Vaccher Heads To Georgia For Nationals
April 19, 2012
SEATTLE - For the second-straight year, sophomore Aliza Vaccher (Eugene, Ore.) qualified in the all-around for the NCAA National Championships after finishing fourth at the Seattle Regional with a 39.225. Vaccher and alternate freshman McKenzie Fechter will head to Duluth, Ga., April 20-22. The event hosts are the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Gwinnett Center. Freshman McKenzie Fechter will also go to Nationals as an alternate after finishing sixth in the all-around at Regionals.
Schedule/How To Follow
There will be two sessions, the afternoon session at 9 a.m. PT and the evening session at 3 p.m. PT. Vaccher will rotate with a familiar team, Oregon State, in the evening sessions. Vaccher and the Beavers will start with a bye, move to floor, vault, a second bye, bars and then end on beam. Team finals will be April 21 and Individual Finals on April 22. Live stats and video will be available for both sessions Friday at ncaa.com.
UW's History At Nationals
Vaccher finished 19th at Nationals a year ago, paired with Georgia, the best finish by a Husky in the all-around since 2003. She was also the first Husky since Haley Bogart to compete in the all-around since 2008. Vaccher is the sixth Husky in school history to compete in the all-around two years in a row. The last to do so was Lauren Riesenman in 1999-2000.
Huskies 3rd At Regionals, Vaccher Wins Vault
Vaccher became UW's first-ever NCAA Regional vault champion with a career-best 9.925. She also finished fourth in the all-around, qualifying her for Nationals. Washington came into the meet seeded fourth, and for the second year in a row finished a spot higher than their original seed. For the first time this year, Washington knocked off No. 16 Arizona, who was seeded third coming into the regional. The Huskies scored a 195.825, just a quarter of a point behind second place LSU (196.075). Washington started the day strong on vault, recording a season high with a score of 49.200, second best next to Alabama. Junior Lauren Rodgers (Plains, Pa.) tied for fifth overall with a score of 9.850. As they had hoped it would, the Huskies' momentum from their strong vault performance carried over to their second rotation on bars. Washington scored a 49.075, led by freshman McKenzie Fetcher (9.850) and senior Ruby Engreitz (9.850), who both tied for fourth place overall. After two full rotations, Washington was in second place behind first place Alabama and in front of third place LSU. The Huskies third rotation was on beam, an event the Huskies struggled on in Pac-12s. Washington scored a 48.675, junior Paige Bixler earning a fifth place finish overall. Heading into the fourth and final rotation, Washington trailed LSU by .025. The Huskies finished the meet strong on the floor, scoring a 48.875. Leading the way for Washington was Rogers, scoring a 9.825 and placing sixth overall. For the seniors, it was important for them to finish on a good note in what was their last meet as University of Washington gymnasts--especially after an uncharacteristic performance at the Pac-12 championships.
Vaccher Named GoHuskies.com SAOTW
Sophomore gymnastics Aliza Vaccher has been named the GoHuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of April 2-8. The Eugene, Ore., native became the first-ever UW Regional champion on the vault, winning the event outright with a career-best 9.925 on Saturday at the Seattle Regional. She had an all-around score of 39.225 scoring a 9.775 on bars, 9.775 on beam and a 9.750 on floor. Vaccher also finished fourth in the all-around, qualifying individually for nationals for the second-straight season. She is just the fifth Husky to qualify twice for nationals in the all-around.
Eight Huskies Earn Pac-12 Academic Recognition
Eight Huskies were recently named to the PAC-12 Women's Gymnastics All-Academic Teams. Announced by Commissioner Larry Scott, student-athletes with All-Academic recognition must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade point average, in addition to being either a starter or significant team contributor. Named to the PAC-12 All-Academic First-Team were Ruby Engreitz and Megan Whitney. Second-Team recognition was awarded to Aliza Vaccher. Senior Hatsune Akaogi and juniors Amanda Cline, Lauren Rogers, and Phoebe Tham were given All-Academic Honorable Mention.
The 2012 Pac-12 All-Conference Gymnastics teams have been announced and UW senior Ruby Engreitz was named second-team on the floor. The Kirkland, Wash., native is earning her second all-conference honor after being named to the bars team in 2011. This year on floor, she has been the anchor for much of the season and is the highest Husky in the national rankings on the event. She has an average of 9.871 and a high of 9.875 on the floor this season. Engreitz has won nine individual titles this season, three on bars, four on floor and two in the all-around. Her biggest win on floor of the season was in UW's upset over then-ranked No. 1 UCLA in which she scored a 9.875, her season-best. The All-Pac-12 team is determined by a combination of 50 percent regional qualifying score (entire season composite) and 50 percent Conference Championships score. The All-Conference first team consists of the top six all-around competitors, plus the top three competitors in each individual event who are not among the all-around honorees. The Pac-12 second team consists of the top two all-arounders who were not named to the first team (as all-arounders or in an event), after such the top two gymnasts from each event who were not yet named to the first team or the second team would be selected to the second team.
