Quinnipiac saves their best for Nationals
04-26-2012
VANCOUVER, WA Though the Bobcats have yet to attain their first victory of the season, the year has been far from a disappointment in terms of overall improvement. Quinnipiac faced a tough matchup in their first meet of the season on Saturday, Feb. 4th, when it hosted the 2011 NCATA Runner-Up Maryland Terps at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. Despite staying close through the first half, and winning the opening event in second half action (toss), the Terps ran away with the victory, 284.540 – 274.855, following strong performances in the tumbling and team routine events.
Quinnipiac then endured four-straight road contests, beginning first with a tri-meet in Eugene, Oregon against the Ducks and Azusa Pacific. On that day, the Bobcats finished in third place next to Azusa’s 281.218 as Oregon came away with an overall winning score of 285.443.
The Bobcats performed much better against Maryland the second time around on Friday, March 9th, accumulating its second-highest total of the season during the 290.560 – 283.000 defeat. Although Quinnipiac trailed by a slim .36 points at halftime, the Bobcats were unfortunate enough to go up against one of the strongest second half performances in NCATA history. With a second-half total of 194.11, including a 106.56 team routine score, Maryland earned the highest overall score in NCATA history. The 101.66 team routine score for Quinnipiac, its second-highest total of the 2012 season, marked the first time all year the team had cracked the triple-digit mark.
Quinnipiac then ventured to Fairmont State to face the Fighting Falcons and Baylor in its second-tri meet of the season on Sunday, March 11th. The Bobcats finished just 2.68 points behind first-place Baylor on that Sunday afternoon, and were edged by an even slighter margin of .79 by second-place Fairmont State. Quinnipiac won two events on the afternoon, pyramid and tumbling, and entered the final team routine in second place behind the Fighting Falcons. However, a winning score of 102.650 by Baylor propelled them into first place overall, dropping Quinnipiac to third in the meet.
The Bobcats truly began to see major improvements in its following meet against Oregon, Maryland and Fairmont State on Saturday, March 17th. On the afternoon, Quinnipiac posted season-high scores in compulsories (39.05), pyramid (29.8) and toss (28.8) events. Despite such outstanding scores, the Bobcats faltered in the final team routine, as their overall score of 279.54 fell short of Fairmont State’s 280.675, Maryland’s 284.11, and Oregon’s winning total of 287.84.
The Bobcats experienced heartbreak in their most recent meet on Monday, April 2nd, losing to Azusa Pacific by the closest margin in program-history, 287.375 – 287.215, on senior night in Hamden, Conn. On the night, Quinnipiac set season high scores in acro (28.14), toss (28.80), tumbling (57.125) and team routine (104.700) events. Quinnipiac trailed at halftime, 97.53 – 96.59, but two tremendous scores in the toss and tumbling events propelled the squad into the lead by just .06 points heading into the final team routine event. Azusa Pacific narrowly edged out the Bobcats, 104.920 – 104.700, to take the come-from-behind victory.
