Beaming to the top
February 14, 2001
It was business as usual for the Sac State gymnastics team on Friday, as the Hornets scored over 190 points for the twelfth straight time, despite two players sitting out with flu-like symptoms.
“It was nice to win, but we were really looking for the score,” head coach Kim Hughes said. “We need to average 193 points to qualify for Regionals.”
Jolane Parr reiterated the same point as her coach.
“The wins are nice, but the score is the most important,” she said.
Sac State was able to secure the victory with a score of 191.375. Finishing in second was Seattle Pacific with a score of 188.250, and following behind was Santa Barbara at 187.750.
Gymnast?s Binta Coleman, who competes in the All-Around, and Wendy Baisdon, a stronghold in the beam and bar events, were unable to participate because of the flu.
“Without either one in the lineup, that will kill our score,” Hughes said. “This score will kill our average.”Despite this, Hughes said the players that did fill in did a great job.
The Hornets were able to have players finish in the top three in all four events, which included the vault, bars, beam, and floor.Parr competed in three of the four events and saved the best for last, as she recorded a career best 9.9 on the floor exercise.”It was really nice to win tonight,” Parr said. “The cheering from the crowd helps us.”
Parr, who broke her previous career high of 9.85 set last April, said that everything did not go right in her routine.”The music skipped and I had to make up most of my routine,” Parr said.
Parr set the Hornets? new season high and got the third best floor score in program history. Rounding out the rest of the top three were Hornets Jami Scoville with a 9.850, and Melissa Prescott, with a 9.725.
“The floor is our strong point, especially at home,” Hughes said.
Sac State was also able to capture firsts in the bars and vault. In the bar routine, the Hornets secured all three top spots, with Toni Petersen scoring the highest, with a 9.850. Hughes thought that was outstanding, considering Petersen was sick with the flu. Petersen also was able to claim the top score in the All-Around, finishing with a score of 38.075, almost a half point better than her competitors.
Parr finished in second, scoring 9.725, and in third was Lori Gillette with a score of 9.700.
“I had a few falls on bars,” Parr said. “But I hope to fix that next week.”
“We had two falls on bars,” Hughes said. “We had to use girls who don?t usually score high. We probably would have scored higher without those falls.”
Once again the Hornets were able to capture the top three spots in another portion of the meet: the vault. Lara Goold was able to record a score of 9.675.
Jenny Ball finished second with a 9.575, and Parr and Brooke Crowell finished tied for third with a score of 9.550.In the beam exercise, Sac State was able to capture second and third in the top three, with Prescott finishing second with a 9.650. Tied for third were Ball, Jami Scoville and Petersen, all with 9.550.
“On the beam, we didn?t count a fall,” Hughes said. “The judges were not scoring well. You never know with the judges.”On Friday, the Hornets will travel to San Jose and take on San Jose State.