University of Washington
Arizona State
Fechter And Huskies Upset ASU
March 02, 2012 | Gymnastics
March 2, 2012
SEATTLE - Against one of the hottest teams in the country, the No. 23 UW gymnastics team pulled an upset over No. 22 Arizona State in a Pac-12 Dual Meet at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday night.
UW tied its team season-best with a 195.725 while ASU scored a 193.850. The Huskies started strong on vault with a 48.875 and then moved to bars while posting a 48.975. On beam, UW didn't count a fall and scored a 48.875 and finished with a strong score of 49.000 on floor. UW led ASU after every rotation and outscored the Sun Devils on every event.
"What we decided this week in practice was to put them under a lot of pressure for the beam," said head coach Joanne Bowers. "We did it different this week; we wanted them to practice under meet conditions. What I was so proud of them was that the little things that were their goals, you could see the focus and they were staying mentally tough. That's what I saw happen tonight. Things don't happen overnight but it really made a difference."
Sophomore McKenzie Fechter (Mequon, Wis.) won the all-around with a 39.250, upsetting one of the top 25 all-rounder's in the country, Beate Jones from ASU who took second with a 39.050. She tied her season-high on the bars, winning the event with a 9.850. Fechter also had strong performances on vault placing fourth (9.775), beam placing sixth (9.825) and floor taking fourth (9.825).
Sophomore Aliza Vaccher (Eugene, Ore.) was the only other Husky to compete in the all-around and took fourth with a 39.750.
Junior Lauren Rogers (Plains, Pa.) had a stellar night, winning the vault with a 9.825 and the floor with a new career-best 9.850 with senior Ruby Engreitz (Kirkland, Wash.).
"Tonight we really showed what we can actually do, even with making mistakes," said Rogers. But, we should take it for what it is. We improved a lot and we could've been doing it all year. We focused on hitting what counted this week and we are really excited."
Junior Paige Bixler (Rowlett, Texas) won the beam, tying a season-best with a 9.875. Junior Megan Whitney (Mesa, Ariz.) also tied a season-high on beam, placing second with a 9.850.
The UW men's club team also competed at the meet, falling to Arizona State, 324.000-239.000. Joey Lawrence was injured in warm-ups for UW but is still hoping to try out for this summer's Olympic Games.
The Huskies host Central Michigan and San Jose State next Friday at 7 p.m. in Senior Night.
Players Mentioned
