Going into the last event in Sunday’s meet against San Jose State and Alaska Anchorage, the Aggies were down three-tenths of a point. UC Davis needed a strong performance in that final competition to take the lead and the meet.
The Aggies got that performance.
A strong floor routine secured the UC Davis win over both San Jose State and Alaska Anchorage.
The Aggies finished with 191.3 points over the Spartans’ 190.6 and the Seawolves’ 188.675.
Coach John Lavallee called the meet close all around. He also praised UC Davis’ performance on the final competition.
“[We] did better on that last event than we ever had in practice,” Lavallee said. “There was a great deal of Aggie Pride out there on that last event.”
This victory puts UC Davis at 2-0 on the year, giving the team much to look forward to this season.
“San Jose State has always been a strong team,” Lavallee said. “But this win is extremely encouraging.”
Lavallee said the team still has a lot of work to do to attain their season goals.
“This meet allowed us to see how we match up with the competition,” Lavallee said. “The team took away a lot of good lessons, and now we have an idea of what adjustments we have to make.”
Individually, many Aggies had strong afternoons.
Senior Michele Hurlock’s bar routine earned her a score of 9.725, a personal best on the uneven bars. Junior Erika Van Dyke also achieved a personal record for her performance on the balance beam.
Senior Marcy Miller had a career day, according to Lavallee. The Huntington Beach, Calif. native won the individual all-around with a career-high of 38.775 points, a score that helped propel the Aggies to victory.
“Athletic performance is always a result of preparation,” Lavallee said. “The team went out there strong, fast and powerful. They did a great job of getting together as a group and hitting the floor as a unit. Not only did they do this [Sunday], but they do it every day in practice.”
CALEIGH GUOYNES can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
