By Lindsey Boyd:
San Jose State was beaming with pride after the team’s second place finish in it’s rivalry-filled meet against UC Davis, Sacramento State and Seattle Pacific.
The last time SJSU faced the UC Davis Aggies was Feb. 3, where it lost 193.925 to 194.825. The Spartans looked for revenge but ultimately placed second again to the Aggies, 193.875-194.650.
“It was a very close meet. It was ours. We had it. If we had only had one less fall,” said SJSU’s coach Wayne Wright.
The Spartans best scores were fueled by high-energy floor routines. Kaitlin Won and freshman Taylor Chan were part of a five-way tie for first on the floor, scoring 9.875.
“After my ending pose on the floor, you just get that adrenaline that goes through your body. You think, ‘you just did the best routine of your life,’” Chan said.
The Spartan squad didn’t do it’s best on the bars, but delivered strong beam and floor performances. Kaitlin Won led SJSU with 9.775 on the bars to catapult the Spartans into fourth place.
Won also tied with teammate Chelsey Andrada on the beam scoring 9.800 for another fourth-place finish.
The Spartans’ last event was the vault where the pressure was high. The performance would make the difference between a first and second place finish with their rivals, the Aggies.
As Coach Wright said, “you can smell that victory and all you have to do is finish.”
Ultimately, the Spartan’s hopes of taking down the Aggies were shattered. The Spartan’s fell short after Kaitlin Won’s unusually high vault caused her to mis-land.
“Katie [Won] was doing really well of course until she got to vault,” Wright said. “She vaulted really high and she pretty much got lost because she hadn’t been that high before.”
Overall, Coach Wright was pleased with his team’s fighting spirit and second place finish.
The gymnastics team looks to their next meet on Sunday, March 5 against Utah State.