By Lindsey Boyd (@lindsboyd3 ):
Coming out strong and going out with a bang — that’s exactly what San Jose State gymnastics did in the first and last events of its final home meet against Central Michigan, Air Force and Seattle Pacific.
The Spartans squashed the other teams with an overall score of 195.050, a season best. The score marks the first time this season that SJSU has reached over 195.000 points, and it hasn’t done so since the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship last year.
Sophomore Taylor Chan clenched the first place vault title with a 9.875 to tie current teammate Ellie Pascoe-Long for third best all-time vault score for SJSU. Junior Pascoe-Long earned that rank Feb. 9 against Boise and Iowa State. Chan also topped all competitors with her floor routine with a whopping season-high9.900.
Following Chan on the vault was sophomore Kaprece Nadonza who also had a career-high of 9.850. The vault team helped catapult SJSU into the top spot of the night, finishing with a team score of 49.075.
The team finished last in the beam and third on the uneven bars, but coming alive on the bars was Pasco-Long. She averaged just 9.190 this season, but earned a 9.800 Sunday.
For the last time of her career, all-around gymnast senior Kaitlin Won competed in her home territory. She placed second to Central Michigan’s Gianna Plaska by a close difference of 00.050. Won finished with a 39.000 — the same score she started her season with.
The Spartans have two more meets to go. One in Arizona March 9 and the last against No. 2 UCLA March 13. They will then face the rest of the MPSF conference at the championship March 24.
