4 EC AC CHA MPIONSHIPS ~ 2003 EAGL CHAMPIONS
2010 Review/2011 Preview
The 2010 Wildcat Gymnastics squad continued the tradition of excellence by qualifying for the NCAA Regional Championship and finishing on a high note as one of only a handful of teams to hit all 24 routines. This was the 28th time the Wildcat Gymnastics squad competed as a team in the 29 years the NCAA has sponsored the event. The NCAA Regional competition was one of many highlights for the 2010 team. Successfully completing all 24 routines with no falls is the best a team can do at any given competition, and doing it in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Penn State finalized the team’s goal of competing all year with “No Regrets”. The Wildcats broke the 195 scoring mark four times on their way to a 16-6 record. Highlights for the year included UNH capturing its own Invitational meet, the second competition of the year, with a 195.0 score, defeating Ball State, Utah State, and Yale. The success continued through the regular season with victories over conference rivals Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Maryland, North Carolina State and George Washington. Along the way UNH also posted wins over Brown, William & Mary and Southern Connecticut, as the ‘Cats only struggled during three regular-season meets. Losses to Missouri, Michigan State and Texas Woman’s found the team lacking in consistency and not performing up to their potential. Overall, the 2010 meet season was a great success and prepared the team for a run at the EAGL Conference title. UNH hosted the EAGL Championship meet, which was exciting from start to finish. The Wildcats started strong and had the lead in the competition going into the last event, but the balance beam performance ended the dream of repeating the 2003 accomplishment of capturing the conference title at home. Some major wobbles and a couple of falls put this goal out of reach. The conference features some of the top teams in collegiate gymnastics, and it did not take much to go from first to fourth in one rotation. Returning to form and hitting all 24 routines just two weeks later at the NCAA Regional meet erased some of the disappointment and allowed the 2010 team to accomplish its goals. The senior class’s leadership and performances stood out all season. The class of 2010 had high aspirations and worked all four years to finish their gymnastics careers with “No Regrets.”The team was led by the dynamic and solid duo of Helena Diodati and Taryn LaFountain. Helena hit every vault during the year and stuck her final vault at the NCAA regional meet to tie teammate Katie Caliendo for 7th. Diodati missed only one bar routine all year with her high score being a 9.925, tying her for No. 3 all-time in the University’s record books in that event. LaFountain anchored the beam team and led the floor squad with a season-high floor score of 9.925, the 6th-best individual score in school history. This duo competed all four years on two events with great success and concluded their Wildcat careers by joining the prestigious 1,000 career point club. The rest of the senior class was just as critical to the Wildcats’ success. Diane Grey competed all year on bars and most of the year on vault, while Kelsey Alwin was a top performer on vaulting for the second half of
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Wildcat Gymnastics
the season, and Keeley Smith added depth on three events and inspiration throughout. Julie Sauchuk was a strong performer on beam and also entered the floor exercise alltime record book with a 9.925, tied for 6th-highest. Having six seniors continue to train toward their full potential is a testament to the strength of the UNH program, and all of them will be tough to replace; however, those graduates will represent the University at a very high level in their chosen professions. Along with the loss of these six seniors, UNH faced the resignation of Lindsey Bruck, an excellent assistant coach. Bruck missed the thrill of competing herself and is pursuing opportunities to perform for Cirque du Soleil. We wish her the best of luck. New assistant coach Kristen Maloney joins the staff for the challenges of the 2010 – 2011 season. Her career accolades are too numerous to list, but they are undoubtedly highlighted with a team bronze medal in the Sydney Olympics. She competed for UCLA from 2001-2005 and was part of NCAA National Championship teams in ’01, ’03 and ’04. Maloney won the 2005 NCAA individual title on vaulting and balance beam and received the 2005 Honda award for the top female collegiate gymnast in the Nation. As a member of the USA Gymnastics National team from 2002-05, Maloney’s personal competitive experiences are outstanding. She was the1998-99 National Champion, a 1999 Sullivan Award nominee and the 1998 USA Gymnastics Sportswoman of the Year. Kristen’s remarkable experiences as both a collegiate and International competitor combined with her career with Cirque du Soleil make her a terrific role model. Her unmatched technical expertise and fierce competitive nature will buoy UNH’s bid to compete with the best in the nation all season. The 2011 senior class includes three talented gymnasts who all continue to improve and train at the highest level. Senior Co-Captains Katie Lawrence and Chelsea Steinberg continue the focus on positive teamwork and a strong work ethic to accomplish team goals. With the year of ‘11 as the inspiration for the motto “One Team…One Dream” they hope to lead the team to its best year yet. Steinberg maintains the team’s top spot on balance beam (PB-9.875) and was the only all-around for the 2010 season. She topped the 39 mark three times, won the all-around in 5 out of 11 meets and just barely missed a trip to the National Championship as the 3rd individual all-around (two individual all-arounds qualify to the National Championship after the top two qualifying teams.) Katie Lawrence is a mainstay on beam (PB-9.875) and bars (PB-9.8) as well as striving to add depth to vaulting as she trains to learn a Yurchenko full. Senior Katie Caliendo is a dynamic three-event competitor with personal bests of 9.85 on vaulting, bars and beam. She should be one of the top vaulters with an explosive Yurchenko full. Training a full-in as her first tumbling pass on floor has escalated an already great routine. The challenge will be to compete this skill in as many meets as possible to gain consistency for the championship meets. The junior class is back in full swing and is led by Ali Carr and Danielle Reibold. Carr is in contention for an all-around spot this season. Vaulting (PB9.85) and Bars (PB-9.95) are
the competitive events where she has excelled. Her 9.95 on bars tied her for the all- time best on that event. Have no doubt, her beam and floor are equally impressive and the coaching staff hopes to have her in the lineup on all four events. She has an elite look on beam and floor and could be a standout on these events as well. Reibold is ready to compete as one of the best on three events, bars (PB-9.85), beam (PB-9.875) and floor (9.75), with hopes to return as all-around when vaulting gets back to form. Reibold is one of the most consistent and dependable performers on bars and beam with a strong shot at the lineup on floor. Tasia Percevecz and Kate McGeever should make an impact on the floor lineup. Percevecz (PB-9.775) saw action on floor in 2010 and consistently hit her routine. She has upgraded her tumbling and is training well on vaulting and bars as well. Her Yurchenko full on vaulting could help greatly with the depth on this event. McGeever is focusing primarily on floor exercise and performs excellent front tumbling with a front layout 2/1 full to open. All of her passes are high level and she could break into the floor lineup this season. The sophomore class has returned more experienced and stronger than ever. Leading the way will be Austyn Fobes, a talented former elite gymnast who saw limited but successful competition on floor (PB-9.85) and vault (9.825) last year due to a nagging back injury. She came back this fall in great shape, ready to establish herself as a premier all-around gymnast. Fobes has beautiful execution and amplitude in everything she does. She is ready to make her mark and will bring some of the highest level of difficulty seen in collegiate gymnastics. Courtney Connors had a successful debut on floor (PB-9.75) and vault (PB-9.825) for UNH last year and will continue to contribute on those events. Dianna Kurowyckyj was solid on beam (PB-9.75) last year, but has run into some health problems this fall that set her back. She is improving daily and will hopefully be able to get back to the lineup this season. Jen Aucoin has recovered from major shoulder surgery during the summer before her freshman campaign, which forced her to spend most of last year rehabbing. She is back working well and should be a huge contributor on bars. Aucoin is also very strong on the other events, especially beam, and has the quickness and power to be a factor this season. Becca Marrama should challenge for a spot in the floor lineup. Tweaking her combination tumbling should allow her to be one of the higher scoring floor competitors.
ONE TEAM...