By
Adrienne Mackey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Fry and Liljenquist move on to nationals in all-around and floor events
The UA gymnastics team suffered another too-close defeat this weekend at the NCAA South Central Regionals. The Wildcats, who were the No. 4 seed in their bracket, placed third - missing the finals by .10 of a point.
Two teams, No. 3 Nebraska (23-1) and No. 19 Oklahoma(20-7), will move on to compete for the title of National Champions.
Arizona (9-22) finished the meet with a score of 194.825, placing UA behind Oklahoma and just short of earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Coach Bill Ryden said he was disappointed that his team, as a whole, will not move on.
"It was a very exciting meet, but it was heartbreaking to get third by that close," he said.
The same event that had been a spoiler for the team all year showed up at Regionals. "The beam sort of let us down again," Ryden said.
Despite the team's failure to advance, two UA gymnasts - senior Kara Fry and junior Randi Liljenquist - will advance to Nationals without their teammates.
Fry, who was named Regional Gymnast of the Year, will compete in the all-around competition, the measuring stick for a total gymnast.
"My moving onto Nationals is bittersweet because it was our team's goal to go on to Nationals and represent Arizona to the fullest," Fry said. "I really wish the whole team could go because they deserve to be there."
Nationals will take place this weekend in Athens, Ga. Both Liljenquist and Fry will go and compete amongst the best gymnasts in the nation for the all-around and floor titles. Twelve teams and twelve individual athletes are set to face off.
Despite the rough finish to the season, Fry said UA should be in good shape next season. .
"Our finish at Regionals leaves the team in a good spot for next year," Fry said.
