Temple University Athletics
Canning Shines as Women's Gymnastics Places Second
1.28.09 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 28, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Katie Canning was the star for the Temple women's gymnastics team once again, finishing first on floor exercise (9.85), tied for first on vault (9.725) and third in the all-around (38.500) to lead the Owls to a second-place finish from McGonigle Hall on Wednesday evening.
The Cherry and White finished with a season-high score of 191.375. That is the highest team score for the the Temple women's gymnastics team since 2004. Towson - a team the Temple women's gymnastics team has yet to defeat in 20 years of competition - just edged the Owls for first place with a score of 192.275. Bridgeport (190.575) and Rutgers (187.950) came in third and fourth respectively.
Hundreds of fans packed the seats and were treated to a tight race the entire evening. Coming into tonight's competition, Towson, Temple and Bridgeport were ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the competitive ECAC conference.
Temple started the evening on vault in the first rotation, with senior co-captain Natasha Crawford's clean layout Yurchenko (9.375). Freshman Kaity Watson chipped in a 9.675 for a clean Yurchenko-half, followed by fellow freshman Alexandra Uscatu's huge handspring front-pike (9.625). Canning rounded out the rotation with a solid Yurchenko-full and a 9.725 to bring the Owls' vault total to 47.750.
While Temple was on vault, the Bridgeport was swinging solid uneven bars sets, led by Lorraine Galow's 9.575.
Rutgers had to start on balance beam, but were forced to count some shaky performances. The highlight for the Scarlet Nights came from freshman Danae Johnson's 9.700 (nice switch leap to immediate switch side).
Towson got off to a scary start on floor exercise, when Kady Sullivan crashed to the mat on her closing double tuck mount. Her teammates picked things back up, but ran into several troubles with the boundary lines. Avis Hixon was tops for the Tigers with a stellar 9.750 (double pike and double tuck).
After the first rotation, Towson held a slim lead over Temple, 48.000-47.750. Bridgeport was in third with a 46.925 and Rutgers in fourth with a 46.550
Temple moved to the uneven bars in the second rotation and was led off by Nina Oteri's 9.200 (nice free-hip to split handstand toe-on front tuck dismount). Canning followed with an excellent bail to handstand to immediate toe-shoot, and a nice straddled jaeger release. Canning couldn't make it over the top of the bar on her dismount sequence, and was forced to jump off the bar before nailing her double tuck dismount for a 9.225.
Realizing her team needed a boost, junior Danielle Viens rocked a healy-straddle back-toe-shoot for 9.625. Crawford successfully completed a tricky healy to immediate jaeger combo and stuck a double tuck for a 9.675, to set up fellow senior Nikki Berrian's 9.750 (huge Gienger and stuck double tuck).
Meanwhile, Bridgeport was showing some incredible beam routines, especially after their first athlete fell. Leading the charge for the Purple Nights was Emily Repko, who delivered a 9.825.
While all of this was going on, Rutgers was electrifying the crowd on floor exercise, where Johnson wowed the crowd and the judges with a double front mount, en route to a 9.750.
Towson showed several 10.0 valued vaults, but had some problems with the landings to score an event-high 47.800.
Mid-way through the competition, Towson (95.800) held a slim lead over Bridgeport (95.500) and Temple (95.400). Rutgers was in fourth with a 94.700, proving their early troubles on the balance beam had taken its toll.
In the third rotation, the Owls moved to the balance beam, turning in a series of performances that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Crawford led things off with a great three-element tumbling series (bhs-bhs-layout) for a 9.675. Making her competitive debut, freshman Marissa Oxenford nailed a great combo of front-handspring-straddle jump-Chen (tuck-open Korbut) for a 9.350.
Freshman Corrine Williams kept things rolling for the Owls, scoring a 9.875 for her beam routine (bhs-lo; split jump to standing layout; stuck double-full). Sophomore Kathyrn Ho showed off her clean lines and steady tumbling for a 9.675. Canning had to follow a shaky routine from an otherwise solid Oteri, and erased any chances of the Owls having to count a fall with a 9.725 (front tuck mount; one-arm bhs-whip; stuck 1.5 dismount).
After the third rotation, Towson used a 48.375 on bars to lead Temple 144.175-143.700. Bridgeport slipped to third with a 143.250, and Rutgers remained in fourth with a 141.850.
With Temple moving to floor and Towson to beam in the final rotation, the meet was anyone's game. Towson could not afford to count a single fall, or would risk handing the meet to Temple--a team that had been struggling on floor all season long.
The Owls, having to compete without senior co-captain Winter Sneed (suffered a mild concussion on Sunday), turned in a solid floor performance, capped by Canning's 9.825 (double pike; two front layouts to front pike; whip-1.5, front pike dismount).
Towson felt the nerves early on when their first gymnast up, Megan Wooden slipped on a bhs-lo for an 8.850. Miraculously, however, the next four gymnasts hit incredible routines for scores of 9.825, 9.725, 9.850, and 9.725, respectively. With the meet all but wrapped up, Avis Dixon stumbled twice for an 8.700. However, their middle four routines made up the ground missed by Wooden and Dixon.
After the meet, head coach Aaron Murphy had nothing but good things to say about his team, whose 191.450 was the highest team score since his first-year as head coach.
"They finally had the chance to compete at home this season. They were so fired up tonight, and hit the way they knew how to."
Assistant coach Caitlin Council was very proud of her balance beam squad, noting "This is one of the deepest balance beam teams I've ever coached. They came out today and performed the way they do everyday in practice."
Canning, who notched a 38.500 in the all-around for third place, was very pleased with her team's performance tonight. "This meet was a great morale booster for us. We've had some unexpected injuries lately, but we're really looking to the post-season to peak and get healthy."
The Owls will have a chance to rest and tune-up the fine points during a 10-day break before hosting the Liberty Classic on Saturday, February 7 at 4:30 p.m. from McGonigle Hall.
