The No. 2 Oregon stunts and gymnastics squad celebrated its second victory over Baylor this season with a 283.518-277.960 win Monday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
It was the final regular season home meet for Oregon’s nine seniors — Marly Campos, Ashley Dawson, Grace Kuo, Britta LeBlanc, Kimberly Lopez, Rali Manolova, Tori Mayard, Morgan O’Donnell and Mercedez Toles — as the Ducks face three straight meets back East over the next month.
The Ducks (4-0) won five of the six events, posting season-high scores in the stunts (29.4) and pyramid (29.0) competitions, while carding their second highest overall total of the season. The lone loss came in the opening stunt heat of the compulsories, where Baylor edged the Ducks 9.83-9.82.
Baylor also topped Oregon in the team routine, 104.520-104.038, to narrow the lead, but it was too little too late for the Tigers.
“We really wanted to bring the scores up in the first half because we’ve been relying on our tumbling,” Oregon coach Felecia Mulkey said. “We’ve been working on cleaning up the first half, and it paid off.”
Oregon competed without one of its leading tumblers in freshman Natasha Katzaroff, who rested a nagging back injury but is expected to return before the next competition.
Looking ahead, Oregon will spend spring break on the road, taking on Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn., followed by a highly anticipated showdown at Maryland, before capping the week in West Virginia when it takes on Fairmont State to close out the regular season.
Oregon returns to Knight Arena to host the NCATA National Championships, which are scheduled for April 7-9.
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No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling moves to 4-0 with win over Baylor
Daily Emerald
March 7, 2011
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