By
Adrienne Mackey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Arizona gymnastics team suffered a tough loss Sunday losing by less than a point to Washington in Seattle.
The two teams faced off two weeks ago in Los Angeles, where the Huskies finished second in the four-team UCLA Invitational. The Wildcats finished last.
With another week came another close call. Arizona finished just .075 points behind the Huskies in the meet, which came down to the final event.
In front of a crowd of 814 people at Bank of America Arena, senior Kara Fry fell on the balance beam, missing out on much needed points for the Wildcats.
"We would have (won), which pretty much stinks," she said. "I just did my mount and just fell off. The beam's only four inches long and its a little crooked."
When the final points were tallied, Arizona finished just short.
"It was a very exciting meet because it was close all the way through," UA head coach Bill Ryden said.
"If it came down to the very end, I would have bet the farm on her not falling," Ryden said. "In reality, we know that we're a very good team, regardless of wins or losses."
Fry said that despite some post-meet frustration, she was pleased with her performance.
"I felt pretty bad," she said. "But then I thought that a missed step here and a missed handstand there, and we would have won. The team really helped me out."
Despite the loss, Arizona managed to post its best showing of the season.
The Cats dominated in two individual events and in the all-around competition.
Junior All-American Randi Liljenquist won the beam with a score of 9.900 and tied for first place in the all-around.
Fry proved superior on the vault, with Wildcat freshman Andi McCabe finishing a close second.
In terms of score, the meet against the Huskies was a marquee showing for the Cats. The gymnasts posted a season-high total 195.575, the seventh-highest team score in school history.
"To almost beat them on their home court hurt us a little bit," Fry said. "But, we put up such a great score. Just doing that well puts a fire under us."
With the loss to the Huskies, Arizona has dropped to 4-12 overall and 1-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference.
The Cats come home Friday night to McKale Center, where they will face No. 5 Stanford at 7:30.
