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BSU gymnastics finishes third at home quadrangular meet
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The Boise State gymnastics team improvements simply were not enough to come out on top when they hosted a quadrangular meet, welcoming No. 11 ranked Oregon State, University of California Davis and Seattle Pacific University at Taco Bell Arena.
The Broncos finished third overall with a 192.35 score behind first place Oregon State (196.475) and second place UC Davis (192.775). Seattle Pacific, having won only one meet all season, was shown no mercy and finished last (192.05).
After beginning their season just 1-7 overall, the Broncos have continually improved on the road with wins against Southern Utah, Illinois State University and Illinois-Chicago to improve to 5-7 coming into last Friday’s meet.
Although the Broncos vastly improved in several areas, such as beam and vault, they fell short in places they usually stand tall – like floor exercise and uneven parallel bars. That proved disastrous.
“We had good vaults and really good beams tonight,” BSU Head Coach Sam Sandmire said. “We had to count a couple falls on bars and a couple falls on floor and that’s not real typical for us and ultimately ended up hurting us pretty bad.”
The Broncos have been led by one of the youngest squads in team history. Seven freshmen and seven sophomores help make up a roster full of inexperience.
That inexperience has proven to be a challenge for Sandmire in what is ironically her final season at the helm.
“We have a lot of new, young and inexperienced gymnasts and that can be good or bad,” Sandmire said. “But they have melted into a very, very tight-nit group and they really care about each other and I think that has made all the difference.”
Freshman DeAvera Todd led Boise State, finishing third with a 38.8 in the all-around and had a team-best 9.85 on the uneven parallel bars and 9.85 on the vault. She was followed closely on the vault by teammate Shaniece Craft, who finished with a 9.825 score.
“In a year like this one, when our older stars are hampered by season-ending injuries, it’s nice to see the younger girls step up and just fight as hard as they can to do well,” Sandmire said.
Senior Lindsey Ward and sophomores Taylor Jacobs and Ashli Rainboth all suffered season-ending injuries earlier in the year.
“The younger girls see these girls in practice who still work as hard as they can and that sets an example for them to follow,” Sandmire said.
Since 1990, the Broncos have dominated Seattle Pacific 25-2, having not lost to the Falcons since 1992. On the other hand, Boise State was a perfect 11-0 against UC Davis coming into Friday’s meet and are now 0-10 competing against nationally-ranked Oregon State.
“These were good teams here tonight with a high level of skill,” Sandmire said. “I’m a little disappointed with the way we did some things tonight because, had a few things gone our way, we could have perhaps snuck in second.”
Sandmire now faces the challenge of preparing her squad for one of the biggest matches in recent program history.
March 11 the gymnastics team will welcome the top-ranked team in the country to Taco Bell Arena. No. 1 ranked Florida will bring a talented, athletic and polished team to Boise.
“Florida has just been killing everybody,” Sandmire said.
“They’ve got really big tricks – meaning huge difficulty on every event. Florida doesn’t hold back and they will certainly entertain.”
The Broncos plan to bring their best performance to the table against the nation’s best.
“We’re very excited because we feel like we do better when we have better competition,” Sandmire said.
With just three meets remaining in the regular season and the WAC championships on the horizon, Coach Sandmire can feel the door to her career slowly closing after 20 years in the gymnastics program.
“It has been an incredible 20 years,” Sandmire said. “I’ve had so many wonderful athletes and we’ve done so many neat things here.”
Sandmire will certainly leave behind a legacy of winning and a philosophy of teamwork.
During her tenure Boise State has finished in the top 25 nationally on eight occasions.
“It’s been my life and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Sandmire said.
In the meantime, the Broncos look forward to their match-up with Florida March 11 at 2 p.m. in the Taco Bell Arena.
“We hope we get a large crowd who will no doubt see some great gymnastics,” Sandmire said.
TATE CASTLETON
Sports Writer