By
Adrienne Mackey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA to compete in field of 6 ranked Pac-10 teams
When the UA gymnastics team takes the floor this weekend in Seattle, they will try to put an exclamation point on a season that featured record-breaking individual performances.
Breaking several school records and being ranked nationally at the end of the season are just some of the accomplishments UA has made in the 2001 season.
UA travels to Seattle this weekend to compete in the Pacific 10 Championships, one of the nation's toughest meets.
After all, the Wildcats are in a tough, six-team conference in which all of the Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 25 nationally.
Every meet the Cats competed in this year seemed to boast of a new record set - whether it was Kara Fry topping the beam or Randi Liljenquist sticking her vault routine, the athletes made the regular season a highlight reel of individual performances.
But gymnastics is a team sport.
Arizona finished the regular season 5-15 overall, losing several meets by less than one point..
Senior Kara Fry, who broke many records and set many personal bests this season, says this weekend meet will help the Wildcats earn points toward the Regional Qualifying System, which ranks the team nationally and qualifies them for the NCAA Regionals.
As UA approaches postseason play, the team is confident that it can advance to the NCAA finals in April.
"We're sitting pretty," Fry said.
Little slips, misses and falls have kept this team from winning meets during the regular season, but UA head coach Bill Ryden said he hopes to see better performances from UA this weekend.
"We really have to buckle down for this weekend because this is the time when everything counts," he said.
