Arizona Gymnastics: Rough Sunday Against Washington, still made career and season highs

The Arizona Gymnastics team as been battered much of this season, but was showing steady improvement with its patchwork lineup. 

On Sunday, another star gymnast was injured, and the team couldn’t recover to pull out a victory, Arizona Gymnastics lost to Washington 197.175-195.425.

The day started well for Arizona. The first rotation was the uneven bars which are a strong apparatus for the Wildcats. Arizona has scored 49 or better for the last five meets and Sunday would be no different. The team started the season ranked No. 51 in the country on bars and had climbed to No. 24.

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Sophomore Haylie Hendrickson’s highest uneven bar score had been 9.875 against Iowa State. Against the Huskies, she had a strong routine, stuck the landing and received a 9.85.

Later in the rotation, Scottsdale’s Danielle Spencer missed some moves and had to jump off the high bar before her dismount. She was scratched, so the final gymnast, junior Victoria Ortiz, had to deliver. And that she did, earning a 9.95 to put the Wildcats ahead after one rotation 49.150-49.075.

The second rotation for Arizona was the vault. The gymnasts were holding their own earning in the 9.7-9.825 range. Selynna Felix-Terrazas returned for her second meet after the senior endured a double ankle sprain, while several other gymnasts are due back soon from injuries.

Then the inevitable happened. Sophomore Skyler Sheppard, one of the Wildcats’ most dependable and versatile gymnasts, came up for the vault. She looked great in the air and momentarily stuck the landing when suddenly it appeared her knee buckled, and she suddenly fell forward. The pain in her face said it all; she was carried out of the arena and would miss the rest of the meet.

A few hours after the meet, Skyler took to Twitter to update her status.

After the vault, the Wildcats fell slightly behind the Washington Huskies. Once again, Coach Tabitha Yim had to piece a line-up together, this time on the fly. The floor exercise was the third event for Arizona, and it has been one of the Wildcats’ strongest events. Coach Yim chose to only send five gymnasts to the floor, meaning there would be no low score to toss.

Most of the gymnasts did well, but it seemed they were a little distracted not knowing the fate of their teammate along with the extra pressure. While the Wildcats were working through their turn of events, the Washington gymnasts were near perfect. Their scores were high and got stronger as the afternoon went on. Washington’s final beam scores totaled 49.425. The Huskies’ lead was widening.

Near the end of the floor exercise rotation, Sheppard returned to the gym on crutches to cheer on her teammates through the final rotation. The last apparatus was the always stressful balance beam. Arizona handled the extra pressure well.

Freshman Jenny Leung performed her first collegiate beam routine.  She had one bobble, recovered and looked great, sticking the landing. She was rewarded with a 9.75.

Pac-12 Network commentator and Olympic gold medalist Amanda Borden have known Haylie Hendrickson personally for some years. She told the audience on Sunday she has encouraged Haylie to be aggressive on the beam. The advice paid off; she scored a career high 9.875.

Despite the disappointing final score, the gymnastics team can be proud of once again pushing through another meet with a make-shift lineup. Fans who have followed Arizona Athletics the last few years known injuries have been a common scenario. However, there is always a silver lining as was tweeted by @azgymcats:

https://twitter.com/AZGymnastics/status/833816137049661441

Next: Arizona Basketball's Lauri Markkanen wins Pac-12 POW

This weekend Arizona Gymnastics will face a tough UCLA team in Los Angeles. The meet will be televised at 2 PM Saturday on Pac-12 Networks. UCLA’s team includes Madison Kocian, a gold medal American Olympian from the 2016 Rio Games. Bear Down AZGymCats, and get well soon Skyler Sheppard!