Tribe Competes at USAG Prelims

Senior Christina Padilla Advanced to Individual Finals

04/20/07 11:30AM

Seattle, Wash. - The William and Mary women’s gymnastics squad competed in the team preliminaries of the 2007 USAG Gymnastics Collegiate National Championship last night at Seattle Pacific, and the Tribe placed fourth in a very competitive second session, missing out on advancing to the finals on Friday night. W&M recorded a total score of 189.100, which was seventh overall in the eight-team prelim.

Seattle Pacific (193.450) posted the top score in session two, while defending champion Texas Women’s College (193.050) also advanced to the team finals out of the second session, edging Cornell (192.625). Towson and Centenary were the top two finishers in session one.

Individually, senior Christina Padilla (Sterling, Va.) earned a spot in the individual finals Saturday on both vault and bars. The top five places (with a maximum of three per team) in each event earned berths in Saturday’s individual finals. Padilla was brilliant in both events, placing second in session two and fourth overall on vault with a mark of 9.825, while also finishing second in session two and fourth on the night on bars with a score of 9.750.

Junior Tricia Long (Humble, Texas), who competed in the NCAA Southeast Regional last weekend as an all-arounder, placed fourth in the all-around of session two with a total of 37.125, but just missed out on earning USAG All-America honors outside of the top eight overall.

W&M began the session on beam and got off to a solid start behind senior Andrea Dochney (Westmont, N.J.), who notched a team-high 9.625 place 10th in session two. Freshman Ali Medeiros (Hudson, Ohio), a Second-Team All-ECAC performer, capped an outstanding freshman season with another strong beam performance Thursday night, scoring a 9.600. Freshman Stephanie Bevan (Bridgewater, N.J.), who was also a key contributor as a rookie for the Tribe, turned in a nice 9.575 to place 14th in session two.

In the second rotation, the Tribe moved on to floor and put together one of its finer efforts of the season, compiling its second-highest total for the year (47.350). Junior Stevie Waldman (Downingtown, Pa.), who also competed at the NCAA Regional last weekend, led the way nailing her routine to the tune of a 9.750, though she finished one spot outside of the top-five in a tie for sixth place. Long, who held the team’s top average on floor this season, once again came up big in the event with a 9.700 to place 11th, and senior Jess Randall (West Hartford, Conn.), the reigning USAG Co-National Champion on floor, finished a tough year with a great 9.675 to place 13th. Sophomore Becca Bacharach (Lancaster, Pa.) capped her breakout season with a 9.575 on floor.

W&M moved on to vault in the third rotation and the team continued to build momentum in its bid to reach the team finals for the second-straight year, posting its second-best total on vault this year (47.875) behind Padilla. Bacharach was also fantastic on vault scoring a 9.600 to tie for 12th place. Medeiros scored a 9.500, and both Long and sophomore Sarah Jacobson (Brecksville, Ohio) posted a 9.475, though the three scores couldn’t crack the top-20 against a strong field in the second ses-sion.

In the fourth rotation, though, the Tribe struggled through a frustrating bars event, where the team had to count a couple falls. Padilla once again led the way, and Medeiros finished an outstanding night with a 9.650. Jacobson was also solid on bars with a 9.425, but it wasn’t enough as the Tribe finished with a 46.775 in the event.

The event thus marked the final team competition of the season for the Tribe, but Padilla will return to action on Saturday aim-ing for USAG All-America honors in the individual finals.

Complete Results Session Two

Session 2 Only Results

Team Scores
1, Seattle Pacific 193.450, 2, Texas Woman’s 193.050; 3, Cornell 192.625; 4, William & Mary 189.100

Vault
1, Kristin Bryant, SPU, 9.875; 2, Christina Padilla, WM, 9.825; 3, Sarah Sullivan, SPU; Colleen Davis, CU, and Catherine Schnoes, TWU, 9.750

Bars
1, Courtney Arno, TWU, 9.825; 2, Christina Padilla, WM, 9.750; 3, Debra Huss, SPU and Brianna Schwartz, SPU 9.725; 5, Molly Parker, CU, 9.700

Beam
1, Debra Huss, SPU, 9.825; 2, Kari Kucera, CU, 9.800; 3, Rachel Zimmerman, TWU, 9.775; 4, Christie Chinaka, SPU and Courtney Arno, TWU, 9.750

Floor
1, Sarah Sullivan, SPU, 9.825; 2, Brianna Schwartz, SPU, and Debra Huss, SPU, 9.800; 4, Kari Kucera, CU, and Amy Hulbert, TWU, 9.775

All-Around
1 Debra Huss, SPU, 38.950; 2, Brianna Schwartz, SPU, 38.825; 3, Sarah Sullivan , SPU, 38.325; 4, Tricia Long, WM, 37.125; 5, Erika Pysh, SCSU, 37.025

Final All-Around (Both Sessions) USAG All-Americans
1. Christina Ghani, TOW, 39.025; 2, Debra Huss, SPU, 38.950; 3, Brianna Schwartz, SPU, 38.825; 4, Decelia Willacy, TOW, 38.800; 5, Kristina Moore, CC, 38.750; 6, Jackie Schweitzer, TOW, 38.675; 7, Sarah Sullivan, SPU, 38.325; 8, Elizabeth Fit-tery, RUT, 38.300