Wildcats facing more than 'patsies' in preseason

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Nancy Milberger practices her beam routine yesterday at the Gymnastics Practice Facility. The No. 12 Gymcats beat against Boise State, last Friday at the McKale Center.

The No. 12 Wildcats (1-0) start a rigorous three-meet span Saturday when the team faces fifth-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City. Following the battle with the Utes, Arizona will host a meet against top-ranked UCLA then hit the road to face second-ranked Georgia and fourth-ranked Michigan in Athens, Ga., Jan. 25.

"It's going to be a kind of trial by fire," said UA head coach Jim Gault. "Even if we go out there and get our butts kicked, it'll be a good wake-up call for our conference season. We plan on facing these teams again in the NCAA's later in the season, so this will be a good barometer for us to see how well we compete before the heart of the season begins.

"You don't learn anything by scheduling a bunch of patsies and then getting killed in your conference. This will be good for us."

The Wildcats are coming off a 189.200 - 188.375 win over No. 21 Boise State Friday at McKale Center. And while the team had over a dozen falls throughout its first meet, there were some encouraging performances.

Junior Kristin McDermott gave a solid performance in the all-around competition by recording the second-best overall mark of 37.775. McDermott, the only Wildcat to reach the 1997 NCAA Championships, looks to be the main candidate to step in for injured All-American Heidi Hornbeek, who is redshirting this season following offseason shoulder surgery.

"Losing Heidi for the season costs us a great competitor. We still have a lot of good gymnasts, but Heidi's scoring potential is hard to match," Gault said of the 1996 National Champion. "Kristin has done well in practice and had a good first meet. She should be a major contributor and compete in the all-around for us this season."

While McDermott challenges herself to keep improving, she doesn't appear to feel any external pressure this season.

"I think I have done pretty well so far. Especially considering I have added new routines in almost every event," McDermott said. "But I'm not really trying to go out there and replace Heidi. We have a great group of four seniors to lead us and also four new freshman that look to be capable of helping out this season."

One of the seniors also expected to contribute in the all-around is Tenli Poggemeyer. She set a personal-best 9.825 in the floor competition - the top mark in Friday's meet. Junior All-American Maureen Kealey also figures to be in the mix after recovering from arm surgery last season. She recorded a meet-high 9.70 in Friday's vault competition.

"I think this weekend's meet in Utah should let our team know what it will be like to face a top team," Poggemeyer said. "But I think we will do well as long as we go out and do the routines like we are capable of and, most importantly, limit our falls."