96625929662592

Gymnastics Hosts UC Davis This Friday Night

Feb. 1, 2017

SJSU Weekly Release

UC Davis Release

This Week:

Fri., February 3 UC Davis The Event Center 7:00 p.m.

Live stats -

Live video stream - http://www.sjsuspartans.com/videos or https://livestream.com/sanjosestate

The San José State women's gymnastics team opens the home portion of the 2017 schedule this week with a meet this Friday night against UC Davis. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. for those who want to watch warm ups. After an exhibition by Bay Aerials, the teams will march out at 7 p.m. After the final rotation, California Sports Center Great Oaks will perform an exhibition, followed by the reading of the top-three results in each event and team standings, a dance off with the gymnasts and finally autograph signings by both teams.

Tickets for the meet are available at the door or by calling the Spartan Ticket Office at (408) 924-SJTX (7589). Tickets are - adults $7, youth 12-and-under $5, and youth in gymnastics gear that night are free.

National Rankings - Team Scores

UC Davis 37th 194.019

San José State 49th 193.213

This will be the second of four meetings between the Spartans and Aggies. The two teams competed at the NorCal Classic where UC Davis scored a 193.875, and the Spartans had a 192.600. The teams will compete against each other later this month in a quad meet at UC Davis. Both teams will also compete at the 2017 MPSF Championships hosted by San José State this year at The Event Center.

Aggie Alexis Brown is the MPSF Gymnast of the Week after winning the all-around last week with a 39.125. She had a 9.850 on balance beam. Senior Rachel Kreager is the MPSF Specialist of the Week after winning the bars title with a 9.850.

HEAD COACH

Spartan head coach Wayne Wright is in his 16th year at the helm of the program. He has coached all seven San José State regional qualifying teams and taken three individual competitors to the NCAA Championships.

Wright is assisted by associate head coach Shella Martinez who is in her 13th season with the Spartans. She is primarily responsible for the beam team and is the team's recruiting coordinator. Former Spartan Alise Blackwell joined the Spartan coaching staff in 2015 as an assistant coach and is the team's bars coach.

MPSF WEEKLY HONORS

Taylor Chan has been named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Gymnastics Freshman of the Week twice this season - January 17 and 31.

At the Metroplex Challenge, she won the floor title with a season-high 9.850, and helped the floor team to a season-best 49.050. She added a team-best 9.775, and a season-high 48.750 team score.

In her first collegiate meet at the NorCal Classic, Chan tied for sixth on floor with a 9.775. She added a 9.775 on vault and a 9.575 on beam.

At Sacramento State on January 13, Chan tied for first on vault with a 9.775 to win her first collegiate event. She tied for second on floor with a season-best 9.825.

BARS TEAM TIES 6TH-HIGHEST SJSU SCORE

The Spartan bars team tied the sixth-best score in school history in a meet at California with Washington on Saturday, January 21. The team posted a 49.025. Rachel Heinl, Stephanie Relova and Kaitlin Won each scored a 9.825 to lead the team. Kaprece Nadonza added a season-best 9.800, followed by Kendal Watts also with a season-best 9.750 and Haleigh Shepard at 9.675.

VAULT, FLOOR TEAMS POST TOP-15 SCORES

The Spartan vault and floor teams posted team scores at the Metroplex Challenge that landed in the top-15 in San José State history. The vault team scored a season-high 48.750 to tied for the 14th-best score, led by Taylor Chan and Josalyn Ray who each had a 9.775.

The floor team recorded a season-high 49.050, tying for the 13th-best floor score in school history. Contributing on the floor were Chan at 9.850, Kaitlin Won and Erica Matos at 9.825, Chelsey Andrada with a season-best 9.775, Ellie Pascoe-Long at 9.775 and Ray with a season-best 9.750.

HEINL TOP BARS PERFORMER

Senior Rachel Heinl is the MPSF's top bars performer with a 9.825 average. She has received a 9.800 or better in all four meets this season including a season-best 9.850 at the NorCal Classic. She has had a 9.825 in the past two meets.

CHAN, WON TOP FLOOR SCORES

Taylor Chan and Kaitlin Won are the top-two floor performers in the MPSF. Chan tops all MPSF gymnasts with a 9.825 average, while Won is just behind at 9.819. Chan has scored a 9.850 the past two meets. Won has scored a 9.825 in three of the four meets this year.

ALL-AROUNDER

Kaitlin Won is the team's only all-around performer currently. She has a 38.700 average in the all-around and scored a season-high 39.075 last Saturday at California. That was her first 39.000+ score since her freshman year after having her sophomore year ended early due to a concussion.

HOME MEETS

The Spartans host three regular-season meets in 2017. The first home meet is Friday, February 3, against UC Davis, followed by Friday, February 10, against Sacramento State. Both meets begin at 7 p.m. The final meet featuring the Spartan seniors and alumni is Sunday, March 5, against Utah State, beginning at 2 p.m.

MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS MARCH 18

San José State will host the MPSF Championships on Saturday, March 18, at The Event Center beginning at 6 p.m. Teams competing include Air Force, Alaska Anchorage, UC Davis, Sacramento State, Seattle Pacific and the Spartans.

Tickets are on sale for the championships at the Spartan Ticket Office. Prices are $10 for adults, $8 for youth 18-and-under, $6 for groups of 10 more bought prior to the meet through the Spartan Ticket Office and $5 for SJSU students with a Tower Card the day of the meet.

Call the Spartan Ticket Office at (408) 924-SJTX (7589) for more information.

UP NEXT

The Spartans host Sacramento State on Friday, February 10 at The Event Center. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. to watch warm ups. The teams will march in at 7 p.m., followed by the first rotation.