Gymcat seniors stomp Cal


By Michael Irish
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, February 7, 2005

The No. 22 Arizona gymnastics team defeated California in Haas Pavilion Friday night, setting a new season high with 194.900 points to the Bears' 189.850.

The Gymcats also set a season high on the floor exercise with a total team score of 49.050.

"It was a good meet. I'm very pleased with how they performed," said Arizona head coach Bill Ryden. "This was the first meet all year without a fall. The team really came together."

The Arizona seniors were spectacular in every event. The Gymcats had the top five individual scores in both the vault and the balance beam events.

Senior Katie Johnson won her fourth consecutive individual title in the vault (9.850) and won the floor exercise with a season-high tying 9.900.

Seniors Jamie Schell and Monica Bisordi also set season highs Friday.

Schell put up a 9.800 in the vault, and Bisordi earned a 9.875 in the floor exercise, both finishing second behind Johnson.

"It's very exciting - always something you look forward to," Schell said about her season-high performance. "We did really well. It was awesome."

Bisordi also won the individual balance beam title, finishing with a season-high 9.900. Johnson (9.800) finished second on the balance beam.

Freshman Danielle Hicks placed third (9.700) and Schell and senior Stevie Fanning tied for fourth with scores of 9.625.

After three straight third-place finishes, Bisordi finally captured the all-around individual title, finishing with a total score of 39.175, her best total of the year.

"Monica had her best meet so far," Ryden said.

Senior Jamie Duce set a season-high in the uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.725, while Fanning finished with a 9.700. They placed third and fourth overall, respectively. Freshman Karin Wurm put up a 9.750, good enough for second place.

Junior Erin Muirhead received a 9.800 in the floor exercise in her first performance of the year, filling in for the injured Aubrey Taylor.

The Gymcats are at home for the next two weeks when they host Stanford in McKale Center Saturday and Oregon State the following week.