Gymnastics team drops another close decision

"With only one fall, we really had a solid meet," UA gymnastics coach Jim Gault said. "We didn't have anyone do anything spectacular, but we didn't make many mistakes either.

"I think both teams were pretty even and if we would have performed in a better environment with regards to judging, we could have easily won the meet."

Because the team lost by less than one point, the poor judging in the meet was quite frustrating for the No. 25 Wildcats (1-5 overall, 0-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference).

"This was probably the worst judging I have ever seen," Gault said. "I don't think we got the benefit of all the scoring. When you hit virtually everything and don't get one score over 9.8, there is something wrong."

Arizona freshman Kara Fry was the closest to the 9.8 mark when she recorded a 9.775 to tie for second on the bars. But overall, Arizona lingered mostly around the 9.5 and 9.6 range for most of the meet.

"I think we really did a good job on the bars," Gault said. "(Senior) Nancy (Milberger) gave a great effort on the bars in her first meet back."

While the Wildcats have lost four of their last five meets, they may still stay in the top 25 because rankings are calculated by a team's average meet score, not how many wins or loses it has.

Arizona will attempt to gain its first conference victory when the team hosts California, Washington and Illinois-Chicago Feb. 6.