By Lindsey Boyd:
San Jose State is No. 1.
These words are rarely stated and haven’t been paired together to describe the gymnastics team since 2004 when it last won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship. But tonight, the 195.925 victory win for the Spartans is about to be described.
It doesn’t take long for SJSU freshmen to set their eyes set on one goal — to be MPSF Champs. The hunger to win that title has been bred into them from starving alumni who have fallen short themselves.
“The whole night we were going back and forth, back and forth,” said Spartans coach Wayne Wright. “Each rotation someone would take a tenth or two lead … that’s the thing in gymnastics. A little bit is a lot.”
Thirteen title-less seasons motivated the Spartans to eagerly step into the much anticipated shootout with anxious smiles ready for battle.
“We’ve talked about this all season,” said senior Rachel Heinl. “We talked about it coming in as a freshman, and as a senior, and even for the alumni here. We all worked for this moment.”
Eager smiles turned to focused expressions of deep thought and chatter as the team entered the beam portion of the competition. Katlin Won fiercely pranced on the beam first to electrify the competition with a career high, 9.850.
Also on the beam was Taylor Chan who took first with her nearly perfect 9.900 beam routine, tying SJSU’s all-time beam record.
Chan also tied for No. 1 in the championship for floor.
Another highlight of the night came from senior Haleigh Shepard on the vault after she broke her career high with a flying 9.850. She placed first for the tournament in the event.
By the time of the final event, the uneven bars, the championship title was still within reach for the Spartans. With chalked white hands, sophomore Kaprece Nandoza soared to new career heights earning a 9.900.
Instantly, a rush of waterworks from the entire team broke out. Tears continued to fill their eyes after each and every bar performance, especially after senior Rachel Heinl gave her last ever gymnastics performance for SJSU. The event brought an emotional end to the routines, but the night was far from over.
In stacked v-shaped order, every MPSF conference team sat on the floor of the event center awaiting their all-around awards, as well as the name of the winner taking home the largest trophy.
The results were announced: Sixth place University of Alaska Anchorage, fifth place Seattle Pacific University, fourth place United States Air Force, third place Sacramento State.
With that, it was narrowed down between SJSU and UC Davis.
“Second place … UC Davis.”
Mouths as wide as their eyes appeared on the Spartans’ faces as first place was announced.
“First place and MPSF Champions San Jose State.”
For the unofficial record, Heinl held onto the trophy the longest.
“Just being able to have my team and actually make it happen our last year here is so surreal,” Heinl said. “No words.”