UC Davis gymnasts didn’t count a single fall this Friday, going 24-for-24 against Causeway rival Sacramento State. It was the first time the Aggies have accomplished the feat this season.
The clean performance allowed the Aggies to show fans what the squad is truly capable of for the first time in 2012.
UC Davis set a season-high 194.025 to finish second at a competitive quadrangular meet against Sac State, Central Michigan and conference rival Seattle Pacific.
“It was amazing,” Head Coach John Lavallee said. “Hitting every routine — that doesn’t happen very often … For this group … to come out and do this is a testament to their hard work and dedication.”
The Aggies broke the 38-point barrier on each of the four events en route to their season-high score.
UC Davis opened the meet on bars where the team was led by junior Katie Yamamura’s 9.750. Freshman Lisa Wiktorski’s 9.700 helped bring the team total to 48.325, just 0.025 points shy of the season-high for the event that was set in the first meet of 2012.
In the second rotation Yamamura was once again the high-scorer for the Aggies, coming in with a 9.750 on the balance beam. The score tied her for first on the event with Sacramento State’s Kalliah McCartney.
UC Davis then scored its second-highest floor score of the season (48.825) in the third rotation behind junior Michelle Ho’s 9.875. The score was Ho’s career high and was good for second place.
On the vault, the Aggies delivered a stand-out performance with a score of 48.725. This season-high score is the eighth highest in UC Davis history.
Yamamura took the individual title in the event with a score of 9.900, which ties the school record. She previously set the record last season at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship meet.
Yamamura additionally placed first in the individual all-around with a career-high 39.225. It is the fourth time she has broken the 39-point barrier this season, and the sixth time in her career. The score broke the previous school record of 39.200 set in February of 2003 by Aggie gymnast Flora Bare.
“[Yamamura] had the best meet in school history,” Lavallee said. “It was a pretty stellar performance.”
After the weekend’s successful meet, UC Davis will compete against Sac State again this Friday in a triangular meet at San Jose State before returning to the Pavilion on March 4 to host the MPSF Championships.
KAITLYN ZUFALL can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
