SEATTLE — Senior Stefanie Aeder scored 9.800 on floor exercise to tie for 10th place at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics West Regional, Saturday night at Bank of America Arena. Aeder led a trio of Hornets who were competing at the event. She was joined by freshmen Alexis Tsurumoto and Melissa Genovese. Tsurumoto tied for 29th on bars with a 9.600 while Genovese recorded a 9.725 to tie for 25th.Top-seeded UCLA won the team title, scoring 197.025. The Bruins recorded event winners on all four eventws plus the all-around. Penn State finished second with 195.375 to earn the second berth to the 12-team NCAA Championships in Auburn, Ala.
Individually, former U.S. Olympian Tasha Schwikert was easily the top performer. Schikert won the all-around with a total of 39.275. That total included a 9.950 on vault, which tied teammate Kristen Maloney for first place. Schwikert also tied for first on bars with Penn State’s Kristal Uzelak (9.900). Maloney scored 9.975 to edge Schwikert’s 9.925 on beam. The pair tied for first place on floor with 9.950.
The meet was the final competition for Sacramento State this season. Earlier this week, it was announced that the Hornets will move to the Western Athletic Conference in 2006. The team has spent the past four years in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation where it won league titles in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
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