March 7, 2014
Logan, Utah - The San José State University women's gymnastics team scored its fourth-straight score over-195.000 but fell at Utah State in a dual with the Aggies, 195.525-195.100, on Friday.
The Aggies' win, during which they posted a season-high score, was their first over the Spartans since March 7, 2008.
"You could see that some of our gymnasys didn't look ready to go based on how our warmups looked, and it held through the meet," head coach Wayne Wright said. "However, we didn't let it affect us the whole time, as shown by the great job our beam team did."
The meet started out with consistent scores across the board for San José State on bars. Marissa Unpingco's 9.775 led the team, while Cassandra Harrison, Alyssa Kaschak, Rachel Heinl and Bekah Gher added matching 9.725 scores for a 48.675 bars score.
The Spartans started out slowly on vault, where they scored a 48.575. Alyssa Montalban and Kiana Gordon earned 9.650 scores in the one and two spots. But the scores steadily increased as the rotation progressed, with Julia Greer and Cami Guyer recording 9.700's, and Cassandra Harrison earning a 9.725.
But San José State saved the best for last. The team's best vault performer with an average score of 9.806, Gher continued to shine on the apparatus. She has placed in the top-2 on vault in four meets this season, and her team-high, second-place 9.800 made it her fifth meet with a top-2 finish. Said Gher, "I worked hard on vault all summer long and my consistency in the gym has carried over to competing, and I think it's showing."
On floor, Jasmine Holmes started things off for the Spartans the right way. She earned a career-best 9.800 in the lead-off spot. "Jasmine did a great job," Wright said. "She's starting to come in to her own and is getting stronger. Tonight was by far one of the best routines she's performed. She's confident and she knew what she was going to do."
Guyer matched Holmes' score with a 9.800. Gher added a 9.700 and Montalban earned a 9.600.
But seniors Harrison and Greer continued their dominance on floor after sharing the floor title on February 28 against Southern Utah. During her performance in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Harrison stuck a near-flawless double tuck on her final pass, helping her to a 9.825 score, and Greer extended her streak to nine-straight floor scores of 9.825-or-higher with a second-place 9.850. The seniors led the Spartans to a 48.975 on floor.
San José State closed the meet on beam with strong scores; four of the six gymnasts earned a 9.775-or-higher. Guyer, Gher and Greer all earned 9.800 scores for second place, a season-best score for Guyer, and Harrison earned a 9.775. Unpingco scored a 9.700 and Kaschak earned a 9.575 to round out the 48.875 showing on the apparatus, the 10th highest beam score in program history.
In the all-around, Harrison's 39.050 gave her second place and Gher finished third with a 39.025. Guyer scored a 37.700.
At Utah State, a San José State gymnast finished in the top-2 in every individual event, with each of its three seniors earning top spots. Gher was second on vault, Gher and Greer finished second on beam alongside Guyer, Greer earned second place on floor and Harrison and Gher had respective second and third place finishes in the all-around.
Said Wright of his three seniors, "That's why their seniors and leading the team. They've been a big part of our success this year because they have the experience and bring it every week. But we need other people to step up along with them."
The Spartans return home on March 14 to celebrate its seniors in the final 2014 home meet. Wright is confident that his team's shaky performance tonight is an anomaly. "It's hard to compete away from home," Wright said, "but I know that this team can do so much better than we did tonight."