Dec. 3, 2000

The official start of the gymnastics season is not for over a month, but both the men's and women's team's displayed that they are ready to go as shown at the Mixed Pairs competition on Saturday.

"It was a totally good experience for them," men's head coach "CJ" Johnson said. "It takes a meet like this for them to build a camaraderie together and be successful when the season begins."

The team of Sara Casica, Erica Varner, Atlin Mitchell, Dave Johnson, Pat Strohmayer and Jon Joyce won the overall competition with an average score of 8.991. Johnson was the top male competitor on the floor exercise (8.85) and the still rings (8.2). Johnson also tied with Tony Cirullo for the top score on the vault with a 9.3.

Junior Matt Soucie captured two events with a 8.3 on the parallel bars and tied with classmate Chris Coorlim on the pommel horse with a 8.4. Freshman Matt Musielak also turned in an impressive performance with a 8.3 on the high bars.

On the women's side, Cheryl Rubinger turned in an all-around score of 38.6. Her top performances included the floor exercise (9.65) and the vault (9.65) while sharing top honors with junior Kim Sommer on the balance beam (9.75). Junior Amy August garnered first-place honors on the bars with a 9.75.

"It was a very encouraging meet," women's head coach Peter Jansson said. "On the floor we have some holes to fill, but several of the routines were very promising. One more month and we'll be ready to go."