April 1, 2000
TUCSON, Ariz - With Nebraska all but assuring itself of a second straight national championship appearance, Arizona State and LSU were left to battle for second place at the NCAA Region 3 Gymnastics Championships Saturday night in the McKale Center.
After ASU posted a 48.775 in its final rotation on the vault, the Tigers needed a 9.85 floor performance or higher from Nicki Arnstead to take second place and advance to the NCAA Championships in Boise, Id. The sophomore "hit" her routine to the tune of 9.95, winning the event and preventing the Sun Devils from reaching Nationals for a fourth consecutive year.
"We've gone to the NCAA's 17 of the 20 year's I've been [at ASU], and this will be one of the few times we don't go," Sun Devil Head Coach John Spini said. "But I really think that this team competed with all their hearts. This was really a different type of year, but these kids never gave up. I was very proud of the team tonight."
Nebraska took top honors with a team score of 196.875, followed by LSU at 195.625, which just beat out Arizona State (195.500) for the second and final automatic NCAA Championship birth. Arizona (194.100), Illinois-Chicago (193.650) and Missouri (190.975) rounded out the Regional field.
ASU began the Region 3 Championships with a 48.550 on the uneven bars (including a fifth place, 9.825 showing from freshman Margaret Wojciak), but rebounded to score 49.075 in balance beam competition, its second-highest total of the season. Sophomore Lea Carver led off with a team-leading 9.875, while three other Sun Devils also scored 9.80 or higher.
Moving to the floor, Arizona State again got a 9.875 performance from Carver, who tied senior teammate Elizabeth McNabb for second place. In addition, Junior Kelly Christensen-Cowley scored a 9.85 to contribute to ASU's 49.100 team mark. That helped the Devils build a 146.700-146.400 advantage over LSU heading into the evening's final rotation.
While Arizona State got a 9.8 vault score from Christensen-Cowley, the Tigers had all of their gymnasts score 9.8 or higher on floor to come-from-behind. Interestingly, at the 1999 NCAA Championship semifinals in Salt Lake City, ASU defeated LSU by .05 to advance to its third straight Super Six Competition.
The Sun Devils conclude their season with a 13-4 dual meet record and #17 national ranking. The Region 3 Championships marked the final competition for McNabb, a two-time All-American, and fellow senior Michelle Hess.