Final Results
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Taryn Vanderpool scored a career-best 38.825 to win the all-around and the Southeast Missouri gymnastics team cracked 194 points as a team for the second straight meet in a 194.200-193.700 win over Texas Woman's on Friday night.
The victory improves the Redhawks to 2-11 overall and 2-3 in the Midwest Independent Conference. It is also the Pioneers' (8-10, 4-1 MIC) first loss to a conference opponent this season.
“This was another nice showing for us tonight,” Southeast head coach
Kristi Ewasko said. “I don't feel the scores were indicative of our gymnastics tonight. For the most part, we ended the regular season on a high note at home.”
The back half of the Redhawks' vault lineup finished with a flurry as Vanderpool (9.700),
Emma Garrett (9.725) and
Megan Fosnow (9.775) each scored at least 9.700. Fosnow's score was good for third among individual gymnasts as Southeast tallied a 48.400 in the first rotation. TWU began on bars and grabbed a slim lead in the team standings with a 48.550.
Southeast erupted on bars in the next rotation, finishing with a season-best 48.875, the second consecutive week the Redhawks have recorded a season high on the apparatus. The Redhawks' bars lineup did not record an individual score below 9.650. Southeast notched the top four scores among all gymnasts in the event, led by Vanderpool's 9.875.
Angela Serafini cracked 9.800,
Taylor Westrick posted a 9.775 and Fosnow scored 9.750 to finish second, third and fourth, respectively. The team score allowed Southeast to gain some ground on TWU, which scored 48.850 on vault in the second rotation.
The Pioneers gained some separation in the third rotation with a 48.750 on floor while Southeast scored 48.450 on beam. Westrick claimed the individual event title with a 9.825 and Serafini finished a close second with a 9.800. Altogether, the third rotation saw TWU establish its largest lead at 0.525 points going into the final events.
Southeast did its part to keep pace in the fourth rotation and finished with a 48.475 on floor. The back half of the lineup responded with Westrick scoring 9.700,
Tamara Gent posting a 9.750 and Garrett finishing it off with a 9.825, which was good for second place among individuals. TWU had to count two falls and stumbled to a team score of 47.550 on beam, which was more than enough for the Redhawks to pull out the victory.
In addition to the bars title, Vanderpool won the all-around for the second time this season with a 38.825.
Following the meet, Southeast honored student coach
Emily Mann for Senior Night. Mann, who owns the third best bars score in school history and won the bars title at the 2010 MIC Championships, has moved into the coaching staff over her final two undergraduate years on campus.
“Emily has been a blessing to have around for many reasons,” Ewasko said. “We hope that there's an opportunity for her to stick around next year, it would be a tremendous help to our program.”
The Redhawks are back in action on March 24 when they head to Chicago for the MIC Championships.
