Gymnasts of the Week – Feb. 1-6, 2011 Awards are given by conference offices
Big Ten Conference
Gymnast of the Week Kylee Botterman - Michigan Kylee Botterman hauls in her fourth Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor of the season after earning three individual titles to lead No. 9 Michigan to a win over New Hampshire on Saturday. Botterman captured her fifth all-around title in five meets this season, scoring a 39.575. The senior set a career high in the floor exercise (9.950) and a season high on the balance beam (9.900) en route to first place in both events. She added second-place finishes on the uneven bars (9.875) and the vault (9.850). Botterman currently holds the third-highest all-around average in the country at 39.480.
Freshman of the Week Sarah Miller - Ohio State Sarah Miller earns Freshman of the Week laurels after posting top-three finishes in three events at No. 16 Ohio State's meet with No. 25 Denver on Friday. Miller turned in a season-high 9.900 on the balance beam to take first place. She also tied for second in the floor exercise (9.800) and tied for third on the vault (9.875) in the Buckeyes' narrow loss to the Pioneers. The award marks Miller's third of 2011.
Big 12 Conference
Gymnast of the Week Mary Burke - Missouri Burke won the all-around title for the fourth time in her career in the Tigers' home meet against No. 10 Nebraska last Friday. The junior topped her pervious career-high of 39.375 with a mark of 39.450 against the Huskers. She won the bars event outright with a 9.875 score and tied for first on the floor at 9.900. She also came in second on the beam at 9.850, while scoring 9.825 on the vault. Burke is currently third in the conference in all-around competition this season.
Specialist of the Week Erin Davis – Nebraska Davis picks up her third straight Event Specialist of the Week honor after claiming two vault titles this past weekend. She posted a 9.925 score against Missouri on Friday and again versus Oklahoma on Sunday. She captured the title against the Tigers, where she also scored 9.85 on the floor, and tied for first against OU. She is currently tied for second in the nation on vault. She is the fourth gymnast, and third Husker, to win three Event Specialist honors in a season since the award was created in 2007 and first to win three in a row.
Newcomer of the Week Taylor Spears - Oklahoma Spears competed in three events for the Sooners on Sunday, tying her career-high on both the beam and floor as OU trumped No. 10 Nebraska, 196.300-195.800. She posted marks of 9.775 on bars, 9.875 on beam and 9.85 on floor. She has scored a 9.800 or higher on beam in all six competitions this year and currently ranks eighth nationally in the event.
East Atlantic Gymnastics League
Gymnast of the Week Chelsea Steinberg – New Hampshire Steinberg matched a personal best by scoring a 9.875 on balance beam to finish third on that apparatus, tied for fifth on floor exercise by virtue of a season-high-tying 9.85 and her season- best all-around score of 39.175 was good for third overall.
Specialist of the Week Hope Sloanhoffer – West Virginia Sloanhoffer’s latest honor comes after scoring a career-best 9.95 on vault in the Mountaineers’ (6-3, 3-1 EAGL) second-place finish at then-No. 21 Penn State on Feb. 6. The league’s No. 1 vaulter, she anchored a WVU lineup that totaled a season-best 49.375 mark and saw three gymnasts score 9.9 or better. She is only the fifth Mountaineer gymnast to score 9.95 on vault since 2004.
Rookie of the Week Chelsea Goldschrafe – West Virginia Goldschrafe put together her best all-around meet Sunday. The second gymnast to take the floor, she scored a season-high 9.775. The score withstood three additional rotations before she was crowned the meet’s outright champion. Following her floor routine, Goldschrafe vaulted second in the Mountaineers’ lineup and landed a near-stick for a career-best 9.8 score. She finished ninth overall with the meet’s fourth-best mark.
Eastern College Athletic Conference
Gymnast of the Week Dana Bonincontri – Pennsylvania Bonincontri scored a career high in the all-around in the meet against Cornell. She has the highest all-around, bars and beam scores in the ECAC for the week and the highest score on vault for Penn. In the ECAC, she is currently ranked fifth in the all-around, 14th on vault, 11th on bars with the highest score in the ECAC so far, 8th on beam and 13th on floor. In the Northeast Region, Bonincontri is ranked 12th in the all-around.
Rookie of the Week Melanie Jorgenson – Cornell Jorgenson led all rookie all-arounders this weekend in the ECAC with a personal-best score of 38.150 in Cornell’s first meet of the weekend against SUNY Brockport. In addition to her career high scores on vault and floor on Friday, she added a personal high on beam at 9.675 at the Cornell-Penn meet on Sunday afternoon.
Specialist of the Week Kacy Catanzaro – Towson Catanzaro led the Tigers to a first-place finish at Temple University’s Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational Meet. She helped the Tigers to a 190.700 team score to beat Temple, William & Mary and West Chester for the championship. On the uneven bars, she earned a 9.775 score to finish first in the meet, and achieved a 9.575 score to tie for second place in the meet.
Coaches’ Choice Teenie Beck – William & Mary After suffering a high ankle sprain on floor during timed warm-ups at the Ken Anderson Memorial this weekend, Beck had to be pulled from the meet. However, she asked to be allowed to compete on bars so that the team would not have to count a zero. Beck performed a bar routine without a dismount and provided the fifth score for the Tribe on bars.
Eastern College Athletic Conference – Division III
All-Around of the Week Sarah Nadrowski - Cortland Nadrowski continues an impressive sophomore season with personal bests. In a dual meet with Springfield on Sunday, the sophomore won three events, finished second on the vault and won the all-around with a 37.9. She scored a 9.6, a career best, on the floor exercise and a 9.45 on the uneven bars, helping the home team earn a win, 184.20-179.95
Freshman of the Week Stephanie Sladky - Cortland Stephanie had her personal best on the uneven bars with a second-place finish of 9.275, helping lead Cortland in its home dual meet with Springfield College on Sunday. She also competed on the floor exercise, scoring a 9.275 to finish fifth
Specialist of the Week Annelise Hoffman, Cortland Annelise finished fourth on the vault with a 9.4 and second on the balance beam with a 9.275 to help pace Cortland over Springfield this past weekend. This was Annelise’s first competition on the vault in over a year following two knee injuries that have sidelined her for prolonged periods.
Mid American Conference
Gymnast of the Week Caitlin Sullivan - Western Michigan Caitlin Sullivan helped Western Michigan go 2-0 this weekend with a conference win over Eastern Michigan and a win over in-state rival Michigan State. It was the first time in nine tries WMU had defeated EMU and just the second time in school history WMU was victorious over the Spartans. Sullivan competed in the vault, beam and floor in both meets, and took first in five of her six competitions, finishing second in the sixth. She set or tied team season highs in all three events and also set a personal best with a 9.850 on floor vs. Michigan State. She scored 9.800 or better four of her six times out. Her three first place scores helped WMU post a team total of 194.625, ranking fifth in the program's top-10 scores all-time.
Specialist of the Week Brynn Wienckowski - Western Michigan In her only competition, Brynn Wienckowski took first on the bars in both of WMU's meets this weekend, as the Broncos posted wins over conference foe Eastern Michigan and in-state rival Michigan State. Wienckowski put up a 9.700 against the Eagles, as WMU defeated EMU for the first time in nine tries. She then tied a season and career high with a 9.825 against Michigan State. It was just the second time in school history WMU has won against the Spartans.
Midwest Independent Conference
Gymnast of the Week Brittany Johnson – Texas Woman’s University Johnson captured the all-around title with a new career-high score of 39.250 in the tri-meet against Centenary and Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, Feb. 5. She passed her old mark of 38.975 set earlier this season on Jan. 23 versus Oklahoma.
Specialist of the Week Brianna Gaddie – Southeast Missouri State Gaddie captured her fourth-straight vault title at the Texas Woman’s University Triangular Meet this past Saturday. Her winning score of 9.875 matched her career-high and ranks sixth on the school’s all-time vault chart. It was her 14th career vault title. She was the Redhawks top finisher on the floor, finishing fourth with a score of 9.800. On the beam she placed fifth with a score of 9.650.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Gymnast of the Week Michelle Ho – UC-Davis UC Davis sophomore Michelle Ho (Los Altos, CA) won a floor title (9.775), was third on beam (9.60), and fourth on bars (9.70), contributing to a 192.100 team score in last Friday’s dual win over Air Force.
Pac-10 Conference
Gymnast of the Week Aubree Cristello – Arizona Sophomore Aubree Cristello was the leading all-around performer for the Arizona Wildcats in a dual meet against the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames. Cristello scored a career-high 39.400 in the all-around, earning a spot on Arizona’s All-Time Top Performances list. Cristello also earned first-place finishes and career-high scores on uneven bars and vault. Cristello, a sophomore out of Glenville, N.Y., has proven to be an extremely consistent and talented gymnast for the Wildcats this year, as she contributed three scores of 9.80 or above helping Arizona reach a team season-high score of 195.400.
Special Performance of the Week Nicole Pechanec – Stanford Junior Nicole Pechanec, hailing from Phillipsburg, N.J., shattered her collegiate career best on the uneven bars by unleashing the “Pechancova.” The “Pechancova” is a twisting release move on the high bar that Pechanec invented and displayed for the first time in her collegiate career. The result was a 9.925, which tied Stanford’s best individual score of the season in any event, and far surpassed her previous career best of 9.875 on bars. Pechanec also earned two third- place finishes with two solid scores to help No. 2 Stanford to a season-high team score.
Southeastern Conference
Gymnast of the Week Jaime Pisani - Arkansas Pisani won the all-around and tied for the bars title, leading Arkansas to an upset of No. 4 Georgia and its first-ever victory over the Gym Dogs. She had a 39.375 all-around, and season highs of 9.85 on bars and 9.825 on beam. She’s won or tied for the all-around in four straight meets and has 10 individual event wins this year. She had Arkansas’ high score, or tied for the high, on all four events.
Freshman of the Week Mackenzie Caquatto - Florida Caquatto was impressive in her collegiate all-around debut, claiming the title with the highest total ever by a Gator in their premiere all-around performance (39.575). That total is also the nation’s second-highest of the 2011 season, second only to freshman teammate Alaina Johnson’s 39.60 turned in on Jan. 28. Caquatto also added her first collegiate event titles for the uneven bars (9.90) and balance beam (9.925) in the Alabama dual meet. Caquatto, a member of the U.S.'s silver medal team at the 2010 World Gymnastics Championship in October, joined the Florida team for the spring semester. A knee injury limited her contributions at the beginning of the season, so she added events as the season progressed.
Western Athletic Conference
Gymnast of the Week Amy Glass – Boise State Glass, a junior from Vacaville, Calif. (Davis Gymnastics) won the all-around title and beam title with career-best marks in both events at a dual meet against Cal State Fullerton. Glass scored a 39.400 in the all-around to claim the title, her fourth all-around title of the season and ninth of her career. She also won the title on beam with a 9.925, tied for second on vault (9.850), placed third on bars (9.825) and tied for third on floor (9.800).
Specialist of the Week Hannah Redmon – Boise State Redmon, a junior from Sparks, Nev. (Flips USA) won on floor with a career-best 9.925 in a dual meet against Cal State Fullerton this past week. Redmon also claimed the title on vault with a 9.875 and on bars with a 9.900. The win on floor marks her 18th career floor title, setting a new school record for career wins on the event.
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Specialist Lissette LaFex - Hamline LaFex dazzled with an impressive release move on the uneven bars as she posted a school record score in a dual meet against UW-Eau Claire Feb. 1. She scored a 9.700 on the uneven bars, breaking the previous record of 9.625 set in 2002 by Melissa Stanton.
All-Around Katie Thompson - UW-Whitewater In competition against UW-Eau Claire Feb. 5, Thompson won and set a school record in the all- around with a score of 38.475. The previous mark was 38.425 set by Justine Weyer March 8, 2008. Her scores in the vault (9.550) and uneven bars (9.525) combined with the other UW- Whitewater gymnasts set school team event records (vault, 47.925; bars, 47.475). Thompson tied for first place in the balance beam and also tied for fourth-best in the UW-Whitewater record book with a score of 9.700. Her second 9.700 score in the floor exercise tied for first place and contributed to the team score of 48.150, which was good for second-best in the Warhawk record book. Her contributions helped UW-Whitewater post the first 190 total team score in school history, defeating UW-Eau Claire 190.050-185.100.