OCR Text |
Show Monday, March 22, 2010 Page 8 MondaySp0 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Gymnastics team shows resolve Another of Richards' mid-season predictions came true against the Spartans, as staff writer well. Earlier this season, after first stating he thought Heinrich was capable of posting While many USU students spent Spring a 39.200 in the all-around, Richards later Break seeking a little rest and relaxation, the changed his mind, saying he believed his star Aggie women's gymnastics team spent its gymnast would eventually pass the mark. time off preparing for this Saturday's Western Consider it done. Athletic Conference Championships. Despite finishing in second place behind Despite two home losses to conclude the the 39.325 logged by San Jose State's regular season, the Aggies and head coach Jeff Thomasina Wallace, Heinrich, a co-captain Richards were pleased with their performancand the team's lone senior, posted a career-best es. 39.250. She was the top finisher on vault, tying her career-best score of 9.850, and also posted San Jose State vs. Utah State a career-high 9.750 on bars and season-high 9.825 on beam. The Aggies' March 12 loss to conference-foe "Honestly, nothing really changed. I just San Jose State was its 12th straight but was eas- cleaned up the little things," Heinrich said. ily its best performance of the season. While it Richards had been preaching the need to fell short of the Spartans 194.675, USU posted fine-tune routines all season but also said part a season-high score of 193.725, smashing its of Heinrich's career night can be attributed previous high of 191.225 to support from her teamlogged in a Jan. 12 loss mates. to in-state rival Southern "It's what we knew "The big thing was Utah. her team was behind her this team could do The Aggies were tonight," Richards said, all year long" strengthened significantly noting gymnastics is often —Jeff Richards mistaken as an individual by the return of many key gymnasts who had battled sport. head coach injuries throughout much Heinrich agreed with her of the season. One notable coach. returnee was freshman Amelia Montoya who "Now that we have six people in each event, posted team-high all-around scores in two it's easier to get these kinds of scores," she said. of her first three meets with the Aggies, but hadn't competed since a Jan. 29 loss to Boise Sacramento State vs. Utah State State. Montoya posted a 9.600 on floor, the only event she competed in. USU's final meet of the regular season came "It's what we knew this team could do all Friday night against conference opponent year long," Richards said, noting that durSacramento State. The Aggies recorded their ing points in the season when the team had second-highest score of the season but fell to been hit particularly hard by injuries he had the Hornets by a score of 194.650-192.050. preached "at the end of the year we're going to While the loss drops the Aggies to 0-5 in get these girls back and we're going to shine." conference meets and 1-16 overall, the score The Aggies posted season-high scores of marked only the second time all season the 48.725 on bars and 48.575 on beam. The score team had cleared 192.000. on bars was a meet-best, marking the first The Aggies posted a meet-best score on bars time the Aggies had won an event since the for the second consecutive meet and the third Jan. 29 loss to Boise State when they also captime this season with a score of 48.550. They tured the top score on bars. also had scores of 48.425 on floor, 48.125 on "We always knew and were told that we vault and a 46.900 on beam. Meanwhile, the were capable of these kinds of scores," senior Hornets recorded scores of 49.275 on beam, Heather Heinrich said. "We're really happy." 48.625 on floor, 48.425 on bars and 48.325 on USU also finished the meet with scores of vault. They also had the top individual score of 48.450 on floor, its second-highest on the seathe meet with Cayla Boyce's 9.900 on beam. son, and a 47.975 on vault. The Spartans finAfter posting a career-high all-around ished with scores of 48.925 on beam and floor, score the previous week, Heinrich celebrated 48.625 on vault and 48.200 on bars. her senior night in style, capturing her second By DAN FAWSON LONE SENIOR HEATHER HEINRICH shows her horns during one of her final meets inside the Glen Dee Smith Spectrum Friday, March 12, against San Jose State. Although the Aggies fell short during both of their meets over Spring Break, Aggie head coach Jeff Richards said he's confident in his team's ability heading into the postseason. PATRICK ODEN photo all-around title of the season with a score of 39.075. She was the meet's top individual finisher in floor and vault, posting scores of 9.825 and 9.775, respectively. She also tied the career-high 9.750 on bars, which she posted against San Jose State. Amanda Watamaniuk equaled Heinrich's 9.750 on bars, with the score marking a new career-best for the Aggie freshman. While Heinrich has been one of the team's few constants during this injury-riddled, upand-down season, recent strong performances from previously injured Aggies seem to have the team positioning itself well for a strong showing at the WAC Championships. Junior co-captain Lyndsie Boone continued to impress in her return from injury, placing third in the all-around with a score of 39.850. Sophomore Chelsea Marquadt posted a 9.675 on floor after first returning to action against the Spartans. Sophomore Rebecca Holliday, who missed the early part of the season, also continued her strong recent performance on bars, following up a career-best 9.850 against the Spartans with a 9.700 against the Hornets. Montoya, once again competing only on floor, posted a 9.500. These performances along with many others have Richards confident in his team's ability to turn some heads in the postseason. "It'll surprise some other teams," Richards said of his team's late-season improvement. "Really, I think we are a very underestimated team." With the regular season now complete, the Aggies begin postseason play at the WAC Championships held this Saturday in Fullerton, Calif. — dan.fawson@aggiemail.usu.edu USU softball surpasses 10-win mark of last season By TYREL SKINNER staff writer The USU softball team played a total of nine games in two tournaments during Spring Break. The team went on to have a record of 3-6 for the week. The softball games began on Friday, March 12, when USU traveled to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Texas A&M Aggies Invitational. Utah State had a rough start to its 2-3 weekend, with a loss to North Dakota State and home team Texas A&M. In the first game the ND State Bisons quickly took a 1-0 lead over USU. The Aggies answered in the second inning, scoring their only two runs of the game. The Bisons scored two more in the bottom of the second, giving them a 3-2 lead. The Aggies were unable to cross the plate again, while North Dakota State added one more, beating the Aggies 4-2. Utah State next played its first of two games against Aggies of Texas A&M for the weekend. The USU Aggies started the game hot, with a 4-1 lead in the first inning. Utah State's first run came when senior outfielder Nicole Tindall hit an RBI JUNIOR OUTFIELDER MEGAN MCDONALD takes a swing during last season's game against the University of Utah. McDonald is one of 12 returning players from last season's team. PATRICK ODEN photo single driving Joreigh Landers home. Then, with two runners on base, redshirt sophomore Kelley Kaneshiro hit her fifth home run of the year, scoring three more for USU. Utah State's scoring went silent for the rest of the game after that, while the maroon Aggies of Texas A&M went on to score nine more runs to bring the final score to 10-4. On Saturday, USU began with an early game against Wright State at 8 a.m. Utah State scored in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI by senior catcher Simone Hubbard. The Aggies also scored in the sixth with Hubbard's second RBI of the game. Senior pitcher Kate Greenough threw her second shutout of the season and led the Aggies to win 2-0. Game two against Texas A&M went much the same as the first. The maroon Aggies beat Utah State once again, this time with a five inning 8-0 domination. USU was only able to get two hits, one each from senior Emily Reilly and junior Megan McDonald. Texas A&M, on the other hand, was able to score three runs in both the third and fourth innings, and two more in the fifth. Texas A&M concluded the game with a win in the fifth inning due to the mercy rule. Utah State concluded play for the weekend with a 4-1 victory in its second game against Wright State. After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Aggies battled back with their first run in the third inning. It came from sophomore infielder Kelley Kaneshiro hitting her fourteenth RBI of the season. The Aggies scored again in the fifth and put the game away with two runs in the sixth inning to give the Aggies the win. This win tied Utah State's winning record from last year, at 10 wins on the season. The USU softball team was at it again last weekend when it traveled to Sacramento, Calif, to compete in the Sacramento State Invitational. It was another rough weekend for the Aggies, who finished with a 1-3 record for the weekend. Utah State lost to Iona with a score of 5-0. The Aggies were their own worst enemies, committing four errors. Iona scored two runs in the first and fourth innings and another in the sixth, while the Aggies remained scoreless. Game two for the day was against host team Sacramento State. The Aggies, again, let runs score due to miscues, quickly falling behind. In the bottom of the second, Sacramento started out the scoring, with four runs. By the fourth inning, the Aggies trailed 10-0. In the top of the fifth, USU looked to rally, scoring two runs. Freshman pitcher Kali Cancelosi had a pinch hit single that drove in in-fielder Katie Bowdidge and Megan McDonald. This would be the Aggies' only two runs of the game as they went on to lose 10-2. Saturday's game was, again, against Sacramento State. In the third inning, Sacramento scored two runs and then scored again in the fifth. The Aggies only had one hit in the game from Cancelosi, who hit a double to left field in the fifth. USU remained scoreless in the game, falling to Sacramento 3-0. Utah State played its final game of the tournament and nonconference play on Sunday. The Aggies edged past Colorado State with a 3-2 win, giving the Aggies their only win of the tounament. Colorado State scored two runs in the bottom of the first but was quickly answered by the Aggies in the second. Cancelosi batted in two to tie the game. Hubbard scored for USU in the sixth off an RBI by junior catcher Shasta Tyteca. The win evened out the Aggies' record to 11-11. The Aggies will now start conference play with their first matchup against Louisiana Tech this weekend. -qs@aggiemaiLusu.edu |