April 25, 2008

Courtesy: NCAA

ATHENS-----Georgia, Utah and Stanford advanced to the Super Six on Thursday in the second prelims session of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships at Stegeman Coliseum. They will join Florida, Alabama and LSU in the finals Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

Georgia finished first with a 197.625 followed by Utah with a 196.95 and Stanford with a 196.900. UCLA (196.725), Michigan (196.075) and Denver (194.200) rounded out the second session.

Tabitha Yim paced Stanford in the all-around with a 39.500 and on beam with a 9.900. She and four other posted a 9.850 on vault, and Yim and Elizabeth Tricase notched 9.900s on bars. Carly Janiga led the Cardinal on floor with a 9.875.

"I'm proud of our effort tonight," Stanford head coach Kristen Smyth said. "We fought hard and with everything we had. Our signature is our bars but tonight it was a total team effort. We covered each other, stayed tough, and when we missed on bars, we were there to back each other up. Our end on the balance beam was impressive and we've been doing it all year. I feel really good about the night."

UCLA's Tasha Schwikert won the all-around in the second session with a 39.600.

SCORING

Team Competition

1. Georgia - 197.625 (VT - 49.375; UB - 49.500; BB - 49.350; FX - 49.400) 2. Utah - 196.950 (VT - 49.400; UB - 49.300; BB - 49.050; FX - 49.200) 3. Stanford - 196.900 (VT - 49.200; UB - 49.325; BB - 49.200; FX - 49.175) 4. UCLA - 196.725 (VT - 49.250; UB - 49.475; BB - 48.800; FX - 49.200) 5. Michigan - 196.075 (VT - 48.950; UB - 49.375; BB - ; FX - 49.100) 6. Denver - 194.200 (VT - 48.625; UB - 48.850; BB - 47.950; FX - 48.775)

Session Two Quotes

Stanford Head Coach Kristen Smyth
"I'm proud of our effort tonight. We fought hard and with everything we had. Our signature is our bars but tonight it was a total team effort. We covered each other, stayed tough, and when we missed on bars, we were there to back each other up. Our end on the balance beam was impressive and we've been doing it all year. I feel really good about the night."

Stanford Senior Tabitha Yim
"We had a tough freshman year, but we've learned and grown with hard work and passion. Our goal was to hit 24 of 24 and make it to the Super Six like last year and we did that, but from here there is nowhere to go but up. We have energy and passion and we're going to compete with enthusiasm and drive."

NCAA All-Around Champion, UCLA Senior Tasha Schwikert
"Honestly, I am shocked I won. Our sports information director came back into our locker room and was looking at me and I said, `What?' and she said, `You won.' All I could think was no way. I've been through a lot of pain this year with my Achilles but tonight I came into the meet with a team focus about getting my team to the next round. I definitely wasn't ready for them to announce that I had won the individual championship. This one is bittersweet to win on my last meet, but I would exchange that for my team to get to the next round in a heartbeat."