Perry finishes 22nd at nationals

By Sam Wilson

Published April 27, 2007

Sophomore gymnast Adrianne Perry competed in Salt Lake City Thursday as an individual at the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row. In the all-around competition, she finished in 22nd place with a score of 39.075.

Her score placed her just outside All-America status, reserved for the top eight performers in each of the two sessions. The top four of those were named to the first team and advanced to Saturday's finals.

"Adrianne really had a good meet tonight, she was solid everywhere," coach Rob Drass said in a news release. "She looked good on all four events and was especially great on beam, where she included her skill in the routine. It's always tough to compete without a team, but it was a great meet for her, and I'm really proud."

Perry's scores for the events were as follows: 9.775 on floor, tied for 26th; 9.8 on vault, tied for 29th; 9.7 on bars, tied for 31st; and 9.8 on beam, tied for 17th. Her beam score tied her score from last year as the highest event total in MU's history.

Thursday night, she rotated with Stanford. Every step of the way, she had to listen to the Stanford Cardinal's chants and inside jokes. But she wasn't in Salt Lake City alone.

"I'm bringing Alicia Hatcher, my teammate and best friend," she said on Monday. "Last year, we were doing our own little chants."

Hatcher said she is hoping to give the experience some normalcy. She said her role at the meet is to provide a friendly reminder of the team back home.

Hatcher went on to say she and assistant coach Lauren Schwartzmann were there to help keep Perry on track and focused on what a normal meet would be like.

"Rather than focusing on what other teams are doing, she can focus on what we're doing," Hatcher said.

Perry qualified for nationals as an all-around competitor. She scored a 39.300 at the NCAA Regionals on April 14 in Berkeley, Calif.

But Perry has not been working out alone to prepare for nationals. Various teammates voluntarily came out to practice with her.

"It makes it much easier," she said. "Because this week of practice can be very difficult because, obviously, I'm the only one doing routines. It's still kind of hard because everyone else is working (on) new skills, and I'm still doing the same routines that I've done for the last four or five months."

Hatcher stressed how truly voluntary the practices were, saying it showed the character of the team.

"I think it shows a lot about our team that we're here to support her," she said. "Not only to support her but to get better for next year too. We don't have to be here now. We don't have to be here all summer, at all. They can't make us do anything."

Perry also missed earning All-America honors last season.

"I have upgraded skills since last season," she said. "I think last year no one knew who I was. I was a freshman, and I was at nationals without my team, which they tend to not pay as much attention to you as an individual than if you have your team. I probably hit the most perfect beam routine I ever did last year at nationals, and I only went 9.8, and I saw some of the other routines that beat me, and I don't know."

Earlier in the week, Drass said Perry's return would lead to better respect.

"I think that if you're not going as a member of a team, sometimes you're kind of looked down upon at the NCAA Championships," he said. "And sometimes you're not. If you return as an individual all-arounder, the more times you return the more respect you get from the experience. The judges just know you."

Drass said it isn't as difficult when he is only working with one gymnast as opposed to an entire team.

"It's just like we would prepare the team, but it's just one person," he said. "So it's a lot easier, I just have got to get one person ready and feeling good. And Adrianne's fairly easy to get ready and feeling good. She's really consistent that way."