Florida’s Susan Hines & Betsy Hamm Win NCAA Titles

Saturday, April 18

Los Angeles, CA

10:00 PM

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships (Individual Event Finals)

Florida’s Susan Hines & Betsy Hamm Win NCAA Titles

Saturday, April 18, 1998 | Gymnastics

By: UF Communications

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- University of Florida junior Susan Hines and freshman Betsy Hamm each claimed a share of NCAA Gymnastics Individual Event titles Saturday in front of a Pauley Pavilion crowd of 4,406. Hines successfully defended her NCAA vault title, sharing the crown Saturday with Stanford's Larissa Fontaine, as each gymnast earned average vault scores of 9.8625. Hamm was one of three Southeastern Conference gymnast to tie for top balance beam honors, sharing the title with Georgia's Kim Arnold and Jenni Beathard at 9.875.

1998 is the first year that Florida has won multiple NCAA Individual Event titles. Maria Anz claimed Florida's first NCAA event title, winning the 1984 floor exercise crown, while Hines won the 1997 NCAA vault title.

The NCAA Vault Championships competition format dictates that the gymnasts compete two different vaults and the scores for each vault are averaged to determine the individual placings. Hines, who drew the first position among the event's eight competitors, opened with a handspring front pike vault which earned a score of 9.85. She followed with a handspring front pike with a half twist vault, which received a 9.875. Her average held up until the final competitor, with Fontaine opening with a 9.925, putting Hines in danger of losing her crown. Fontaine received a 9.80 for her second vault, which led to the tie for top honors.

"I was really confident with the pike half -- I was more concerned about my first vault. I was shaky on the first vault because that is the 9.9 vault (the vault has a maximum value of 9.90) I usually warm up with so I don't usually go for the stick," Hines said. "It is really tough to go first because you pretty much set the tone. It was awful (watching the other vaulters compete). I swear I sweated off about 10 pounds waiting. The pressure has been building since I got here -- I've had a lot of questions about defending the title. I really hadn't thought about it and I really didn't know what to tell everyone. Last year there was a lot less pressure and it was a lot easier. But I'm happy I was able to defend the title."

Hamm, who just joined the Gator team in January after graduating early from Waukesha South (Wis.) High School, used a back layout with a full twist in her beam routine Saturday -- an exceptionally difficult skill which the judges regard as an E-level skill. It was the first time Hamm had done the skill on a beam since May of 1997. She is believed to be the first collegiate gymnast to compete the skill. Hamm also completed her first collegiate season without recording a fall in balance beam competition for 13 consecutive successful routines.

"I felt like something would have been missing if I didn't go for the full (layout with full twist). I did the same thing on bars. I threw a double front -- I missed, but I'm glad I threw it. I'm gutsy and there is nothing to lose here. If I had done the layout, layout (her usual routine) and still won, I still would have felt like I should have done the full (twist). This was such an opportunity for me because I wanted to throw the full and hit the full. It was worth the risk. I only thought about doing it since I found out I made beam finals. The last time I did it on a high (regulation height) beam was last May at the Junior Olympic Nationals in Orlando and I fell on it. But this time it worked," Hamm said. "I don't think this year could have ended up any better. This is great."

Florida Coach Judi Markell was thrilled with Hines' and Hamm's performances Saturday.

"It takes a lot of courage to repeat as a national champion because the expectations are so high. It is really difficult to go first, but Susan went out there and posted a good score and let the others try to beat it," Markell said. "Betsy discussed the layout with a full (twist) before the meet and told me that she'd rather go for it and miss than not go for it and feel like she didn't give it her all. I told her that she already won because she was thinking like a champion."

Hines and Hamm also qualified for Saturday's floor exercise final, finishing tied for eighth (9.875) and tied for 11th (9.85), respectively. Hamm also appeared in the uneven bars final, taking 11th at 9.30. UCLA's Stella Umeh and Georgia's Karin Lichey shared the evening's floor title with marks of 9.95. Heidi Moneymaker of UCLA took the uneven bars crown with a score of 9.95.

Florida Individual Event Notes
* Susan Hines' and Larissa Fontaine's winning vault average of 9.8625 is the lowest to win the title since 1992 when Kristen Kenoyer of Utah, Tammy Marshall of Massachusetts and Heather Stepp of Georgia shared the title with an average of 9.8126.

* Susan Hines is the only Florida gymnast to win a vault title and is only the second gymnast in school history to win an NCAA Individual event title (Maria Anz won it on floor in 1984 when the Championships were also held at UCLA). Her joint title marks the seventh straight year a SEC gymnast has shared the vault title.

*Hines is the fourth gymnast to win multiple NCAA vault titles and the first since Jenny Hansen of Kentucky claimed the 1994 and '95 crowns.

* Hamm is the third consecutive freshman to win a share of the NCAA balance beam crown. Utah's Summer Reid claimed it as a freshman in 1996 and shared the 1997 beam title with Arizona State freshman Elizabeth Reid.

* Hamm wins Florida's first beam title, fourth event title and is the third gymnast in Gator history to win an individual title (Susan Hines, 1997, '98 vault; Maria Anz, 1984 floor).

* Hamm shared the beam title with Georgia's Kim Arnold and Jenni Beathard. This is the first three-way tie on the beam and third time in an individual event in NCAA history (1994 on bars, 1992 on vault).