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Show GYMNASTICS THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1996 SUU gymnasts look to another big year in 1996 The names may have changed, but the objective remains the same. After missing out on an invitation to the Midwest Regional meet by an eyelash for the second time in three years last season. Southern Utah University's women's gymnastics team is keeping last year's goal intact for the 1996 season. That goal: advance to the Midwest Regional as a team. n competition has Getting individuals into been no trouble for the SUU coaching staff. In each of Head Coach Scott Bauman's four seasons with the he has seen at least three athletes qualify for the Midwest Regional in positions, including four last year. But what Bauman wants is a bid for the team. That team bid has been tantakzingly close more than once. In 1993, SUU fell just 0.40 short, as Oklahoma turned in an RQS of 190.650, edging SUU - at 190.250 - for the regional meet's final berth. Last year, the Thunderbirds turned in an RQS of 191.500, over a full point higher than the squad's previous best, but even that was short of the goal as Brigham Young claimed the region's final seed with a final RQS of 192.744, 1.244 better than the Thunderbirds' mark. "It's frustrating to get so close and still not qualify, but at the same time, the team has been making tremendous strides," Bauman pointed out. "We have reached a level where the competition is very intense, which has been one of our goals all along." This year, the competition for one of the region's seven berths will again be strong. Among the teams competing for berths in the Midwest are defending national champion Utah; Brigham Young, which finished 10th at last year's NCAA finals,- Nebraska, which finished llth; Arizona State and Arizona, which s to last season's were the first- - and NCAA meet; as well as perennial powerhouses Utah State and Oklahoma. Those seven teams have compiled the field for the past several regionals and form the group SUU hopes to break into this year. The Thunderbirds will find out how well they stack up against that group during the regular season as they e meet Brigham Young and Utah State in series and travel to both Nebraska and Utah late in the season. "Our schedule is extremely tough," Bauman noted. "We have four meets with teams who made it to nationals last year, and I think that shows where our program is going. "Our goals are very straightforward," he added. "We want to make it to regionals. This year we should do it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, this team should qualify for the regional meet. It will be a challenge, but this team is driven toward that goal and I wouldn't put anything past this team - if they want to do it, they can do it." The strength of the 1996 Thunderbirds, according to Bauman, is "our core of solid returning athletes." The n team has four returners who have two-tim- e Talbot a Julie including experience, qualifier to the Midwest Regional - as well as Stacy Fullmer-CatheJanica Hayes and Dawn Kisselburgh, who have each qualified for bids once. Hayes and Talbot qualified in 1994, while Fullmer-CatheKisselburgh and Talbot all qualified last year, along with the Angie Gunnell. Fullmer-Cathe- r and Hayes are seniors, Talbot is a junior and Kisselburgh is a sophomore. "The fact that all four of those girls have been to regionals, have seen what it's all about and know what to do to get there will help our team elevate to the level needed to make it as a team," Bauman noted. In addition to the four qualifiers, SUU returns sophomores Kerri Heninger and Kimberly Nomura from last year's squad, along with junior Shannon bid to Bogart, who was headed for a probable the 1994 regional meet before a severe knee injury ended her season (it also kept her out of action last off of the freshmen, which wasn't the case last year," Bauman explained. "Last year our freshmen were forced to perform, but this year's freshmen will be able to adjust to collegiate gymnastics without undue pressure." Still, the freshmen will be expected to contribute. post-seaso- at-lar- Breakdown Bv Event - post-seaso- r, r, now-depart- year). "Without a doubt, our strength is in our returning athletes. The returning girls will take a lot of pressure Vault: This year's vault team may be the best during the Bauman era at Southern Utah. With three vaulters who have gone over 9.70 and two strong-lookin- g freshmen on the squad, the team could continue the progress begun last year on the apparatus. Still, vault will be the team's weakness, according to Bauman. "If we have a weak event it will be vault," he conceded, "but this is still the best vault team we've ever had." and Heninger have all Kisselburgh, Fullmer-Cathe- r had reached broken the 9.70 mark - a mark no d before last year - and are locks for the vault team. Talbot, Nomura, Turley and Brockbank will compete for the final three spots. Bars: Bars were the slowest event to develop during the but as the start of the season neared they began to gel, Bauman said. "I was very concerned with our bar team early," he all pointed out. "They were but they finally came together and now it looks like we g could be on bars. We have nine kids with at least one major release move and some of them have two or three. We've never had that level of ability before." will form the core Hayes, Talbot and Fullmer-Cathe- r of the bars team, with Bogart, Franklin, Heninger, Noble, Nomura and Turley looking to join them in the competition lineup. Beam: Beam may be the strength of the team. Again, Bauman's contention is that the team is nine-dee- p on the event. g "We're on beam. We also have one of the finest beam coaches in the country, Sherri Hawker, working with us. A lot of meets come down to beam; they are even meets until you get to beam, then the question becomes 'who is going to hit beam?' I like our chances against anyone." The biggest question regarding the 1996 SUU beam team is 'who will have to sit?' Talbot is one of the premier beam workers in the NCAA, while Fullmer-CatheHeninger and Kisselburgh (as well as Hayes) have all scored 9.70 or better. Turley and Franklin are also very strong, and Noble is a talented beam worker. Floor: Floor has traditionally been one of SUU's strengths, and 1996 should be no different. "Our top eight kids on floor can hold their own with anyone," Bauman said. "We have increased our difficulty over last year and this year have a nice blend of styles. We have everything from classical dance with classical music to heavy tumbling to hard rock type routines. I think that gives us a nice balance judges will like." Again, the team has four gymnasts who have bettered 9.7: Talbot, Fullmer-CatheKisselburgh and Nomura; as well as a host of improving young gymnasts ready to step into the competition lineup: Heninger, Franklin, Noble and Turley. T-Bir- second-alternate- home-and-hom- Kym Franklin, Jenn Noble and Tamara Turley have secured spots in various rotations, and Maika Brockbank is very close. Rachel Peterson may need another year of seasoning before she competes at the college level, and Taryn Dettmann will need the year to rehab a serious knee injury. At the least, the freshmen give Bauman a degree of depth he hasn't enjoyed for a couple of years, but the impact goes further than that. With the current amount of depth, Bauman will use more event specialists this year than he ever has in the past, and could wind up with just one bona fide Stacy Fullmer. "I had a difficult decision to make," Bauman said. and try to qualify "Either to throw five them in positions or put my best team on the floor every night and qualify as a team. Actually, there's no decision, we're going for it, but if it backfires we may be sending just one athlete to regionals this year." HEAD COACH SCOTT BAUMAN Scott Bauman enters his fifth season as head coach of SUU gymnastics this year. In his four previous years at the helm of the Thunderbird program, Bauman has overseen the ascent of the squad from a relatively unknown entity to one which has been recognized as one of the programs in the nation. During Bauman's first year at SUU, his gymnasts set school records for practically every individual and team score. That 1992 season set a precedent for those which would follow, as the Thunderbird gymnasts have virtually rewritten the record books in each subsequent year. The only exception was in 1994, when Southern Utah went through a rebuilding season. Under Bauman's guidance the team jumped its average horn 182.16 in 1991 to 186.31 in 1992 to 188.64 in 1993. The 1993 team broke the four times, previous school record in the and the 1992 squad broke the A-- record six times. After the year in 1994, last year's squad picked up where the 1993 team left off, averaging 189.460 and breaking the previous school record twice. School RQS marks have also been shattered in the Bauman years, with a 188.213 in 1992 (up over four points from 1991's score) a 188.800 in 1993 and last year's 191.500. Bauman has sent at least three gymnasts to the NCAA Midwest Regional in positions in each of his four seasons, including four last year. For his successes, he was honored by his peers as the Midwest Region's Coach of the Year following the 1993 season. A 1990 graduate of Utah State University, g Bauman is in his first capacity. He cut his coaching teeth under the tutelage of Ray Com at USU where he helped develop the Aggies into a national power. Bauman spent seven years as both an undergraduate and graduate assistant at USU. head-coachin- nine-stron- nine-stron- r, r, |