The women’s gymnastics team failed to advance to the team finals in the U.S.A. Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships, but three individual performances placed them in the spotlight.
Sarah Liebowitz, Christine McNeill and Noelle Moore each qualified for last Saturday’s individual finals. The trio was recognized as all-American for its effort.
Liebowitz secured a second-place tie on uneven bars with a score of 9.750. McNeill, also competing on uneven bars, finished in sixth place after earning a score of 9.675. In floor exercise, Moore was able to place seventh after totaling a score of 9.650.
Christina Ghani from Towson captured first place in all-around and floor exercise. Alise McDonald, also from Towson, won the vault competition. Meanwhile, Texas’ Courtney Arno finished first on uneven bars and Seattle Pacific’s Sarah Sullivan placed first on balance beam.
Under the leadership of first-year coach Aaron Murphy, the team finished last Thursday’s preliminary round with an overall score of 187.500, with the majority of the points (48.025) coming on vault. In that event, Moore led the squad with a score of 9.700. Jillian Kornett, Desiree Meredith and Tiffany Shepherd tied for second on the team with a score of 9.625. Moore also led the Owls with her floor exercise routine that tallied a score of 9.800.On uneven bars, McNeill posted a team-high score of 9.700.
On beam – the team’s weakest event in the competition – Natasha Crawford earned a score of 9.425, which led the team.Towson and Centenary (La.) finished the four-team session in the top two spots to advance.The team and individual competitions in Seattle finished the season for the Owls, who concluded with a 14-17 record and a fifth-place finish in the Eastern College Athletic Conferencee Championships.
Kevin Smiley can be reached at kevin.smiley@temple.edu.
Be the first to comment