BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (April 12, 2012) - The
William and Mary women's gymnastics team earned its second-best score of the
season but placed third in the first session at the USAG Collegiate
Championships hosted by Bridgeport on Thursday afternoon. Texas Woman's College
won the session with a 193.625, while Air Force edged W&M, 192.300-192.250,
to earn a spot in Friday's team finals. Centenary College placed fourth with a
190.750.
Senior Kristin Milardo and sophomore Jessica Pritchard placed first and second, respectively,
in the session's all-around competition, while they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, overall. With the performances, both garnered USAG Collegiate All-America first-team honors. Milardo earned a 38.825, while
Pritchard recorded a 38.775 - her second-best score of the season.
Following the competition, Milardo was honored as the 2012
USAG Collegiate Senior Gymnast of the Year for her outstanding season.
In addition to
their impressive efforts as all-arounders, Milardo qualified for Saturday's
individual event finals on vault and bars while Pritchard will compete on bars
and beam. Freshmen Brandy Stover (beam) and Stacia Ruse (floor) will also
compete in Saturday's individual event finals. All four gymnasts earned USAG Collegiate All-America First Team honors.
Milardo
highlighted the Tribe's performance on vault and earned a 9.875, which ties for
the second-best score in school history in the event. Junior Jennifer Ware also
came up big with a career-high 9.800 en route to helping W&M earn a team
total of 48.300. Additionally, Ware earned second-team USAG Collegiate All-America honors with her performance.
Pritchard led
the College on bars with a team-best 9.725, which ranked as the top mark in the
opening session. Milardo also qualified for Saturday's individual event finals
with a 9.700, while freshman Carleigh Wrobel contributed to the team total
(48.000) in the event with a 9.625.
Pritchard and
Stover were W&M's top performers on beam and both registered a 9.700. The
score represented a career high for Pritchard. The Tribe earned a 47.450 as a
team in the event.
Ruse tied for
second on floor with a career-best 9.825 en route to earning a spot in
Saturday's event finals. Pritchard also performed well and posted a 9.750 to
help the Tribe register a 48.500 in the event.
Saturday's individual
event finals will get underway at 1 p.m.
