By
Adrienne Mackey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Team likely to move up in the rankings despite losing by just half of 1 point
In what UA head coach Bill Ryden called "a great meet to watch if you're a gymnastics fan," the UA gymnastics team fell to in-state rival Arizona State Friday night in McKale Center.
More than 500 fans attended the vital regular-season meet, where the Wildcats needed to garner valuable points for post-season rankings.
The meet was another close one, in typical Arizona fashion, with UA losing by .550 of a point.
The GymCat faithful got to ride another roller coaster, with Arizona losing by less than one point and setting a new school record in the process.
The team total for UA was 196.900, a season-high and record-high tally for the program.
Unfortunately for UA, the Sun Devils also managed to set a school record, beating UA.
"For us to break a school record, it was an awesome weekend," senior Kara Fry said. "It means a lot because our team unity is so much better this year."
Arizona (4-14 overall, 1-7 Pacific 10 Conference) came into the meet ranked No. 22 nationally while the Sun Devils (7-4, 5-2) were No. 9.
Though Arizona lost, the team will likely move up in the rankings because of the high team total they posted Friday.
"It's frustrating, but even though we lose meets, our scores are what counts," Fry said. "It's about getting scores, it's not like baseball or (other sports)."
In collegiate gymnastics, rankings are not based on overall record but on points garnered.
The Regional Qualifying System keeps track of point totals across the country for gymnastics, and Arizona looks to move up in the rankings, despite the loss.
"Every meet we have a good meet, we jump leaps and bounds in the RQS," Ryden said.
Junior All-American Randi Liljenquist wowed the McKale crowd when she won the vault, the balance beam and the All-Around title.
Fry and Mary Reiss - both seniors - also contributed to the record-high total, with Reiss finishing third on the floor, and Fry placing fourth in the All-Around.
"These last three meets are going to be exciting and are aimed at getting Randi, Kara and the rest of the team ready for the post-season," Ryden said.
The GymCats, who have the school's second-longest post-season appearance streak, behind the men's basketball team, have their goals set high when it comes to the playoffs.
After coming close to beating Stanford, Washington, UCLA and Arizona State, the Wildcats feel they have a good chance at impressing the gymnastics world this March.
"We are a totally different team now," Ryden said. "If we could compete against a lot of the teams we faced earlier in the season, there would be different results this time around."
