Judges flip-flop in loss
To lose a match can sometimes be too much for an athlete to handle; to win and lose in one match is another story all together.
Tuesday night was that kind of night for the gymnastics team as they beat Texas Woman’s by a mere .025. They were announced as the winners at the end of the meet.
But, after a closed door meeting, the victory was stripped from the Aggies, with officials saying that the team had, in fact, lost due to judging mistakes and coach inquiries.
“We are appalled about what happened tonight,” Head Coach Ray Corn said. “This team won tonight.”
After dominating in every event and by getting at least two girls in the top three of each events except bars, the team was disappointed by the announcement.
“I was a little upset,” Co-Captain Alex Martin said. Martin came in second place in the all-around with a season high score of 39.275. She was behind Jessica Parenti, who got a career high of 39.350 and tied for the 12th best score all-time for USU.
“We were all stunned. It’s really hard to do so well and not win when you know you deserved it,” Martin said.
The night started late for the team, which waited for Texas to finish its pre-match pagentry, including a children’s choir, a drum line and a pig kissing contest. The events caused the meet to start 45 minutes late and caused the Aggies to rush through their warmups.
Nonetheless, the Ags started the night on the bars, where they received theirs second highest score of the season with a 48.675. Martin and Katie Omann tied for third overall with a score of 9.850. The score was a career high for Omann. Megan Tschida also tied her career best with a score of 9.750.
They then moved on to the vault where they also received their second highest score of the season with a 48.850. They swept the competition with Parenti taking first with a career high of 9.900, Rachael Mandy tied her career high of 9.850 and took second place while Meagan Nelson tied for third for 9.750.
Unfortunately the team also suffered an injury on the vault. Jackie Fogli hyper-extended her knee. The extent of her injuries are not yet known.
On the floor Tschida clenched the top spot with a career high of 9.950. The score also tied her for the second all-time best for USU. She said that the floor was bumpy.
Parenti and Liesel Kohler tied for third with a score of 9.900. This is the second straight 9.900 for Kohler and the first time in four meets that she did not win floor. They ended with a season high of 49.300.
“We did a tremendous job,” Corn said. “Kudos to floor and beam.”
On the last event, the beam, the team also got a season high of 49.075. Kohler came in first place with a career high of 9.925. She was followed by Martin’s career high of 9.900.
“I am extremely proud of the team,” Corn said. “We have a team that will get the job done.”
“We’ll come back and prove we deserved that score,” Parenti said. “We’re a team that shouldn’t be messed with.”
The team’s next meet will be on Monday in the Spectrum at 6:45 p.m. against California.
-vramirez@cc.usu.edu