Records Fall as Women's Gymnastics Nets Season High Score
March 14, 2000 Chicago, Ill. - The UIC women's gymnastics team turned in its finest performance of the season Tuesday night, narrowly missing the school's all-time high score in a 195.675-194.550 victory over Illinois State. Senior Kim Ball tied the school record on balance beam as the Flames shattered the school record on that event with 49.250 points.
The season-high point total could not have come at a better time for UIC as the Flames are in a down-to-the-wire race for one of the final spots to the NCAA Regionals in April.
"Our team gave a tremendous performance here tonight," Head Coach Peter Jansson said after the meet. "Our girls really stepped it up a notch. We knew we needed a strong finish to make it to the NCAA Regionals, and I am proud that our team came through tonight with so much on the line."
UIC was strong on every event. Senior Gabriella Brunn - competing in the final home meet of her career - took first on the floor exercise with a 9.825. She also earned a top-three finish on the balance beam, tying for third with a score of 9.850.
Ball also made the most of her final appearance at UIC. The senior stole the show Tuesday night, winning three of the meet's four events, tying the school record on the balance beam in the process. Ball scored a 9.925 on beam, matching the record first set by Brunn in 1999 and later tied by Ball against Southeast Missouri State earlier this season. Ball also won on the uneven bars, matching UIC's top score of the season on that event with a 9.900, which she also set earlier in the season on two separate occasions. Ball concluded her stellar night by tying teammate Sara Casica for first place on the floor exercise with a 9.850.
Casica also had an outstanding night for the Flames. Her 9.850 on the floor matched her career-best while she topped her career-best mark on the all-around, placing first with 39.125 points. She set her third career-best of the evening on bars, tying for second with a 9.850. Junior Laura Jungels joined the career-topping parade, surpassing her career-best mark with 9.850 points and a third-place finish on beam.
The Flames' 195.675 points barely missed the school team-score record of 195.700, set last season at Ball State. But the score did gave UIC a tremendous boost in its effort to snag one of the final spots for NCAA Regionals. "There's no question that this score will help," Jansson said. "We still need to perform well in our last meet of the season on Thursday, but having such a solid performance tonight will take some of the pressure off of us. If we go out on Thursday and do what we did tonight, we will certainly have put ourselves in a great position to qualify for Regionals."
That final meet comes Thursday, 7:00 p.m., at the Midwest Independent Championships in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
EVENT SCORES Vault Bars Beam Floor Total UIC 48.625 49.225 49.250 48.575 195.675 Illinois State 48.675 48.350 48.950 48.575 194.550
VAULT 1. Gabriella Brunn (UIC) 9.825 2. Heather Mohler (ISU) 9.800 3. Amy August (UIC) 9.775 4. Beth Larson (ISU) 9.750 Michelle Huston (ISU) 9.750 6. Tara Rhoden (UIC) 9.725 7. Rena Fox (ISU) 9.700 8. Jaclyn Messerges (UIC) 9.675 Denise Houda (ISU) 9.675 10. Sara Casica (UIC) 9.625 11. Cheryl Rubinger (UIC) 9.600 12. Sarah Anderson (ISU) 9.575
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