Arizona nabs top three all-around scores in rout of Cal
Arizona gymnastics junior Aubrey Taylor had one goal for herself against the California Golden Bears on Friday.
"I want to get another 9.900 on bars," she said last week.
Taylor was referring to her career-high score on the uneven bars against ASU Jan. 22.
Not only did she match her score, she went out and won the first all-around title of her career with a total score of 39.175. Taylor set or matched her career highs in all four events.
The Wildcats (1-7, 1-1 Pacific 10 Conference) also picked up their first victory of the season in their home opener, defeating Cal (2-6, 0-2) by a score of 195.875-191.325 while setting a new season high for points.
Arizona head coach Bill Ryden said he could also tell that Taylor was due to have a big night.
"She's a great competitor," Ryden said. "She has ice running through her veins."
"(It was) awesome to get a win under our belts," Taylor said. "We wanted this for so long. We were frustrated."
Taylor, who suffered a hip injury and sat out most of practice last week, said the hometown crowd is what willed her to victory.
"The biggest motivation was being at home," she said. "For four meets now we wanted to show our fans we are a good team and that we deserve to be in the top 10."
Ryden said he was proud of the team victory but that he was more impressed with the final score.
"I feel better about the high 195," Ryden said. "That's a really good score around the country."
Elsewhere, senior Erin Muirhead and freshman Alexis Greene established new career highs in the floor exercises, each scoring a 9.825.
Both of the competitors said they wanted to show the crowd how well the team can do this year.
"We get really pumped being at home and watching our friends and classmates in the stand," Muirhead said.
Greene was pleased that the Wildcats could finally put a "W" behind all their hard work.
"We have done really good every week and now it finally shows," she said.
The team easily won all four events with Taylor and sophomores Danielle Hicks and Karin Wurm finishing with the top three all-around scores of the meet.
"It's nice to come out and have a great meet in front of our fans," Ryden said. "I want Tucson to know we have a great team and a great product."