Gymnastics Falls to Nationally-Ranked Southern Utah
2/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Cedar City,
Utah - The Golden Flashes were able to beat the Thunderbirds on
floor 48. 725-48.700, but 19th-ranked Southern Utah claimed wins on
every other event in a 195.275-193.625 win Saturday night (Feb. 6) in Cedar City,
Utah.
Kent State falls to 3-2 on the season while Southern Utah
remains perfect at 6-0. Competing in only her second meet of the year, freshman
Lindsay Runyan picked up her first event win of her career with a 9.800 on
bars. Junior Christina Lenny finished third on vault with a 9.850 for the third
consecutive meet. "We're very happy for Lindsay as she is swinging good on
bars right now," head coach Brice Biggin said. "She did a good job tonight." As close as the win was for Kent State on floor, Southern
Utah took a similar advantage on vault 48.875-48.850. Lenny took third on the
event while junior Christine Abou-Mitri took fourth with a season high of
9.825. The Thunderbird capitalized on a few Kent State miscues on
bars with a 48.875-48.125 win. Runyan tied for first with three Southern Utah
gymnasts while Abou-Mitri and sophomore Erin Rothrock finished fifth with 9.750
routines. On beam, Southern Utah took the top three scores and won the
event 48.825-47.925. About-Mitri finished fourth with a 9.750. Kent State was able to prevail on floor as Southern Utah
took the top four spots but had to count a fall. Senior Sam Heydlauff finished
fifth with a season-best 9.800 routine. "Sam is a senior and she has done a great job on floor all
season and she will be going in on beam next week. We already told her she has
to get prepared," Biggin said. In the all-around, Elise Wheeler of SUU won with a total of
39.425, winning every event on the night. Abou-Mitri came in second with a
38.950 total while Lenny was third with a 38.300. Kent State returns to action next weekend when it travels to
Mount Pleasant, Mich. for a battle with Central Michigan. The first rotation is
set to begin at 2 p.m.
