UA gymnasts falter against Boise State

Jennifer Menditch Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior Maureen Kealey performs her balance beam routine at the meet against Oregon State Jan. 15 at McKale Center. Kealey performed in her first all-around against Boise State in over a year due to a broken leg. The No. 21 Wildcats lost to Boise State on Sunday.

Whether it was illness, lack of concentration or the bad karma of facing the Broncos on Super Bowl Sunday, the No. 21-ranked Wildcats (3-2 overall, 1-1 Pacific 10 Conference) fell to host Boise State 192.575 to 188.600.

To salvage the meet, Arizona managed to defeat visiting Cal-State Fullerton, which finished with a mark of 184.575.

"This was probably our worst meet of the season," UA assistant coach John Court said. "We had three falls on floor, four girls also fell out of bounds. On beam, we also fell three times. We really have to regroup this week."

The Wildcats, battling illness most of last week, had a thin lineup in nearly every event. In fact, Arizona only used four competitors in the vault and was without seniors Kristin McDermott and Heidi Hornbeek in the all-around.

"Most people forget that 70 percent of our lineup is new this season. And when we add illness and injury to that, we lose a great deal of depth," Court said. "So, in that respect, the best thing about this meet was that no one got hurt."

The one bright spot for the Wildcats was the performance given by senior Maureen Kealey. Kealey made the most of her first all-around appearance in over a year as she finished third in the meet with a score of 37.925. Kealey had been out with a broken leg suffered Jan. 16, 1998, in Utah. Fellow senior Hornbeek also picked up some slack in the two events she performed. She scored the team's high mark on the beam (9.850) and continued her consistency on bars (9.650).

"Maureen did a good job for us in her first all-around in a long time," Court said. "The key for her was hitting her vault. That was the event that was giving her trouble and she did a good job with her vault on Sunday."

The Wildcats also received encouraging efforts from freshmen Brooke Stan, Randi Liljenquist and Emily Peterman. Stan did well in both the vault (9.700) and beam (9.650), while Liljenquist added some depth to the bars (9.650) and floor (9.575). Peterman gave Arizona's second best beam performance, finishing with a 9.700.

"This freshman class is really doing an incredible job," Court said. "Brooke hasn't missed a routine in three weeks and Randi has been a pleasant surprise on beam. We will receive another boost this week when freshman Lindsay Compitello returns from an arm injury."