From the first jump to the last landing, Friday’s triangular was a dynamic competition that came down to tenths of a point.
San Jose State narrowly came in first with a score of 192.950, followed by UC Davis with 192.600 and California with 192.475.
The Aggies topped the Golden Bears but lost to the Spartans, bringing their record to 3-1.
The close score didn’t surprise coach John Lavellee.
“All three teams had an immense amount of talent,” Lavallee said. “It was a very intense meet all the way through. The whole meet had a very exciting energy. Being in that charged environment from beginning to end made us step up to the next level.”
The Aggies improved their overall score from last week by 1.300 points.
“The California victory is a great, great accomplishment,” Lavallee said. “We had a good deal of desire to go out and perform well. [Friday] was a very good test to see what we can do.”
Many of the Aggies had high-scoring performances that impressed the judges.
Senior Marcy Miller and sophomore Michelle Ho each won individual awards in their floor events. Seniors Michele Hurlock and Jessica Rea helped to boost the team’s overall score with their performances on the balance beam and uneven bars, respectively.
While the Aggies got strong performances from the upperclassmen, Lavallee was especially impressed by the newcomers.
“Our freshmen are starting to come around,” Lavallee said.
Eliminating extra steps upon landing and keeping their knees straight are two things the Aggies plan to work on to raise their team score, Lavallee said.
“We’re still working on raising our confidence,” Lavallee said. “It’s a matter of recognizing the areas that need improvement and then working on them in the gym.”
UC Davis travels to Fullerton this weekend for a match-up against Titans.
CALEIGH GUOYNES can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
