Arizona GymCats rebound from road struggles with season high score

In a year when a late change to the rules made road meets more important than ever, the Arizona GymCats didn’t need what happened last week at Texas Woman’s University. The team scored a 193.350 to lose to both TWU and Denver in a nonconference matchup against the Pioneers. They rebounded with gusto against Towson, winning 196.800 to 195.400 in McKale Center on Friday evening.

“We had a breakdown on the fundamentals of our program that have made our program what it is,” said Arizona head coach John Court. “I wasn’t shy about letting them know that, and it’s been a very intentional week of practice. It’s been a difficult week of practice, but it’s been the week that they needed…It was a gut check. And I told them tonight, their season starts. I said, this is your season opener tonight. And I said, you need to show everybody exactly who you are. And they were able to go out and do that. Very proud.”

Arizona’s loss at TWU was a historic low for the program. The GymCats had not scored below 194 since Jan. 22, 2022 when they scored a 193.775 in their home opener against Oklahoma, Stanford, and Utah State. They had not scored below the 193.350 they got in Denton, Tex. since Feb. 17, 2018 at Oregon State. That meet saw Arizona send just two athletes up on vault, three on floor, five on bars, and six on balance beam to end with a score of 145.325.

“I said, this is the worst meet I’ve been a part of as a head coach,” Court said. “Because at least in that meet [at Oregon State], I knew we couldn’t score higher than, like, a 140. And it’s different. You know, this team is not last year’s team. It’s not the team before that. You’re replacing at least 10 routines, and you’re replacing some veteran leadership across the board. So different people need to need to step up, and they were able to do that tonight.”

The team needed to put up a big score Friday night if they hoped to salvage a postseason berth. They also needed to do it to prove that last week was a fluke.

They made their statement from the first vault of the meet and carried it through the final floor routine. They hit all 24 routines and had just four scores below 9.8. They were able to drop three of those scores.

The GymCats scored over 49 points on all four events, something that doesn’t happen for them very often. They accomplished the feat at last year’s Big 12 Championships but had not done it in the regular season since Mar. 13, 2024 against Southern Connecticut State.

It looked like problems might crop up on balance beam, though. While beam has been a strong event in recent years, the GymCats have been inconsistent on it this year. Part of that is replacing the routines of Alysen Fears, Emily Mueller, and Elena Deets, all of whom finished their college careers last season. That leaves half the rotation open for new athletes.

Gianna Lenczner’s 9.750 was a solid leadoff score, but Emma Strom followed with a 9.700. Next came a 9.675 from Jessa Janicke. Things were moving in the wrong direction for the team.

Up came Teagan White. The sophomore spent last year rehabbing an injury. Her college debut earned a 9.850 and got the rotation back on track. It also got her tabbed as the Gymnast of the Meet by the Arizona coaching staff.

“She is scruffy,” junior all-arounder Abigayle Martin said. “She has never exhibitioned, never done anything. She had her third knee surgery last year, like I would say, I think 13 months ago, and I felt so good about her going up there. I knew she was going up there. I knew she was gonna go in. I knew she was gonna attack it. I knew she was very calm. And I don’t normally watch the beam routines in front of me, but I was peeping out from the hallway because I had 100 percent confidence that she was gonna make it. And I truly think that’s what elevated the rest of the routines from the night, like carrying on into floor.”

Wise and Martin followed White. Wise matched her 9.850 and Martin scored a season-high 9.900 to anchor the rotation.

“She had a great meet last week,” Court said. “And this is the gymnastics that Tirzah has always been capable of. She’s very confident this year. And she’s done some things so she could be a little more dedicated. She’s an engineering major, so I think she rearranged her schedule. Maybe not taking 25 credits this semester.”

Martin and her teammates kept it going on floor exercise. She was one of three GymCats to set or tie their career highs on the event. They posted just one score below 9.800. That 9.775 was dropped, leaving them a 49.450 for the final rotation.

“[Martin’s] floor was amazing tonight,” Court said. “Best floor to she’s ever done in an Arizona leotard, for sure.”

Martin was as symbol of both the struggles at TWU and the team’s rebound against Towson. On Friday, she turned in scores of 9.800 on vault and bars, 9.900 on balance beam, and 9.950 on floor exercise. The team had 10 athletes set or tie career highs on at least one event.

“As a team, I think we were kind of just off,” Martin said. “This is a really new team, and there’s been a lot of lineup changes from meet one, meet two even to meet three. On a personal level, had a really scary fall. Peeled off the high bar, couldn’t finish the routine. And I think coming back for me mentally, it was definitely like a grind week, not physically, but like up in the brain.”

At Texas Woman’s, Martin was one of three UA gymnasts to score a 9.200 or lower on bars. Two others scored 9.150 or lower on balance beam. Only one scored as high as 9.800 on floor exercise.

They all hope to follow the lead of Wise, who has been a model of consistency this season. Her only score below 9.800 this season was a 9.750 on balance beam in the season opener.

“This year, I definitely feel more just confident being out there,” Wise said. “I mean, it is my third year here. I’m a junior now. Just being able to trust my training and really trust what I’ve done in and out of the gym is super important.”

Every meet will take on a bigger import this season after what happened at TWU, especially when the GymCats leave McKale Center. That goes back to the NCAA’s change to the NQS formula that was implemented just weeks before the season started and long after schedules were set. The new rules require teams to use five road scores in the NQS, although the lowest one can still be dropped. Arizona has just six road meets this season, including the Big 12 Championships.

There’s only one way to overcome that score.

“Do things like they did tonight, but they have to hit on the road,” Court said. “Home’s a little bit more comfortable…Every team in the country has to hit on the road, and that certainly includes us.”

While the score from the TWU meet will probably go away by the time regionals are determined, it will hit Arizona’s ranking until at least that time. That includes for seeding at the Big 12 Championships, which are based on NQS rather than win/loss records. Depending on how others do, it will likely put Arizona in the early session of the championships instead of the more desirable late session.

“It’s gonna hang around,” Court said. “We’re gonna use it for our Big 12 calculation. You want it to disappear for your regional calculation, but it will stay for the Big 12 calculation. I just hope it doesn’t hurt us too much.”