Florida Gators
NCAA Championships (Individual Event Finals)
Florida Gymnasts in NCAA Event Finals; Hartung & Castillo Tie for Third on Balance Beam
Sunday, April 29, 2007 | Gymnastics
Junior Corey Hartung and freshman Amanda Castillo's tie for third on balance beam led the University of Florida finishes in Saturday's NCAA Gymnastics Championships individual event finals, held at the Huntsman Center.
Five Gators appeared in Saturday's finals. All earned All-America first-team honors for advancing to the NCAA Individual Event finals.
“It was just really, really wonderful to see the Gators out there tonight,” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “Tonight it is the cream of the crop – the best athletes of the competition. For our athletes to perform the way they did tonight after three grueling days of competition – they are exhausted physically and mentally – was just outstanding.”
Florida had three competitors in the balance beam final. Castillo and Hartung each appeared in the second flight of balance beam competitors. They turned in solid routines and hit their dismounts, each receiving marks of 9.85 to tie for third overall. Those are the highest UF showings in a NCAA beam final since Betsy Hamm shared the 1998 NCAA title. Melanie Sinclair was the first Gator to compete on the event, performing a strong routine, but landed low and stepped forward on her double-back dismount. She received a 9.6875 to finish 12th overall. The event title was claimed by Utah's Ashley Postell at 9.9375. Postell claimed the 2002 World title for the event for the U.S. National Team.
| Did You Know? |
| This is only the second time Florida sent a representative to each apparatus final in the program's history. The first was in 1998. |
“I thought it went pretty well,” Hartung said. “I was hoping to do a little better on beam, but a couple of little bobbles hurt my chances. I have a couple of more years to try to get that title.”
Three Gators were among the 18 individuals in the floor exercise final. Hartung and Savannah Evans, each making their second consecutive appearances in the NCAA floor final, both turned in strong performances. Each received their third 9.90 floor mark of the 2007 NCAA Championships, placing them in a tie for fourth overall. The last Gator to place as high in the NCAA floor final was Kristen Guise in the 1996, using a 9.90 to also finish fourth. Evans received her third floor All-America honors this season, tying her with Elfi Schlegel (1985, 1984, 1983) for the most floor All-America honors in school history.
Ashley Reed, making her first appearance in the NCAA Individual Event finals, had some trouble with the landing of her opening tumbling pass as she put her hand on the mat as she worked to gain her balance. The five-tenths deduction hurt her otherwise solid routine, receiving a 9.2875 to finish 17th. Alabama freshman Morgan Dennis claimed the event title Saturday, posting a 9.9625.
Evans, making her first appearance in the NCAA vault final, finished sixth overall. She opened with a 9.90 for her first vault, a Yurchenko layout with a full twist. It was her second season-high 9.90 mark for the vault this weekend, hitting it also for that mark in NCAA team qualifying competition. There was some discussion among Evans and the Gator coaching staff on Saturday regarding which vault she would do for her second, since the Yurchenko layout is the only one she practices. She decided on the front handspring in the pike position, which is worth a maximum value of 9.90. She took a small step forward on the landing, receiving a 9.725, giving her an average of 9.8125.
“For Savannah to place sixth on vault is amazing,” Faehn said. “She was just on fire this week – she really represented the University well in her final competition. She just shined the whole weekend.”
Castillo fell on her first vault, the Yurchenko layout with a one and a half twist, receiving a 9.325. She took a step on the landing of her second vault, a Yurchenko layout with a full twist, receiving a 9.7875 for an average of 9.5563. She tied for 13th overall. The event title was claimed the 2007 NCAA all-around champion, Courtney Kupets of Georgia, with her winning average of 9.9188.
Sinclair opened up the second flight of uneven bar performers. Her routine looked strong and she stuck her double layout dismount. She was awarded a 9.8875 from the six-judge panel, placing her in a tie for fifth overall with Georgia's Katie Heenan.
The top three spots in the bar final were claimed by former U.S. Olympians. Alabama's Terin Humphrey, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist on the uneven bars, won the event title at 9.95. She also won the NCAA bar title as a freshman in 2005. A fellow member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, Georgia's Kupets, shared third on the event with UCLA's Tasha Schwikert (2000 U.S. Olympic team member). Kupets was the bronze medalist in 2004 Olympic bar competition.
NCAA Individual Event Final Results
| |||||
| Vault |
| V1 | V2 | Avg. | Rank |
| Courtney Kupets | Georgia | 9.9500 | 9.8875 | 9.9188 | 1 |
| Annie DiLuzio | Utah | 9.8875 | 9.8875 | 9.8875 | 2 |
| Emily Parsons | Nebraska | 9.9250 | 9.7750 | 9.8500 | 3 |
| Brittney Koncak-Schumann | Oklahoma | 9.8250 | 9.8750 | 9.8500 | |
| Mandi Rodriguez | Oregon State | 9.8875 | 9.7875 | 9.8375 | 5 |
| Savannah Evans | Florida | 9.9000 | 9.7250 | 9.8125 | 6 |
| Tiffany Tolnay | Georgia | 9.9000 | 9.6875 | 9.7938 | 7 |
| Kiara Redmond | Oklahoma | 9.8750 | 9.700 | 9.7875 | 8 |
| Megan Dowlen | Georgia | 9.8625 | 9.7125 | 9.7875 | |
| Marcia Newby | Georgia | 9.8375 | 9.5625 | 9.7000 | 10 |
| Tasha Smith | Oregon State | 9.9125 | 9.2875 | 9.6000 | 11 |
| Nicolle Ford | Utah | 9.8750 | 9.3000 | 9.5875 | 12 |
| Amanda Castillo | Florida | 9.3250 | 9.7875 | 9.5563 | 13 |
| Nicki Butler | LSU | 9.2500 | 9.8625 | 9.5563 | |
| Carly Janiga | Stanford | 9.8500* | 9.6500 | 9.4500 | 15 |
| * - .30 neutral deduction | |||||
| Uneven Bars |
| Score | Rank |
| Terin Humphrey | Alabama | 9.9500 | 1 |
| Tasha Schwikert | UCLA | 9.9125 | 2 |
| Courtney Kupets | Georgia | 9.9125 | |
| Kristina Baskett | Utah | 9.9000 | 4 |
| Melanie Sinclair | Florida | 9.8875 | 5 |
| Katie Heenan | Georgia | 9.8875 | |
| Ashley Postell | Utah | 9.8250 | 7 |
| Daria Bijak | Utah | 9.8000 | 8 |
| Balance Beam |
| Score | Rank |
| Ashley Postell | Utah | 9.9375 | 1 |
| Grace Taylor | Georgia | 9.9000 | 2 |
| Amanda Castillo | Florida | 9.8500 | 3 |
| Corey Hartung | Florida | 9.8500 |
|
| Courtney Kupets | Georgia | 9.8500 | |
| Nicole Ourada | Stanford | 9.8500 | |
| Tabitha Yim | Stanford | 9.8375 | 7 |
| Terin Humphrey | Alabama | 9.8000 | 8 |
| Anna Li | UCLA | 9.7875 | 9 |
| Kelly Phelan | LSU | 9.7750 | 10 |
| Kelly Fee | Stanford | 9.7250 | 11 |
| Melanie Sinclair | Florida | 9.6875 | 12 |
| Tricia Woo | Nebraska | 9.6625 | 13 |
| Kristi Esposito | LSU | 9.5875 | 14 |
| Jessica Lopez | Denver | 9.5500 | 15 |
| Floor Exercise |
| Score | Rank |
| Morgan Dennis | Alabama | 9.9675 | 1 |
| Courtney Kupets | Georgia | 9.9500 | 2 |
| Ashley Postell | Utah | 9.9250 | 3 |
| Corey Hartung | Florida | 9.9000 | 4 |
| Savannah Evans | Florida | 9.9000 | |
| Kiara Redmond | Oklahoma | 9.9000 | |
| Emily Parsons | Nebraska | 9.9000 | |
| Carly Janiga | Stanford | 9.8875 | 8 |
| Tabitha Yim | Stanford | 9.8875 | |
| Tiffany Tolnay | Georgia | 9.8625 | 10 |
| Kelly Phelan | LSU | 9.8500 | 11 |
| Beth Rizzo | Utah | 9.8375 | 12 |
| Janae Cox | West Virginia | 9.8250 | 13 |
| Karin Wurm | Arizona | 9.8250 | |
| Susan Jackson | LSU | 9.7875 | 15 |
| Jessica Lopez | Denver | 9.7375 | 16 |
| Ashley Reed | Florida | 9.2875 | 17 |
| Katie Lieberman | Michigan | 9.2375 | 18 |
