Georgia Takes Two More Titles at NCAA Championships

April 26, 2008 By IG Online

Georgia gymnasts added two more titles at the individual finals of the Women's NCAA Championships, held Saturday in Athens, Ga.

Ashley Postell, AAI Senior Gymnast of the Year

Sophomores Grace Taylor (balance beam) and Courtney McCool (floor exercise) ended a successful competition for the host team, which on Friday night won its fourth consecutive team title.

All-around champion Tasha Schwikert, a senior at UCLA, won the uneven bars title.

"I probably couldn't have asked for a better way to go out," said Schwikert, a 2000 Olympian. "This was amazing. I didn't expect this coming in here. I want to thank my teammates and coaches, especially Miss Val [Kondos Field, UCLA head coach]. I couldn't have gotten through this competition or the last four years without her."

Schwikert finished second on floor, despite a sore Achilles' tendon.

"Tasha is a rare breed," Kondos Field said. "She is a thoroughbred and when she is focused she is razor sharp — you don't mess with her. When she is in the zone you just let her go. She is just a natural-born athlete. She could have chosen any five sports and would have been a national champion or Olympian."

Sophmore Susan Jackson won vault for Louisiana State. Three seniors ended their careers with silver medals: Georgia's Katie Heenan on uneven bars, and Nebraska's Emily Parsons and Utah's Ashley Postell on balance beam.

Postell, who finished second all-around for the third consecutive year, was named the AAI Senior Gymnast of the Year. Postell earned a record 20 All-America awards in her career — the maximum possible and the most in NCAA women's gymnastics history.

The 2009 Women's NCAA Championships will be at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

2008 Women's NCAA Championships
April 26, Athens, Ga.

Vault
1. Susan Jackson (LSU) 9.856
2. Kristina Baskett (Utah) 9.844
2. Julie Dwyer (Auburn) 9.844
4. Michelle Stout (Arkansas) 9.800
5. Kayla Hoffman (Alabama) 9.762
6. Marcia Newby (Georgia) 9.756
7. Yuki Lamb (Oregon State) 9.737
8. Tasha Schwikert (UCLA) 9.562
9. Kristina Comforte (UCLA) 9.450
10. Kyndal Robarts (Utah) 8.537

Uneven Bars
1. Tasha Schwikert (UCLA) 9.937
2. Katie Heenan (Georgia) 9.900
2. Kristina Comforte (UCLA) 9.900
4. Nikki Childs (Georgia) 9.887
4. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (LSU) 9.887
6. Kristina Baskett (Utah) 9.875
7. Liz Tricase (Stanford) 9.862
8. Grace Taylor (Georgia) 9.850
8. Melanie Sinclair (Florida) 9.850
8. Kassi Price (Alabama) 9.850
8. Kylee Botterman (Michigan) 9.850
12. Becky Bernard (Michigan) 9.837
12. Desire' Sniatynski (Nebraska) 9.837
14. Tiffany Tolnay (Georgia) 9.825
15. Anna Li (UCLA) 9.812
16. Ashley Postell (Utah) 9.800
17. Summer Hubbard (LSU) 9.762
17. Tabitha Yim (Stanford) 9.762

Balance Beam
1. Grace Taylor (Georgia) 9.950
2. Ashley Postell (Utah) 9.900
2. Emily Parsons (Nebraska) 9.900
4. Ashley Reed (Florida) 9.887
5. Tabitha Yim (Stanford) 9.875
5. Brandi Personett (Penn State) 9.875
7. Tiffany Tolnay (Georgia) 9.850
7. Susan Jackson (LSU) 9.850
9. Melanie Sinclair (Florida) 9.825
10. Nicole Ourada (Stanford) 9.800
11. Katie Heenan (Georgia) 9.787

Floor Exercise
1. Courtney McCool (Georgia) 9.962
2. Tasha Schwikert (UCLA) 9.950
3. Nicola Willis (Florida) 9.912
4. Tiffany Tolnay (Georgia) 9.900
4. Morgan Dennis (Alabama) 9.900
4. Ashley Postell (Utah) 9.900
7. Cassidy McComb (Georgia) 9.887
8. Ashley Reed (Florida) 9.875
8. Amanda Castillo (Florida) 9.875
10. Susan Jackson (LSU) 9.862
11. Corey Hartung (Florida) 9.825
12. Kiara Sturms (Oklahoma) 9.762
12. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (LSU) 9.762
14. Kristina Baskett (Utah) 2.550