Texas Woman's University 2017 USA Gymnastics team champions
Matthew Brashears
Texas Woman's University won its first national title since 2008

Texas Woman's captures USAGym team title

Pioneers come from behind on final rotation to claim their first crown since 2008

4/8/2017 11:20:00 PM


        Complete results (HTML)
        Complete scoresheets (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Texas Woman's University came from barely behind heading into the final rotation to win the USA Gymnastics national team championship on Saturday night for the first time since 2008.
 
The Pioneers, trailing Bridgeport by 75 thousandths of a point, closed with solid, consistent performances on the vault to finish with 196.125 points in Seattle Pacific University's Brougham Pavilion.
 
Bridgeport, competing on the uneven parallel bars at the same time Texas Woman's was on the vault, wound up second with 195.500. Two-time defending champion Lindenwood of Missouri was third with 195.375, and Cornell placed fourth with 194.950.
 
The title was the 10th for the Pioneers, the most of any program in USAG history.
 
Texas Woman's finished second to Lindenwood in the second of Friday's two semifinal sessions, tallying 194.250 points. That was just the third-highest score of the four finals qualifiers, trailing Bridgeport's 195.575, and Lindenwood's 195.100.
 
On Saturday, the Pioneers posted the highest totals on the balance beam (49.150, led by matching 9.875 marks of  Mallory Moredock and Hunter Vincent) and on the floor exercise (49.250, topped by the 9.925 of Bria Northrop).
 
But it ultimately came down to the vault. Texas Woman's headed to that event with 147.150 points, while Bridgeport went over to the bars with 147.225.
 
The Pioneers came up with marks of 9.825, 9.775, 9.800, 9.775, and 9.800 with their first five vaulters, all higher than the first five Bridgeport scores on the bars (9.625, 9.650, 9.725, 9.675, and 9.100). The Purple Knights wound up with a higher score at the sixth and final position (9.600 to 9.225), but wasn't enough to overtake Texas Woman's.
 
There were only two 196 totals during the entire USAG season – and the Pioneers had both. The first of those came during a quad meet at home in Denton, Texas, on Feb. 19 against Penn State, Sacramento State, and Western Michigan.
 
The top individual marks on Saturday were by Kimberly Stewart of Bridgeport on the vault (9.925), Kaitlin Green of Cornell and Kierstin Sokolowski of Lindenwood on the bars (9.900), Sokolowski on the beam (9.950), and Northrop of Texas Woman's on the floor with her 9.925.
 
The individual finals, featuring the top qualifiers on each of the four events from Friday's competition (Saturday's scores don't factor into that) are set for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
 
 
USA GYMNASTICS COLLEGIATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team finals
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Final standings
1, Texas Woman's 196.125
2, Bridgeport 195.500
3, Lindenwood 195.375
4, Cornell 194.950
 
Vault
1, Bridgeport 49.000
2, Texas Woman's 49.975
3, Cornell 48.625
4, Lindenwood 48.350
 
Uneven Parallel Bars
1, Lindenwood 48.900
2, Cornell 48.825
3, Texas Woman's 48.750
4, Bridgeport 48.275
 
Balance Beam
1, Texas Woman's 49.150
2, Lindenwood 49.100
3, Bridgeport 49.025
4, Cornell 48.400
 
Floor Exercise
1, Texas Woman's 49.250
2, Bridgeport 49.200
3, Cornell 49.100
4, Lindenwood 49.025
 
 
 
 
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