February 19, 1999
Meet No. 6 - Stanford 195.775, Arizona State 194.250
PALO ALTO, Calif. - ASU extended its road losing streak to two as inopportune falls on the balance beam and uneven bars left the Devils too much ground to have to overcome in a 195.775-194.250 setback to the Stanford Cardinal before 496 fans at Burnham Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.
The Devils lost the meet despite recording their second-best scores of the year in the vault (48.475) and floor exercise (49.225) and seeing the return of junior all-America and co-captain Amy Shelton, who showed none of the expected rust in her first action of the season in recording a career-best 9.9 on the balance beam in her only performance of the evening.
The Devils' troubles on the evening were punctuated by the team's performance on beam as it saw three or more competitors fall for the fourth time this season, which was the complete opposite result of a week earlier in which the team authored a school record 49.55 on beam. There were plenty of bright spots on the evening for ASU, who suffered only its fourth setback in the last two seasons.
In the vault, sophomore Kim Skinner recorded a career-best 9.7, while in the floor exercise fellow sophomore Becky Acker recorded a season-best 9.825. Also in the floor exercise, junior all-Americas Elizabeth McNabb and Elizabeth Reid tied for second place by posting a pair of 9.9s. For McNabb, it was the 12th time in her last 15 competitions that she has recorded a 9.9 or better.
On beam, senior co-captain Wendy Ellsberry led off the Devils by scoring a career-best 9.9. Also freshman Lea Carver continued her recent string of success by scoring a 9.875. In the uneven bars, freshman Britnee Bowden recorded a personal-best 9.6.