Gymnasts of the Week Jan. 10-13, 2012 Awards are given by conference offices Big Ten Conference Joanna Sampson, Michigan Took first place in the all-around and placed in the top six in all four of her events to help No. 10 Michigan defeat No. 7 Nebraska Tied for the floor exercise title with a score of 9.925, tied for third on vault (9.800), tied for fifth on balance beam (9.850) and tied for sixth on bars (9.825) Placed first in the all-around for the second consecutive week (39.400) Event Kayla Slechta, Minnesota Placed first on the vault with a score of 9.950 last weekend Also tied for first in the floor exercise (9.875) and tied for third on the bars (9.725) Led the No. 23 Golden Gophers to a dual meet victory over No. 17 Washington Freshman of the Week Samantha Musto, Penn State Finished first in the all-around and placed in the top six in all four of her events to help No. 16 Penn State to a dual meet victory over UIC Earned the floor exercise title with a score of 9.750, placed second on vault (9.825), tied for third on bars (9.775) and tied for sixth on balance beam (9.675) Totaled an all-around score of 39.025 to claim first place Big 12 Conference Erica Brewer, Oklahoma Brewer won the all-around title at Arizona State after injury kept her out in week one at Georgia. The sophomore scored a 39.350 and is ranked No. 10 in the nation. Brewer also tied for the bars title and won the beam title at ASU. Brewer's beam score of 9.925 is the highest score on any event for the Sooners this season and puts her in the No. 2 spot nationally, helping the No. 3- ranked Sooners to a 2-0 on the year. Specialists of the Week Brie Olson, Oklahoma Olson tied for the bars title with Brewer at ASU. Competing on beam, Olson set a career high with a 9.9, helping OU to the No. 2 beam ranking in the nation. Olson is currently ranked No. 12 on beam, No. 17 on bars and No. 17 in the all-around nationally. Alaska Richardson, West Virginia Against Pitt, Richardson finished first on both events she competed. She matched a career best on floor with a score of 9.9, a mark she achieved only once in 2012. She also scored a 9.825 to secure a first-place on the vault. Newcomer of the Week Jaida Lawrence, West Virginia Lawrence hit all three events in first collegiate meet at Pitt. She anchored bars and floor, and followed a fall on bars. The freshman's scores on each event counted toward the team's score,
and she reached the podium in her first action as a Mountaineer with a 9.775 mark on bars, tying her for second place. East Atlantic Gymnastics League Diahanna Ham, North Carolina State The Boston, Mass., native led the Pack against Maryland with the top score on vault, floor and the all-around. Ham scored a 9.9 on vault and a 9.875 on floor, good for first in both events. The junior also finished the night with the best score in the all-around competition with a score of 39.125. Ham notched a 9.675 on beam and bars. Katy Dodds, Maryland Dodds kicked off the 2013 season in superb fashion with a program-record 9.975 on the vault, which ranks as the top score in the nation on vault through two weeks of competition. In addition, one of the two judges gave Dodds a 10.000 for her vault. The Gaithersburg, Md., native also tallied a 9.800 on floor to finish fourth. Kathy Tang, Maryland Tang, in her collegiate debut, scored the highest all-around total for a Maryland freshman since Feb. 17, 2007, with a 39.075. It is also the highest all-around total for a Maryland gymnast since the 2011 season. Tang s all-around total ranks her eighth in the nation. She tied for second on vault with a 9.900, which is tied for the fourth-best score in Terrapin history. She added a thirdplace finish on bars and a fourth-place finish on floor to round out her stellar debut. Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I Dana Bonincontri, Penn Bonincontri picked up where she left off from last season. Her strong performance earned her 1 st place on the uneven bars winning with a 9.875. Along with her bars, her strong vault with a 9.7 and strong Floor exercise with a 9.750 earned her 4 th place in the all-around with a 38.55 out of 9 all-around competitors at the Lindsay Ferris Invitational. Brittany Stover, William & Mary Competing in her first collegiate meet, Stover won the vault title and placed fifth on bars. Her vault score helped the team earn a 48.150 in the event. Melanie Jorgensen, Cornell Melanie placed second on Bars with a score of 9.85 at the Lindsey Ferris Invitational at GW on Sunday, leading the Big Red to a 190.3 score to start the season. Her 9.85 was the highest score on any event for Cornell. Coaches Choice Taylor Rakus, Temple Rakus returned to competition for the first time since tearing an anterior cruciate ligament during
her senior year of high school, causing her to redshirt her first collegiate season for the Owls. On Sunday, the Downingtown, Pa. native finally got to make her debut for the Cherry & White when she took part on the balanced beam at the annual Lindsey Ferris Invite, hosted by George Washington. Competing for the Owls in head coach Aaron Murphy s beam lineup, Rakus nailed her routine and posted a 9.600 in her first collegiate event. Her score, which tied her for 11th place among all individuals in the event, helped spur Temple to a first place team score of 48.175 on the apparatus, beating out Penn, UNC, host George Washington and Cornell. Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Coaches Pick of the Week Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Coaches Choice Mid American Conference Kayla Weber, Western Michigan Bronco freshman Kayla Weber had a break-out debut in WMU s 193.500 to 192.725 victory at Michigan State Friday, winning the all-around title with an overall score of 39.150. Her all-around score ties as the third-highest in WMU's history. It also is the highest recorded in the MAC this season and ranks her No. 20 in the nation in Monday s GymInfo rankings. Additionally, Weber shared the individual title on the floor exercise against MSU with a 9.775, while placing runner-up on the uneven bars (9.775) and balance beam (9.800), and placing fourth on the vault with a 9.800. WMU s victory over Michigan State was its third straight, after not having beaten the Spartans previously in the all-time series. The Broncos' 193.500 was the best season-opening score since 2001, when the team totaled a 193.850 against Illinois State. Natasha Jufko, Northern Illinois In her first career appearance in the NIU line-up, junior Natasha Jufko recorded Northern Illinois best score of the day (on any event) with a 9.825 on balance beam in the Huskies narrow (192.175-192.050) home victory over Illinois State. The performance earned Jufko a tie for first
place on balance beam. Northern Illinois had just one score above 9.825 on beam all season a year ago. Midwest Independent Conference All-Arounder of the Week Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnasts of the Week Michelle Ho, UC Davis UC Davis senior Michelle Ho (Los Altos, CA) was a double-event winner against Cal, taking bars (9.85) and floor (9.925). Ho s floor was the highest for any MPSF female gymnast, on any apparatus, since 2005 (Dominique Ingram-UAA, Stephanie Aeder-Sac State; both 9.925 on floor). Further, it was the best Aggie score since Tiffany Chan s 9.95 floor at the 04 MPSF Championship Meet. Jen Larsen, Air Force Air Force junior Jen Larsen (St. Paul, MN) scored a career-best 9.80 on floor, en route to the Falcons best individual finish at No. 20 Denver. Larsen, who also finished second all-around (38.250), helped Air Force to its highest season-opening score since head coach Doug Day s arrival in 07. She also had 9.65 scores on vault and bars. Pac-12 Conference Vanessa Zamarippa, UCLA Zamarripa won the all-around and three events to lead then-no. 2 UCLA to a victory over then- No. 5 UTAH, 197.425-195.300. This was her second all-around victory and has totaled seven individual victories in just two meets this season. Against Utah, Zamarripa totaled a 39.675, the highest all-around total in the nation so far this season. On bars, she tallied a 9.975, tying her career-high. Her 9.925 on beam set a new season-high, while the 9.97 she earned on bars tied her career-high. The O Fallon, Ill., native, scored a 9.825 on vault which was good enough for seventh place and tied her season-best. The Bruins achieved national-best scores in the team total (197.425) and floor (49.55). Olivia Courtney, UCLA Bruin junior, Olivia Courtney, tied for first place in two events over the weekend. She tallied a 9.90 on vault and a 9.95 on floor. Both scores set new season-highs, while her floor score tied her career-high. Courtney has now achieved two victories on vault this season. This is her first floor victory of the season, she placed second on floor in UCLA s first meet of the season. She is averaging a team-high 9.888 on vault and ranks second on floor with a 9.938 average.
Freshman/Newcomer of the Week Hailey Gaspar, Oregon State Gaspar, a Los Alamitos, Calif., native, tallied the best score of her Oregon State career so far to help the Beavers to a 195.375-195.000 win over then-no. 14 Ohio State. Gaspar tallied a 9.875 on vault to tie for first on the event. Gaspar is a senior transfer from Boise State. Southeastern Conference Lloimincia Hall, LSU Lloimincia Hall clinched LSU s upset win over No. 3 Florida, 196.875-196.575, in the Maravich Center. As the final performer of the meet, Hall needed a 9.675 or better to seal the win, and she did much better than that nailing her floor routine to win the event with a 9.95 and sending the Tigers to victory. Not only did she win the floor title, but she led LSU by tying her career high in the all-around to place second in the meet. Hall also tied her career high on beam with a 9.875, sticking the landing on her dismount to help lead LSU to a season-best 49.075 in the event. Hall s floor title is her first event title of the season and the eighth floor title of her career. Sarah DeMeo, Alabama Alabama junior Sarah DeMeo tied her career best with a 9.9 on the uneven bars to win the event at Missouri in the Crimson Tide s season opener. She is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation on the uneven bars. She also scored a 9.9 on the balance beam, tying teammate Kim Jacob for first place, and was second on the floor exercise with a 9.85. Freshman of the Week Sydnie Dillard, Arkansas In Arkansas season opener versus Georgia, Sydnie Dillard tied for second on beam with a 9.875. She shared that mark with All-American Katherine Grable for the team high score. Dillard also had a 9.85 on floor which was good enough for third place in the meet and second place on the team. The freshman had two 9.8+ marks in her first collegiate meet ever. Western Athletic Conference Kalliah McCartney, Sacramento State McCartney, a sophomore from Vancouver, Wash. (CAM HS) won the all-around for the second time in as many meets this season, scoring 39.300 against Seattle Pacific. The sophomore finished first on vault, beam and floor in the process and broke the 39-point mark for the seventh time during her career. McCartney scored 9.800 on both vault and bars and 9.850 on beam and floor. Nina McGee, Denver McGee, a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio (Clark Montessori HS), earned a 9.950 on floor to place first in just her second collegiate meet against Air Force. In her five events this season, McGee has inked a 9.825 or higher in four of them. McGee is sixth in the country on bars average and 13 th in the nation on floor, averaging a 9.888 on both events.
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Specialist Megan Love, UW-Whitewater Love started her collegiate career with a first-place finish on balance beam with a 9.40 and a second- place finish on vault with a 9.40. She helped lead the Warhawks to a win in the seasonopening triangular at Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) on Jan. 9. All-Around Brittany DeZiel, UW-Stout DeZiel captured the all-around event (37.150) at the Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) Triangular on Jan. 9, placing no lower than fourth in each of the four individual events. She was fourth on the vault (9.30), fourth on the uneven bars (9.25), fourth on the balance beam (9.175) and third on the floor exercise (9.425). UW-Stout finished second in the meet with a team score of 180.90 - its highest-ever score in a season-opening meet.