneven bars on her Jaeger but held on by taking extra swing. Big variations on that score as well, with a 9.45, 9.2, 9.5 and 9.3. Ariana Berlin hit another big routine, scoring 9.85. Zamarripa held her handstands nicely but took two small steps back on her double layout dismount, scoring 9.8. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs hopped on her double front dismount, scoring 9.725. Again, the judges were all over the place, with a 9.75, 9.85, 9.7 and 9.6. Anna Li finished things off on bars with a big routine punctuated by a stuck double layout dismount. She netted a score of 9.9, tying her season-best. As Anna was sticking her bars dismount, Stanford suffered its second fall on floor, which may have just opened the door for the Beavers and Bruins. Arizona State had a nice beam set (48.75) led by a 9.9 from Nicole Harris. And the Huskies received a 9.9 on from 2007 Pac-10 vault co-champion Ashley Houghting, who stuck her Yurchenko full. UCLA needs a 49.125 on beam to tie Stanford and is currently 0.125 ahead of Oregon State, who is finishing up on bars.
Rotation 7 - Ariana Berlin started off on beam with a solid set, scoring 9.825. Mizuki Sato had a slight stumble on her front handspring mount but hit everything else for a career-high 9.775. Niki Tom provided UCLA with a third strong routine, sticking her double twist dismount for a 9.875. Vanessa Zamarripa made it 4-for-4 with a beauty of a routine, scoring a career-high 9.9. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs kept things going with a 9.9 to clinch first place, and Aisha Gerber finished with a 9.825 for a team total of 49.325, a new season-high. Oregon State scored 49.275 on bars to also vault ahead of Stanford for second place. Leslie Mak and Jen Kesler each had 9.9s to tie for first place.
Postmeet - The Bruins win their 14th Pac-10 title with a final score of 196.725. Oregon State finished second with a 196.55, edging out Stanford, which scored 196.525. Ariana Berlin was named the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for gymnastics. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs was named the Pac-10 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. Mandi Rodriguez of OSU is the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year, and Stanford's Kristen Smyth is the Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
Players Mentioned
