New Hampshire and BYU at Utah State-February 15th, 2008.

Brigham Young picked up the win with a 193.725, Utah State came in second with a 192.475 and UNH had a solid score of 190.9 on the road. BYU was on the road in UNH when they fell to the Wildcats, and while BYU was not at home this time, they were at least in their home state and picked up the win over the visitors and home Aggies.

Highlights for the Wildcats of New Hampshire included Justine Turner’s 9.775 to lead the team on Vault. Chelsea Steinberg and Helena Diodati had 9.7s. Steinberg had a 9.75 on Floor as well, and Diodati had a team leading 9.725 on Bars. Kelsey Alwin was right behind Diodati on the Unevens with her 9.7. Taryn LaFountain picked up a 9.825 on the Beam to earn New Hampshire’s best score on that event or any event for that matter of the evening. Keeley Smith had a 9.7 as well. Fairen Plummer put up the top Wildcat score on the FX with a 9.775.

BYU highlights included Alethea Boon’s 9.85 on Floor, Dayna Smart-Allen’s 9.825 on Vault (as part of a vault rotation that did not have one score below 9.7), Kylee Draper-Marvin’s 9.8 on Bars, Hayley Jensen’s 9.85 and Smart-Allen’s 9.8 on Floor, as well as numerous other high scores throughout the events.

Utah State’s Megan Tschida had a 9.875 on Floor plus Nicki Felley and Jasmine Minion’s 9.825s to put together a solid floor rotation. Nicole Simoneau picked up a 9.8 on Bars for the Aggies, and there were a bunch of 9.7s and above as well.

MIT Home Finale-February 16th, 2008.

MIT in their final home meet of the season posted a 180.775. Highlights included a vault rotation consisting of Sophia Harrison’s 9.575, Alison Barnard’s 9.425, Sarah Trowbridge’s 9.225, Elizabeth Stavely’s 9.175, Laura Kelly’s 9.15, and Rebecca Stavely’s 9.075.
On the Bars Harrison picked up a 9.45 to lead the team. Over on the Beam, Trowbridge and Julia Zimmerman each picked up a team leading 9.35, and Harrison had a 9.05. On the Floor, Zimmerman and Katie Mingo tied for the team top score with a 9 .425, and Trowbridge had a 9.15. The graduating seniors, Harrison and Trowbridge, have both been major parts of the MIT lineup for as long as I can remember.

Texas Women’s, Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut, at West Chester-February 17th, 2008.

The four Division 2 teams had their rare meeting in West Chester with TWU picking up a victory with a 191.875. Texas Women’s is in the running for one of the coveted 36 berths to NCAA Regionals as well. Southern Connecticut finished second with a 184.875, and Bridgeport wasn’t far behind with a 184.625. West Chester placed fourth with a 170.6.

Highlights for the Southern Connecticut Owls included Erika Pysh’s 9.575 on Beam to lead the team, as well as her 9.325 on Vault. Samantha Laraway’s 9.55 on Floor led the team and Justine Basley placed second among SoCo gymnasts with a 9.525. She also had a team leading 9.375 on Vault, and a 9.475 on Bars. Sarah Darst would be the team scoring leader on the Uneven Bars as she often is with a 9.525. Briana DiPinto had a 9.4 on Beam, and Michelle Guillerault flipped to a 9.4 on Floor. Southern Connecticut did not have frequent starters Bethany Jeffords and Nicole Fern in the lineup as well.

For the Bridgeport Purple Knights, highlights were composed of Yvette Mirando’s team leading 9.4 on Vault, as well as a 9.55 on Beam and 9.575 on Floor. Lorraine Galow had a 9.725 on Floor to lead the team and also a 9.65 on Beam to have the top score on that event for UB. She also picked up a 9.45 on Bars which tied for the team lead with Stephanie Morgan. Morgan also picked up a 9.4 on Floor. Breanna Collins scored a 9.55 on Floor, Teri Musall had a 9.425 on the Bars, and Katherine Reitz a 9.425 on floor as well.

TWU’s top scoring included Courtney Arno-Templet’s 9.875 bars score, and a 9.775 on Beam, Mollie Blessing’s 9.75 on Vault, and 9.725 on Floor, a 9.75 on Floor for Amie Boles, a 9.775 Bars routine for Jennifer Liberato, and 9.825 on Floor as well, though there was plenty more solid scoring making up TWU’s performance.

Melissa Filer, Colleen Sheehan, and Alyssa Driscoll had the highest scores for the Golden Rams of WCU.