Tigers score high on the road
The high score allows the team to replace a Regional Qualifying Score.
Published March 20, 2007
The gymnastics team achieved one of its best scores in the history of the program on Friday night. The team faced the No. 11 Michigan Wolverines and rose to the occasion to come up with a 196.675-196.1 win.
"I think it was a huge accomplishment," coach Rob Drass said. "I think the team grew up in terms of we brought our A-game and gave it the whole way through. We didn't get intimidated."
The team scored at least a 49 on each of the four rotations, including a 49.35 on floor, the fifth-best score in program history. The score was guided by sophomore Adrianne Perry's 9.925 and junior Julie Abaray's 9.9.
Abaray said the team does not aim for scores because it cannot control the judges. Instead, the aim is to hit each routine to the best of the gymnast's ability, something that was finally accomplished Friday.
"It's just a great feeling to know that we went 24 for 24 for the first time this year, so in doing that, our scores should be above 49," Abaray said.
Perry won the all-around title with a career high score of 39.55.
"We were just right on for the competition, so it felt really good," Perry said.
She said that the team did not have a good warm-up, but that it is not unusual for the team to match a bad warm-up with a good meet.
"We've had a couple bad warm-ups before and have done just fine in competition," Perry said. "So I feel like we just try to push the bad stuff aside."
The score will not count in the team's Regional Qualifying Score, as it is the highest of the season. But the team's previous high, a 196.075 on Feb. 23 in the Callaway Bank Cat Classic will now count and replace a 193.825 scored at Oklahoma on Jan. 19.
"It was absolutely fantastic to get rid of that one," Drass said. "It really closed the gap on the rest of the group as far as our RQS goes."
The score improved the team's RQS from a 195.075 to a 195.52. Although the Tigers remain 18th in the country, they are now within .4 RQS points of the five teams immediately ahead of them.
The gymnasts said they look at the rankings, but don't dwell on them.
"We watch it," freshman Danielle Guider said. "But not really because it's counting old scores, and we're building."
In gymnastics, a team's postseason fate is entirely based on scores and not on strength of schedule. Even still, Guider said beating Michigan helped the team.
"I think that this helps build our confidence because we know that we are a good team," she said.
Although confidence might help the team in Friday's meet at Arkansas and in the postseason, Perry said it is important to guard against over-confidence.
"It probably boosted our confidence a little," she said of beating Michigan. "But I think it's important to continue to stay grounded and know that we still have a lot of work to do."