University of Washington
Oregon State/Seattle Pacific
Waiss Leads GymDawgs to Top Score Since 2004
February 23, 2007 | Gymnastics
Feb. 23, 2007
SEATTLE - Nikki Waiss won the uneven bars and No. 28 Washington posted its highest team score in nearly three years Friday to take second place in a three-way meet at Bank of America Arena. Fifteenth-ranked Oregon State earned the team title with a 196.975, ahead of Washington's 195.800 and the 190.050 of third-place Seattle Pacific.
Despite missing one of its top scorers in three events, senior Chelsea Bakken, Washington (3-5) posted season-highs on all four events, and counted at least two scorers above 9.800 in each. The Huskies' team score of 195.800 was a full beyond the season-best of 194.800 set in last week's win at California, and was Washington's highest overall team score since the 2004 Pac-10 Championships.
Junior Nikki Waiss lit the spark for Washington's explosive night with a win on bars in the team's second rotation, her score of 9.925 a career-best and equal to the highest individual score by a Husky this year. Waiss' win -- her second in as many weeks -- helped the Huskies to a season-high 48.725 on bars, with Bakken adding a career-best 9.825 in her lone appearance of the night.
Washington also established season-highs on vault (49.100), beam (48.850) and floor (49.125), the latter mark UW's highest in any event in nearly two years. In all, the Huskies scored 12 routines over 9.800, including four such marks on vault, two on bars, three on beam and three on floor.
"The girls are really starting to learn how to compete," said first-year head coach Joanne Bowers, "They're gaining confidence and they're able to compete at a higher level when they have that confidence. Different girls stepped up tonight -- when one girl had a bad routine, someone else was right there to cover her back. Each girl is an important piece of the puzzle and they're really starting to come together."
The bad routines were few and far between for Washington on Friday, with the Huskies just twice counting scores below 9.700. Freshman Cassidy Lance was the Huskies' top scorer onb vault (9.875), Waiss led UW on bars, sophomore Kelly Gilbert was Washington's top finisher on beam (9.850), while junior Natalie Gillan and sophomore Kristen Omori shared top UW honors on floor (9.850).
It's a testament to the strength of competition in the Pac-10 Conference, however, that even a record-setting night for the nation's 28th-ranked team wasn't enough to top Oregon State, which won on vault, beam, and floor, and posted a blistering team score of 196.975. The Beavers were unstoppable on vault, counting three scores at or above 9.900, while Tasha Smith made herself comfortable on the floor with a crowd-pleasing routine that scored a meet-high 9.995.
Friday's meet marked the home finale for Washington this season, which will hit the road for the six-straight weeks beginning next Saturday at Minnesota. For complete results from Friday's meet or for more information on Husky gymnastics, visit www.GoHuskies.com.
Quick Hits: Nine Huskies recorded career-highs Friday, including Katie Boyko (9.700) on vault, Nikki Waiss (9.925) and Chelsea Bakken (9.825) on bars, Kelly Gilbert (9.850) and Celia Short (9.675) on beam, Kristen Omori (9.875), Gilbert (9.850) and Short (9.775) on floor and Gillan (38.875) in the all-around ... with the win over SPU, Washington improved to 62-3 all-time vs. their in-town rivals, and to 81-15-1 all-time against non-conferenec foes at home.
Team Scoring Vault Bars Beam Floor Total 1. Oregon State 49.375 49.200 49.000 49.400 196.975 2. Washington 49.100 48.725 48.850 49.125 195.800 3. Seattle Pacific 48.150 46.125 47.700 48.075 190.050
Vault 1. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU 9.950 2. Tasha Smith, OSU 9.925 3. Megan Devencenzi, OSU 9.900 4. Cassidy Lance, UW 9.875 5. Ashley Houghting, UW 9.850 6. Kristen Omori, UW 9.825 Yuki Lamb, OSU 9.825 8. Nikki Waiss, UW 9.800 9. Jami Lanz, OSU 9.775 Kristin Bryant, SPU 9.775 11. Natalie Gillan, UW 9.750 12. Sarah Sullivan, SPU 9.725 13. Katie Boyko, UW 9.700 14. Whitney Watson, OSU 9.650 15. Melissa Daniels, SPU 9.625 16. Brianna Schwartz, SPU 9.575 17. Amber Lundgren, SPU 9.450 18. Debra Huss, SPU 8.700 Darcee Schiller, UW 9.575 (exh.)
Bars 1. Nikki Waiss, UW 9.925 2. Jami Lanz, OSU 9.900 3. Tasha Smith, OSU 9.850 Laura-Ann Chong, OSU 9.850 5. Chelsea Bakken, UW 9.825 6. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU 9.800 Keegan Fitzgerald, OSU 9.800 8. Darcee Schiller, UW 9.725 9. Natalie Gillan, UW 9.650 Debra Huss, SPU 9.650 11. Tori Quandt, UW 9.600 12. Christie Chinaka, SPU 9.575 13. Brianna Schwartz, SPU 9.525 14. Kera Bolen, OSU 9.350 15. Ashley Houghting, UW 8.950 16. Sadie Johnston, SPU 8.725 17. Sarah Sullivan, SPU 8.650 18. Ashley Domres, SPU 8.450 D'Anna Piro, OSU 9.625 (exh.)
Beam 1. Ashley Kelly, OSU 9.875 2. Brooke Barclay, OSU 9.900 3. Laura-Ann Chong, OSU 9.875 4. Kelly Gilbert, UW 9.850 5. Tasha Smith, OSU 9.825 6. Kristen Omori, UW 9.800 Ashley Houghting, UW 9.800 Debra Huss, SPU 9.800 9. Courtney Dennison, OSU 9.775 10. Tori Quandt, UW 9.725 11. Celia Short, UW 9.675 12. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU 9.625 Sarah Sullivan, SPU 9.625 14. Natalie Gillan, UW 9.600 15. Brianna Schwartz, SPU 9.475 16. Ashley Domres, SPU 9.450 17. Jami Lanz, OSU 9.350 Christie Chinaka, SPU 9.350 19. Kristin Bryant, SPU 8.850 Yuki Lamb, OSU 9.675 (exh.) Jenni Chang, UW 9.525 (exh.)
Floor 1. Tasha Smith, OSU 9.995 2. Jami Lanz, OSU 9.900 3. Natalie Gillan, UW 9.875 Kristen Omori, UW 9.875 Kera Bolen, OSU 9.875 Yuki Lamb, OSU 9.875 7. Kelly Gilbert, UW 9.850 8. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU 9.800 9. Celia Short, UW 9.775 Megan Devencenzi, OSU 9.775 Sarah Sullivan, SPU 9.775 12. Ashley Houghting, UW 9.750 Kristin Bryant, SPU 9.750 Brianna Schwartz, SPU 9.750 15. Tori Quandt, UW 9.550 16. Ashley Domres, SPU 9.525 17. Amber Lundgren, SPU 9.275 18. Debra Huss, SPU 9.200 Laura-Ann Chong, OSU 9.650 (exh.) Darcee Schiller, UW 8.900 (exh.)
All-Around 1. Tasha Smith, OSU 39.550 2. Mandi Rodriguez, OSU 39.175 3. Jami Lanz, OSU 38.925 4. Natalie Gillan, UW 38.875 5. Brianna Schwartz, SPU 38.375 6. Ashley Houghting, UW 38.350 7. Debra Huss, SPU 37.350 8. Sarah Sullivan, SPU 37.775
