Post by elp525 on Feb 21, 2010 8:42:04 GMT -5
February 20, 2010
By Mike Whiteford
Staff writer
It was a night of superlatives and pleasant surprises for the West Virginia University gymnastics team, and it started with a big crowd.
On a snowy evening that conflicted with the Mountaineers' televised basketball game at Pittsburgh, more than 800 fans made their way to the Coliseum for a dual match with Ohio State Feb. 12.
Not long after the crowd had settled in, Ashley Wilson of St. Albans opened the competition with the best vault performance of her career, helping the Mountaineers to a fast start and a dominating victory over the Buckeyes in what coach Linda Burdette-Good called the team's top effort of the season. Their 195.65 score was the season's best for the team.
Wilson, a senior, scored a career-high 9.8 on the vault and equaled her season high on the bars with a 9.675.
Beating the Buckeyes so convincingly was especially satisfying for Burdette-Good.
"As far as the quality of routines,'' she said, "Ohio State really wasn't close. I thought it was our best performance of the season. I really did.''
The victory over Ohio State and a strong opening month of the season bode well for a Mountaineer team that will play host to the six-team NCAA Southeast Regional meet April 10. But even though they're the host school for the regional meet, the Mountaineers still need to earn a spot during the regular season and, based on their results thus far and their national standing, they look like a good bet to do so.
"I see positive things in our future,'' said Wilson. "We should qualify. We're really driven. We have a lot of heart, and we work really hard.''
Burdette-Good, who's in her 36th season as WVU gymnastics coach, agrees.
"I would assume, unless something happens, that we should qualify,'' she said.
The nation's top 36 schools will compete in the NCAA postseason, which consists of six six-team regionals at six sites, and the top two teams at each regional advance to the 12-team national championship. In Burdette-Good's 35-year coaching tenure, the Mountaineers have qualified for the nationals three times and sent another 17 individual gymnasts to national competition. They've failed to qualify for the regionals only once in nearly 30 years of NCAA competition.
After Saturday night's loss at Penn State, WVU is 11-4, and its scoring average ranked No. 26 in the nation.
The Mountaineers, who are 2-4 against teams in the top 25, rank No. 16 nationally in floor competition with a 48.755 average.
In 2007, the Mountaineers also served as host school for regional competition and, though they didn't advance to the nationals that year, they drew more than 3,000 fans for the one-day event.
Burdette-Good believes that, assuming the Mountaineers qualify, they can exceed that attendance figure.
"I'm thinking we can even make it bigger, and the reason I'm optimistic is our sports information department and marketing have done a great job,'' she said. "They've already been advertising. They started running the ads at football and basketball games. I think the publicity is even greater than it was in '07.''
Wilson, who will graduate this spring with a degree in exercise physiology, took up gymnastics at age 3, following in the footsteps of her older sister Elizabeth, and developed her skills at the Flip Flop Shop in Jackson County.
Her WVU career has probably exceeded the coach's early expectations.
"When she came up as a freshman, I didn't know if she would continue,'' said Burdette-Good. "She just gets better every year. Now she's a senior, and she just keeps upgrading. She didn't vault as a freshman, but she's vaulting now. She works so hard and doesn't get discouraged.
"She may get discouraged, but she sure doesn't show it. She just perseveres. She's one of the most consistent people I've had in practice. She just comes in and gives you everything she has every day. She's a real pleasure to have. She does everything right.''
nn
BRIEFLY: Wilson is one of two state natives on the 18-woman roster. The other is Chelsi Tabor, a senior from Beckley who leads the WVU vault and beam lineups. ... Amy Bieski, a junior from Nanticoke, Pa., was named East Atlantic Gymnastics League gymnast of the week Feb. 12 for the third straight week after her season-best 39.25 first-place showing against Ohio State. ... The April 10 meet in Morgantown will be the seventh time the Mountaineers have been the host school for an NCAA regional. ... The Mountaineers reached the NCAA nationals in 1995 and '99 and the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) nationals in 1982. ... Riverside graduate Mehgan Morris is a volunteer assistant coach after having completed her Mountaineer career. ... The nationals are scheduled for April 22-23 at the University of Florida.
By Mike Whiteford
Staff writer
It was a night of superlatives and pleasant surprises for the West Virginia University gymnastics team, and it started with a big crowd.
On a snowy evening that conflicted with the Mountaineers' televised basketball game at Pittsburgh, more than 800 fans made their way to the Coliseum for a dual match with Ohio State Feb. 12.
Not long after the crowd had settled in, Ashley Wilson of St. Albans opened the competition with the best vault performance of her career, helping the Mountaineers to a fast start and a dominating victory over the Buckeyes in what coach Linda Burdette-Good called the team's top effort of the season. Their 195.65 score was the season's best for the team.
Wilson, a senior, scored a career-high 9.8 on the vault and equaled her season high on the bars with a 9.675.
Beating the Buckeyes so convincingly was especially satisfying for Burdette-Good.
"As far as the quality of routines,'' she said, "Ohio State really wasn't close. I thought it was our best performance of the season. I really did.''
The victory over Ohio State and a strong opening month of the season bode well for a Mountaineer team that will play host to the six-team NCAA Southeast Regional meet April 10. But even though they're the host school for the regional meet, the Mountaineers still need to earn a spot during the regular season and, based on their results thus far and their national standing, they look like a good bet to do so.
"I see positive things in our future,'' said Wilson. "We should qualify. We're really driven. We have a lot of heart, and we work really hard.''
Burdette-Good, who's in her 36th season as WVU gymnastics coach, agrees.
"I would assume, unless something happens, that we should qualify,'' she said.
The nation's top 36 schools will compete in the NCAA postseason, which consists of six six-team regionals at six sites, and the top two teams at each regional advance to the 12-team national championship. In Burdette-Good's 35-year coaching tenure, the Mountaineers have qualified for the nationals three times and sent another 17 individual gymnasts to national competition. They've failed to qualify for the regionals only once in nearly 30 years of NCAA competition.
After Saturday night's loss at Penn State, WVU is 11-4, and its scoring average ranked No. 26 in the nation.
The Mountaineers, who are 2-4 against teams in the top 25, rank No. 16 nationally in floor competition with a 48.755 average.
In 2007, the Mountaineers also served as host school for regional competition and, though they didn't advance to the nationals that year, they drew more than 3,000 fans for the one-day event.
Burdette-Good believes that, assuming the Mountaineers qualify, they can exceed that attendance figure.
"I'm thinking we can even make it bigger, and the reason I'm optimistic is our sports information department and marketing have done a great job,'' she said. "They've already been advertising. They started running the ads at football and basketball games. I think the publicity is even greater than it was in '07.''
Wilson, who will graduate this spring with a degree in exercise physiology, took up gymnastics at age 3, following in the footsteps of her older sister Elizabeth, and developed her skills at the Flip Flop Shop in Jackson County.
Her WVU career has probably exceeded the coach's early expectations.
"When she came up as a freshman, I didn't know if she would continue,'' said Burdette-Good. "She just gets better every year. Now she's a senior, and she just keeps upgrading. She didn't vault as a freshman, but she's vaulting now. She works so hard and doesn't get discouraged.
"She may get discouraged, but she sure doesn't show it. She just perseveres. She's one of the most consistent people I've had in practice. She just comes in and gives you everything she has every day. She's a real pleasure to have. She does everything right.''
nn
BRIEFLY: Wilson is one of two state natives on the 18-woman roster. The other is Chelsi Tabor, a senior from Beckley who leads the WVU vault and beam lineups. ... Amy Bieski, a junior from Nanticoke, Pa., was named East Atlantic Gymnastics League gymnast of the week Feb. 12 for the third straight week after her season-best 39.25 first-place showing against Ohio State. ... The April 10 meet in Morgantown will be the seventh time the Mountaineers have been the host school for an NCAA regional. ... The Mountaineers reached the NCAA nationals in 1995 and '99 and the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) nationals in 1982. ... Riverside graduate Mehgan Morris is a volunteer assistant coach after having completed her Mountaineer career. ... The nationals are scheduled for April 22-23 at the University of Florida.
