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| Kayla Carto (c) edged Betsy Zander (l) for 1st place All-Around |
From our friends at GW Athletics Communications...
Colonials Sweep Individual Awards En Route to Season-Opening Victory
The George Washington gymnastics team opened its 2014 campaign with a convincing victory in the seventh annual Lindsey Ferris Invitational on Sunday afternoon at the Charles E. Smith Center, the second time in as many years the Colonials have won their premier home event.
GW totaled 193.025 points to earn the victory. Cornell finished in second place with 188.750, followed by Temple (186.775) and Penn (183.125). The Colonials swept the awards ceremony by having an individual take first place in all four events plus the all-around.
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| Betsy Zander celebrates with previous Lindsey Ferris Award winners |
Graduate student Kayla Carto led the way with a first-place finish in the all-around with a score of 38.425. She tied her career-high score on vault with a 9.750 (4th) along with scores of 9.550 on uneven bars (T-7th), 9.400 on balance beam (T-9th) and 9.775 on floor exercise (T-4th).
Freshman Chelsea Raineri was exceptional in her collegiate debut, earning overall victories on both the vault and floor exercise. On vault, Raineri topped the field with a 9.850. On floor exercise, the Telford, Pa., native dazzled the crowd with a 9.850.
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| Nice start! Chelsea Raineri wins Floor Exercise with a 9.85 |
Senior Kiera Kenney paced the Colonials on uneven bars, winning the event with a score of 9.825, just .025 points off of her career high. The Colonials swept the podium on the event with classmates Taylor Henderson (career-high 9.800) and Betsy Zander (9.700) following in second and third place, respectively.
Zander won the balance beam title after placing first with a score of 9.725. The senior co-captain finished second overall in the all-around behind Carto with a score of 38.425, scoring 9.250 on vault (22nd), 9.700 on uneven bars (3rd) and 9.750 on floor exercise (7th) in addition to her balance beam title. The Millersville, Md., native also became the first gymnast in program history to earn the Lindsey Ferris "Attitude is Everything" Award for the second time in her career. The award is annually given to the GW gymnast who best exemplifies the team spirit and leadership of the late gymnastics alumnae. Zander first won the award as a sophomore in 2012.
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| Kiera Kenney celebrates her win on the Uneven Bars |
Henderson posted a new career-high score on the floor exercise, taking second place on the event with a 9.825. She also finished tied for sixth on vault with 9.725 in addition to her aforementioned second-place performance on uneven bars.
Also making her collegiate debut on Sunday afternoon was freshman Alex DeMoura, who registered strong performances on vault (T-2nd, 9.775) and balance beam (16th, 9.075).
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| Taylor Henderson finishes a close 2nd on the Uneven Bars |
Junior Elena Corcoran had a solid afternoon in her season debut, finishing tied for second place on vault (9.775) in addition to registering 9.775 on floor exercise (T-4th) and 9.375 on balance beam (12th).
Senior Brittany Doran narrowly missed the podium on uneven bars, taking fourth place in the event with 9.650.
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| Alex DeMoura debuts with a 2nd place finish in the Vault |
GW registered event scores of 48.875 on vault, 48.525 on uneven bars, 46.600 on balance beam and 49.025 on floor exercise. As a team, the Colonials posted the top five vault performances of the day, the top four uneven bars routines and six of the top-seven floor exercise routines.
The Colonials return to action on Friday with a visit to Kent State for a quad meet against the host Golden Flashes, Eastern Michigan and East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) rival Rutgers. The meet is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Kent State's Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
Click here for yesterday's official score sheet
