Temple University Athletics
Owls Take Flight For The West Coast And The USAG National Championships
4.16.07 | Women's Gymnastics
April 16, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple women's gymnastics team will be busy packing its bags as it prepares to head to the 2007 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships, scheduled for April 19-21, at Seattle Pacific University's Royal Brougham Pavilion in Seattle, WA. Joining the Temple Owls will be Seattle Pacific, Texas Women's University, Rutgers, Centenary College, Cornell, and William & Mary. A select number of individual athletes from various schools will also be competing.
There will be two preliminary sessions on the first of three days, with four teams competing in each session. The top two teams from each session will advance to the finals team competition. Additionally, the top four individual event scores from each session will have a chance to compete for All-American honors and bragging rights as an individual event champion.
Temple drew the unlucky 3:00 p.m. afternoon session, but will still be a force to reckon with, especially due to the high level of training that the team has shown in the last two weeks.
"This year's championship takes on a new format, and this team of competitors will really have to step it up to qualify out of prelims, "said first-year head coach Aaron Murphy. "After I explained the new format to the team, it's like I lit a fire underneath them. They have spent some grueling days in the gym perfecting their form and overall trying to minimize their deductions. While the training was tough, and they were visibly tired, they also managed to have smiles on their faces while going through the process. All in all, this team is physically and mentally prepared to compete at 100% for the national championships."
Senior co-captain Sarah Liebowitz reiterated her coach's words late last week, adding that, "The team has been having a lot of fun in workouts, even with the heavy amount of work we've been doing. We just keep getting better, and it shows from gymnast to gymnast, event to event. I'm really looking forward to competing at these nationals with this squad."
As he has all season, Murphy will look to his usual suspects to help rake in some big scores. With senior leadership from co-captain Jillian Kornett and Noelle Moore, this talented senior class will look to go out with a bang. Moore, who had actually suffered a concussion the week of the ECAC conference championships, is back to full speed and training at an extremely high level. Kornett, who has battled with injuries all season, is also finally starting to feel healthy, and just at the right time.
At last years USA Gymnastics National Collegiate Championships, Texas Women's University rallied to their eighth national team title while UC Davis' Michelle Kulovitz won the all-around crown.
For Temple, Moore earned first team USAG All-America honors in the floor exercise and on the balance beam, while Liebowitz earned first team honors herself with a fourth place all-around finish. Junior Desiree Meredith was awarded second team honors with her performance on the vault.
These 2007 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Championships marks the final competition of the season for the Cherry and White. The second preliminary session will take place at 7:00 p.m., with the team finals being held at the same time on Friday, April 20. Individual event finals will start at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
