Championship matches are supposed to be close. And its safe to say the Aggies were in championship form.
For the second straight year, the UC Davis women’s gymnastics team walked away from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships as champs.
It was the Aggies’ last battle of the season and they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
Just 2.5 points separated first place UC Davis from fourth place Alaska Anchorage.
With a score of 192.975, the Aggies topped Air Force (192.225), Seattle Pacific (191.250) and Alaska Anchorage (190.475). With the victory, UC Davis finished the season 12-8.
Based on season average scores, UC Davis was entering the meet as the favorite. However, coach John Lavallee knew that relying on past scores does not translate to winning a championship.
“The reality is that we had to go and hit 24 routines on Saturday,” said Lavallee. “That’s all we can do and that’s what we focus on. The bottom line comes down to what 24 routines will score the most points for that day with the personnel we have available.”
And hitting 24 routines is exactly what the Aggies did.
Sophomore Katie Yamamura tied the school record on the vault with a score of 9.900.
Many other Aggies also had impressive showings at the championship.
Seniors Marcy Miller and Jessica Rea tied for first on the vault with a score of 9.800. Miller also tied fellow senior Michele Hurlock for third on the balance beam with a score of 9.750.
With her strong performances on all four events at the championship, Miller beat out Air Force rival Brittany Dutton and took the all-around title with a final score of 38.850.
Miller’s strong performance also earned her a spot at the NCAA Regionals and All-MPSF honors in four events, including the all-around. Accompanying Miller to the NCAA Regionals this weekend is freshman Anna Schumaker who will participate in the vault. Schumaker earned all-conference in that event.
Assistant coach Carolyn Kampf earned MPSF Assistant Coach of the Year honors.
CALEIGH GUOYNES can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
