Jacob Konst/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior gymnast Aubrey Taylor performs on beam last season at a meet in McKale Center. The Arizona Gymnastics team took fifth place this weekend at its season opener in the Cancun Gymnastics Classic.

Cats score high on uneven parallel bars

The Arizona gymnastics team finished in fifth place at the Cancun Gymnastics Classic Friday.

In their season-opener the No. 17 Wildcats (192.925) placed last behind No. 1 Georgia (195.650), No. 9 Stanford (194.850), No. 21 Denver (193.850) and No. 10 Oklahoma (193.325) in Cancun, Mexico.

Arizona found the most success on the uneven parallel bars, backed by junior Aubrey Taylor’s fourth-place score of 9.800 and sophomore Danielle Hicks’ 9.775 as the Wildcats scored 48.750 in the event.

Arizona nearly equaled that result in the floor exercise with a 48.625 score. Taylor and sophomore Karin Wurm both led the Wildcats with scores of 9.800.

Sophomore Rachelle Silberg, freshman Alexis Greene and Hicks all scored 9.700 on the vault, and the Wildcats finished with a team score of 48.125.

The Wildcats earned a 47.425 score in the balance beam as senior Erin Muirhead received a 9.600.

In the all-around, Taylor (38.575) and Hicks (38.525) earned top-10 finishes. Wurm (38.250) debuted as an Arizona all-arounder while Taylor competed in four events for the first time since 2004.

Freshmen Bree Workman (9.550 on vault), Briana Bergeson (9.575 on bars and 9.450 on beam), Sarah Parsons (9.675 on bars) and Greene (9.750 on bars, 9.700 on vault and 9.275 on floor) all made their collegiate debuts.

Arizona competes next on Saturday when they battle Penn State and Alabama on the Nittany Lions’ campus.