Feb. 16, 2017
This Week:
Sat., February 18 Air Force USAFA 6:00 p.m. MT/5:00 p.m. PT
Live video stream - https://livestream.com/airforce/events/6959155
The San José State women's gymnastics team travels to Colorado Springs this weekend for a meet at the United States Air Force Academy Saturday night. The Spartans are coming off their best meet of the year as SJSU scored a season-high 195.200 including a 49.025 on beam.
National Rankings - Team Scores
San José State 46th 193.663
Air Force 59th 191.904
This will be the first of two meetings between the Spartans and Falcons. The two teams will compete against each other at the 2017 MPSF Championships hosted by San José State this year at The Event Center.
Air Force scored a season-best 194.500 last weekend in a home meet with UC Davis and Seattle Pacific. Falcon Riley Hill leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on the beam with a 9.783 average. She scored a career-best 9.850 last weekend in a meet with Seattle Pacific and UC Davis.
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
Again this week, two Spartans were honored by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for their performances against Sacramento State last week.
Tiffany Chan was named the MPSF Freshman of the Week for the third time this season. She won the floor with a season-high 9.875, and tied for first on beam with Relova at 9.850. This was her first beam title and second floor title. Chan was also second on the vault with a 9.750.
Stephanie Relova was named the MPSF Specialist of the Week for the first time in her career. She tied for first with Chan on the beam with a career-best 9.850, her first collegiate beam title. Relova also finished fourth on the bars with a 9.725.
In all, the Spartans have won six MPSF of the Week honors. Last week, Kaitlin Won was the Gymnast of the Week, while Kaprece Nadonza was the Specialist of the Week. Won claimed the all-around title with a career-best 39.225 against UC Davis on February 3. Won also tied for first on the floor with a career-best 9.850. She led the Spartan vault team with a second-place 9.800, and finished third on the bars at 9.800 and beam at 9.775. Nadonza capturing her first event title of her collegiate career with a career-best 9.850 on bars to win the event. This is her first MPSF honor of her career.
Chan has been the MPSF Freshman of the Week two other times - January 17 and 31. She won the floor title at the Metroplex Challenege and tied for first on vault at Sacramento State the two weeks she was honored.
BEST SCORE IN MPSF
The Spartans scored the highest team score in the MPSF last week with a 195.200 against Sacramento State on February 10. The team had not broken the 194.000 barrier until last week's score. The 195.200 is the 16th-best team score in school history, and this is the first team to receive that specific score.
RELOVA WINS FIRST BEAM TITLE
Sophomore Stephanie Relova, in her first year competing after missing last season with a knee injury, scored a season-best 9.850 on beam against Sacramento State (February 10) to tie teammate Taylor Chan and win the beam title. It is the first event title for Relova in her career.
BEAM TEAM WITH TOP-FOUR SCORE
The Spartan beam led the way against Sacramento State on February 10 with a season-high 49.025, tying for the fourth-highest beam score in school history. Taylor Chan and Stephanie Relova led the way as they each scored a 9.850. Chelsey Andrada had a season-high 9.800, followed by Kaitlin Won at 9.775, Alisa Bogdan at 9.750.
NADONZA WINS FIRST BARS TITLE OF CAREER
Sophomore Kaprece Nadonza, in just her fifth career bars routine, scored a career-best 9.850 on bars and won her first career event title against UC Davis on February 3.
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 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 9.792 average. She has received a 9.800 or better in four of the five meets this season including a season-best 9.850 at the NorCal Classic. She has had a 9.825 in a meet at Cal and at the Metroplex Challenge.
CHAN, WON TOP FLOOR SCORES
Taylor Chan and Kaitlin Won sit 1-2 in the MPSF floor standings. Chan is tops in the league with a 9.829 average, while Won is closely behind at 9.821. Chan won the floor against Sacramento State with a season-best 9.875, the top floor score this year for the Spartans. Won won the floor against UC Davis with a 9.850 and has not scored lower than a 9.800 all season.
ALL-AROUNDER
Kaitlin Won is the team's only all-around performer this year. She has a 38.850 average in the all-around and recorded a career-best 39.225 against UC Davis on February 3. She scored a 39.075 at California in January and against Sacramento State on February 10.
HOME MEETS
The Spartans host one more regular-season meet on Sunday, March 5 against Utah State, beginning at 2 p.m. The three Spartan seniors, Rachel Heinl, Erica Matos and Haleigh Shepard, will be honored after the meet.
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 continue on the road as they travel up Interstate 80 to UC Davis for a quadrangular meet on Friday, February 24. The Spartans will face the Aggies, Sacramento State and Seattle Pacific that night beginning at 7 p.m.