Floored

Strong floor performance lifts
SUU to win against Boise State

By DAVID DeMILLE
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

It was closer than SUU hoped for coming in, but a solid showing on floor exercise and a sparkling performance from a freshman helped the Thunderbirds to a 193.825-193.600 win over Boise State University Tuesday.
SUU trailed 144.825-144.775 heading into the final rotation, and BSU hit four of six routines, including a pair of 9.925s, to put the pressure on the ’Birds on the floor.
Head coach Scott Bauman wasn’t worried, and in their strongest event, the T-Birds took five of the top six scores on floor, led by senior Sandi Lyman’s 9.875, and left with the close victory.
“Floor is our best event,” Bauman said. “If we’re within half a point heading to floor, we feel pretty confident about getting the win.”
Freshman Sheena Shaw won the all-around for the ’Birds with a 39.150, the seventh-best in school history, and senior Talayna Fortunato was second with a 38.700.
SUU won three of the four individual titles, including Shaw with a 9.850 on uneven bars, sophomore Molly Bauer with a 9.800 on vault and Lyman on floor.
The ’Birds hurt themselves on the balance beam and counted two falls in the event, creating the deficit heading into the final rotation.
Bauman said he was happy to get the win but is anxious to see his team put its talent together, eliminate some of the little mistakes and put up much better scores. After three meets, the T-Birds have yet to put up a score that would qualify them for regional competitions.
“We struggled,” Bauman said. “We’re 5-0, but if we keep scoring 193s, we aren’t going anywhere. We had six falls and we counted four, and that’s unacceptable for a team of this level. Every day in practice these girls are hitting everything and looking perfect. You would never see that kind of performance on beam in practice. We need to figure out what we’re doing wrong as far as bringing it to competition.
“These girls are so talented,” Bauman added. “We can’t continue to count multiple falls. I know they can hit all 24. We had a freshman bail us out. It was a great meet for Sheena, and I hope this is a confidence builder for her. Carly Geronimo really needed this meet, too, and she did a great job for us.”
Geronimo kept the ’Birds within reach after beam, posting a 9.875 to lead SUU, and her 9.800 on the uneven bars helped make up for two falls by teammates.
Shaw had a breakout performance after struggling slightly in the first two meets. She finished in the top five on all four events and when headed to the floor, she was aware she was doing well. “We weren’t really nervous going to floor because we’re usually pretty solid there,” Shaw said. “For me personally, I was nervous because I had a pretty good meet going. It was nice to win all-around, but I still need to improve a lot. The team still

 

Senior Talayna Fortunato flips through the air on her vault dismount during the gymnastics squad’s meet against Boise State. SUU picked up a 193.825-193.600 win over the Broncos Tuesday in the Centrum Arena to remain undefeated.
KEN HANSEN / UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

needs to get it all together. We’re hitting separately and making little mistakes. We can clean it up.”
The team is getting healthier, returning some athletes who have been kept out of events and some who were out of competition entirely. Bauer returned to the floor exercise and posted a 9.775 in her first appearance in the event of the year, and with BSU posting impressive scores on beam, she was glad for the strong performance.
“We aren’t supposed to watch,” Bauer said. “But out of the corner of your eye, you see them getting high scores on beam and you feel some pressure. We were off to a good start to the year, going 4-0 coming in, and we didn’t want it to end. It’s always good to finish strong.”
Senior Sarah Geisler could return by the next meet, and her abilities on the balance beam could be a giant boost as the T-Birds try to combat injuries that have slowed the squad so far.