April 22, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - The Stanford women's gymnastics team finished fifth at Session One of the NCAA Championships on Thursday afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the campus of the Univesity of Utah. With that finish, the Cardinal missed out on a chance to advance to the NCAA "Super Six" Finals for the first time in school history. Stanford scored a 194.000, which was 0.550 points away from finishing third and advancing to the finals. With a score of 194.525, Pac-10 rival Arizna State finished third to take the final spot from the afternoon session and advance to the finals. Meanwhile, UCLA (196.400) finished first and Alabama (194.950) placed second to also qualify for the finals. The top three teams from both the afternoon and evening session advance to the NCAA Championship Team Finals on Friday, April 23rd.
For the afternoon, Stanford was led by sophomore Jenny Wilson, who finished ninth in the all-around with a score of 38.775. A native of Portland, Oregon, Wilson also finished 10th in the vault (9.800) and 20th in the parallel bars (9.725). The highlight of the afternoon, however, was that two Stanford gymnasts advanced to the Individual Event Finals that will take place on Saturday, April 24th. Larissa Fontaine, the defending NCAA Champion in the Vault, made it to the Vault finals with a third place finish and a score of 9.850. Senior Sarah Harding also advanced to the finals as she finshed fourth in the floor exercise with a mark of 9.875. The top four individuals from each session and in each event (plus ties) advance to the finals.
Final Results
Team Score: Vault Bars Beam Floor TOTAL 1. UCLA* 49.225 49.225 48.700 49.250 196.400 2. Alabama* 49.025 48.900 47.850 49.175 194.950 3. Arizona State* 48.325 48.350 48.525 49.325 194.525 4. Louisiana State 48.775 48.675 48.975 48.050 194.475 5. Stanford 48.750 48.850 47.375 49.025 194.000 6. West Virginia 48.275 48.250 47.875 46.550 190.950 * - Advance to NCAA "Super Six" Finals on Friday, April 23rd.
Vault:
1. Lena Degteva (UCLA) 9.875 Luisa Portocarrero (UCLA) 9.875 3. Larissa Fontaine (STAN) 9.850 Kiralee Hatashi (UCLA) 9.850 Shanyn MacEachern (LSU) 9.850 Heidi Moneymaker (UCLA) 9.850 Andree Pickens (ALA) 9.850 Gwen Spidle (ALA) 9.850 Lindsay Vagedes (Ohio St.) 9.850
Parallel Bars:
1. Heidi Moneymaker (UCLA) 9.950 2. Mohini Bhardwaj (UCLA) 9.900 3. Heidi Hornbeek (UCLA) 9.875 4. Lena Degteva (ALA) 9.850 Andree Pickens (ALA) 9.850
Balance Beam:
1. Heidi Moneymaker (UCLA) 9.875 2. Colleen Barger (LSU) 9.850 Wendy Ellsberry (ASU) 9.850 Elizabeth Reid (ASU) 9.850 Andree Pickens (ALA) 9.850 Lissy Smith (ALA) 9.850 Stacey Wegener (LSU) 9.850
Floor Exercise:
1. Elizabeth McNabb (ASU) 9.925 2. Kiralee Hayashi (UCLA) 9.900 Andree Pickens (ALA) 9.900 4. Kelly Christensen (ASU) 9.875 Sarah Harding (STAN) 9.875 Heidi Moneymaker (UCLA) 9.875 Marny Oestreng (Bowling Green) 9.875