University of Washington Official Athletic Site - Women's Gymnastics
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1998 Gymnastics Season Outlook
Apparently Husky gymnastics coach Bob Levesque is not superstitious. It would be fairly obvious if he was.
When Levesque talks about his team's outlook for the 1998 season, he has a habit of ending his comments with the phrase, "... as long as we stay healthy." He does not follow that up by rapping his knuckles on a piece of wood to ensure his wishful thinking.
Last season the Huskies kept the nucleus of their team healthy down the home stretch of the season to post a second-place finish at the NCAA West Regional and finish eighth at the NCAA Championships. Washington had four gymnasts earn All-America honors in seven different areas. By far, it was the best team performance ever turned in by a Husky squad.
With seven of the eight gymnasts returning who competed at the NCAA Championships, the Huskies have set their ultimate team goal one notch higher this season. The veteran Washington squad not only wants to return to the NCAA Championships, they want to make it to the elite Super Six finals. A lofty goal for a program that has made just four appearances at the NCAA Championships since 1984? Maybe. But, to borrow from Levesque, if the Huskies can stay healthy ....
"We always put down going to nationals as our number-one goal," says Levesque, who is now in his eighth season at Washington. "Last year, I thought if we had a good season, we would make it. We've been there before as a team, but we've never had anyone come away an All-American. To have four gymnasts be named All-Americans in seven different areas, I just had to step back and say 'Wow.'"
Wow is a good way to describe the Huskies entire 1997 season. Amazingly, the Huskies bettered the program's previous high team score 12 times during the year. Washington's highest scores came in its most important meets. When the Huskies toppled regional powerhouse Oregon State, they established a school record with 196.775 points. The second best mark of the year came at the Pac-10 Championships, the third best at the NCAA Championships and the fourth best at the West Regionals.
A trio of all-around competitors -- Tiffany Simpson, Jamie Stauffer and Klara Kudilkova -- headlined last season's record-smashing team and all three return this season. Stauffer and Kudilkova are the only seniors on the 13-woman roster.
Stauffer earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships thanks to a ninth-place finish (39.300) in the all-around and a 16th-place (9.825) showing on balance beam. Stauffer's stamina as a four-year all-arounder has allowed Washington's program to grow quickly during her career.
Five of Stauffer's all-around performances rank among the top 20 in Washington's 24-year history. Her top showings have come on the vault where she ranks second on Washington's all-time list with a score of 9.975 she recorded last season in a meet with Arizona and Boise State. Three times last season her vault score was 9.950 and three other times she recorded a 9.925.
"Jamie can see the light at the end of the tunnel and she wants to go out with a strong senior showing," Levesque says. "She's been very steady during her career and is a good leader for our team with so many freshmen and sophomores."
Kudilkova, like Stauffer, is a three-time letterwinner who was named an All-American last season following her sixth-place finish at the NCAAs on floor exercise. The former UW record holder in all-around, Kudilkova gives the Huskies another solid performer in all four events. She owns the Husky vault record that she set with a perfect 10.00 in 1996 at the Pac-10 Championships. Last season she managed to better her career bests on beam and floor and equal her best mark on bars.
For the second straight year Kudilkova won an individual Pac-10 title with her 9.90 score on floor. In 1996 she captured the league's vault championship with a perfect 10.00.
"You know Klara is going to go out and score consistently high for you," Levesque says. "Competing at nationals was a really good experience for her. She's done that and she's been named an All-American. I want her to go out and enjoy her senior season. I think she's capable of posting some really good marks and we'll need those at the end of the year."
Washington's third returning all-arounder, Simpson, could easily be the Huskies' most decorated gymnast since Yumi Modre won NCAA individual titles in vault and beam in 1987.
"She could have the year of her life," Levesque says. "Her beam routine is awesome and she's already an All-American in all-around, vault and floor. She's done a nice job of increasing the difficulty of all of her routines."
Simpson was spectacular in 1997. She easily established herself as one of the top all-around gymnasts in the country by turning in five of the top six scores in Washington's history. She then backed that up by placing sixth in the all-around at the NCAAs -- the highest finish by a Husky since Modre was second in 1987. Simpson's highest all-around mark of the season was her 39.625 at the Pac-10 championships that placed her second.
Simpson's season hit its high mark in a duel meet with Seattle Pacific when she recorded only the third 10 in Washington history with her floor exercise routine. Simpson went on to add two other 9.950 performances during the season on floor. She added a pair of 9.975 scores on vault to post the second highest marks in that area in UW history. One of those top vault scores allowed her to win the Pac-10 individual title in the event.
Washington's fourth returning All-American came out of its freshman class last season. Lauren Riesenman was probably the biggest surprise at the NCAA Championships when she finished 16th on floor exercise (9.80) to earn postseason honors. Riesenman competed in the all-around for the Huskies in 1997 and posted a top score of 39.100 vs. Oregon State to propel Washington's to its team record-setting score.
Levesque says he will probably only use four all-arounders during the year, but a fifth emerged for the team at last year's NCAA Championships -- junior Amber Erdos. A back injury limited her activity on the beam for most of the season. Still, she managed to record 9.90 scores on both vault and uneven bars. At the NCAA Championships Erdos turned in a 39.150 score in the all-around competition to post an impressive 17th-place finish.
Four additional sophomores will give Washington a depth advantage it has not experienced during Levesque's tenure. Rhyan Pelander competed on vault, beam and floor for most of Washington's meets in 1997. She posted top scores of 9.775 on floor, 9.70 on vault and 9.725 on beam. Crystal Collins saw most of her competition on beam last year, topping the season with a 9.750 at the NCAA Championships. She could see more time on uneven bars this season. Angela Orange is coming off of a strong training period, slowed briefly by a back injury, and is a gymnast Levesque figures could have a breakthrough year. Like Collins, Orange turned in her top routine at the NCAAs, recording a 9.725 on vault. Leah Waaramaki, who competed primarily on bars, rounds out the sophomore class.
Washington adds four freshmen to this year's roster. Lanna Apisukh figures to have the best chance of contributing in her first season. A former junior national champion, Apisukh will compete on beam, floor and bars. Two other freshmen, Mandi Klug and Jessica Schedler, had off-season shoulder injuries that will partially limit their roles. Both will perform on beam, floor and vault. Jennifer Curlee, a walkon from Salem, Ore., completes the freshman class.
The road to returning to the NCAA Championships will again be challenging for the Huskies. Washington has a three-week stretch of home meets in February that features defending NCAA Champion UCLA, runner-up Arizona State and traditional powerhouse Utah.
Top performance, timing and a large number of returning veterans could all be on the Huskies' side this season. After the Pac-10 Championships are held at UCLA, the Huskies will play host to the NCAA West Regionals April 4 in Hec Edmundson Pavilion. A qualifying score there sends Washington back to UCLA for the nationals.
"This team has had a taste of the nationals and they really want to get back there," Levesque says. "We were seeded eighth and we finished in that position, ahead of Alabama who was the reigning national champions. To go to the NCAAs is one thing but to go and perform well was a boost for our program.
"Staying healthy will be the key because this group is more talented than last year's team," he adds. "We just have to peak at the right time and, with the regionals here, we have "the right place" part of that cliche already taken care of."
1997 NCAA Championships 1. UCLA 197.150 2. Arizona State 196.850 3. Georgia 196.600 4. Michigan 196.500 5. Florida 196.425 6. Nebraska 195.250 7. Utah 196.025 8. Washington 195.975 9. Alabama 195.600 10. Minnesota 194.775 11. Penn State 194.300 12. LSU 193.825
