University of Washington
UCLA
Washington Breaks Home-Opening Attendance Record Against UCLA
January 21, 2023 | Gymnastics
SEATTLE – Washington gymnastics finished with a 195.825 Saturday afternoon in the first Pac-12 conference matchup of the season. UCLA closed with a 196.900.
The Huskies welcomed 5,432 fans to pack the stands of Alaska Airlines Arena, setting a new Washington gymnastics record for a home-opening crowd.
Amara Cunningham stole the show late in the meet on her spectacular floor routine, earning her a 9.950 in the fifth spot. Her impressive 9.950 matched a career-high (and season-high) score that she has earned multiple times during her Washington tenure.
9.950 alert ?? ????@amaracunn tied a career-high 9.950 on floor to tie for first on the event ??#GoHuskies x #Unleashed pic.twitter.com/3nRawzwNlD
— Washington Gymnastics (@UWGymnastics) January 22, 2023
Cunningham tied with Jordan Chiles of the Bruins to finish first on floor.
The floor routines came naturally for the GymDawgs, securing them their highest event score of the afternoon with a 49.200.
Lana Navarro finished with a 9.900 floor routine for the second weekend in a row, while also finishing with a 9.850 on beam, setting a new season-high.
Taylor Russon made her floor season debut with an impressive 9.800 in the final slot of the event. Russon also earned a 9.800 on bars.
GymDawgs by event:
Vault (48.750)
Amara Cunningham – 9.875
Skylar Killough-Wilhelm – 9.850
Bars (48.950)
Skylar Killough-Wilhelm – 9.825
Taylor Russon – 9.800
Lilly Tubbs – 9.800
Beam (49.925)
Brenna Brooks – 9.850
Lana Navarro – 9.850
Skylar Killough-Wilhelm – 9.850
Floor (49.200)
Amara Cunningham – 9.950
Lana Navarro – 9.900
Taylor Russon – 9.800
All-Around
Skylar Killough-Wilhelm – 39.325
JEN LLEWELLYN'S THOUGHTS
On the largest home-opening crowd...
"Being back at home was really exciting. Seeing the crowd -- because we haven't really seen a crowd like that -- was amazing. Seeing our fans getting really engaged was great for us – we loved the environment."
On the GymDawgs' performance...
"I thought we did a great job. We definitely left it all out on the floor. There were sometimes when we lost just in our landings, our handstands, or our balance checks here and there, so we're hungry to get back in the gym and fine tune those details – fight for those tenths back so we can continue the 196s and above."
On new faces stepping up...
"We had a lot of freshmen step up, and a lot of others stepping in the lineups who haven't been in those positions. Taylor Russon on floor was huge, Emily Innes on vault was huge since we haven't seen her on vault, and then Hadley Roberts helping us on beam. So, we had a lot of new faces, and we really tested our depth and our strength tonight."
Overall...
"We still have a lot of the season left so I think this was a great day for us to get better with our experience and test our lineups. We're able to trust that no matter who goes up, they are more than capable of competing. Now it's just fighting for those details in the gym."
UP NEXT
The Huskies turn right back around to Utah next weekend for the second conference matchup of the year against the Utes. The meet will kick off at noon PT and will be streamed on Pac-12 Networks.
Players Mentioned
