Dec. 12, 2003

Results

Complete Mixed Pairs Results in PDF Format
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois men's and women's gymnastics teams took to the gym on Friday evening in the 18th annual Mixed Pairs exhibition meet at Huff Hall. Members from each squad paired up to form teams and competed against one another. They performed their best four events for the crowd with the top three scores counting toward the team total.

The duo of Scott Wetterling and Cara Pomeroy took home this year's title with a total of 29.65. Pomeroy, a freshman from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, posted the top score on the women's side with a 9.95 on the uneven bars and also posted an impressive 9.80 on the beam in her first collegiate action. Wetterling hit his high bar set to tune of a 9.9 during the final round to give he and Pomeroy the victory.

"It feels good to win," said Wetterling. "I've come in second a couple times, but I had a great partner in Cara tonight. As a senior it's nice to win my last Mixed Pairs meet."

Pomeroy was equally excited about how her partner performed. "I was really nervous because this was my first college meet, but it went well and it was exciting to win," said Pomeroy. "I really like the whole team thing, it's a lot more exciting than competing as an individual."

The night ended with an exclamation point as Justin Spring closed out the meet with a spectacular high bar set that resulted in a perfect 10.0, pushing his team into second place with a 29.60 total. Spring, a sophomore from Burke, Va., also scored a 9.80 on the floor exercise and his partner, junior Margaret Dann, had an impressive beam score of 9.80.

In addition to Spring and Wetterling, sophomore Ben Newman was another top scorer on the men's side. The defending Big Ten pommel horse champion turned in a score of 9.85 on the apparatus and also earned a 9.50 on the rings to lead he and sophomore Emily Earle to a third place finish. Earle posted a pair of 9.75s on the bars and floor to give the pair a total of 29.35.

Senior co-captain Kara Kapernekas had a big evening for the women, wowing the crowd with a 9.90 on the floor exercise and a 9.80 on the balance beam. Sophomore Katie Wild also posted a 9.90 on floor, while juniors Lauren Newcomb and Ashley Williams each posted a pair of 9.85s, Newcomb on vault and floor, Williams on beam and floor.

Overall, women's head coach Bob Starkell was pleased with the performance of his squad. "There were a lot of good things that happened tonight and most importantly, nobody got hurt," Starkell said. "I think we're ahead of where we were last year at this time, however, there are still some things we need to work on. But I'd say we are on the right track."

Men's head coach Yoshi Hayasaki was also very impressed with what he saw from his third-ranked squad. "I thought we had very good performances today," said Hayasaki. "This was one of the best mixed pairs competitions in recent years. We have our routines almost perfected and ready to go at this point. Overall, I am very pleased."

After the meet, Spring talked about how the Mixed Pairs competition helps the team prepare for the regular season. "Tonight we're just trying to get our routines set and consistent and are hopefully on our way to a national title," said Spring. "This meet is just for fun, but with that crowd and everything, you still get in that competition mode and it changes the way you feel about your routine. It's nice to get that out of the way so we'll be ready when the first meet rolls around."

Wetterling also commented on the importance of the Mixed Pairs competition. "I think we're a lot more prepared at this point than we were last year as far as difficulty and hit consistency and I think that really showed tonight. This meet is definitely a lot more relaxed in terms of pressure to score well, it's more of a fun competition, but it does help us prepare by letting us know where we are and getting us into that competitive mind-set."

Both squads will begin the regular season on the road in early January. The third-ranked men's squad opens its season at the prestigious Windy City Invitational in Chicago on Jan. 10. Meanwhile, the women kick-off their schedule by traveling to Northern Illinois to take on the Huskies on Jan. 11.