© Jason Heartsfield and Ryan Huffer
ATLANTA, Ga., April 20, 2009 – The University of Texas’ Jennifer Grabowski won the women’s all-around and vault titles, and Texas A&M University’s Eli Richardson won the men’s all-around and four individual event crowns at the 2009 National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs (NAIGC) National Championships, held at Emory University’s Woodruff Physical Education Center in Atlanta, Ga. In addition to the all-around, Richardson won pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Texas A&M University and Pennsylvania State University won the women’s and men’s team titles, respectively.
Texas A&M won the women’s team competition with a score of 146.800. Miami University placed second and Ohio State University placed third with scores of 146.425 and 145.700, respectively. Penn State posted a 241.500 to win the men’s team title, followed by the University of Texas in second with a 241.250 and James Madison University in third with a 235.200.
Also winning event titles were: women – University of Illinois’ Allie Smith, Texas State University’s Devin Ave and University of California – Davis’ Beth Doughty, uneven bars (tie); Texas A&M’s Candice Deroche, balance beam; and Miami’s Morgan Spellacy, floor exercise; and men – Georgia Institute of Technology’s David Spitdowski Jr., floor exercise, and Penn State’s Clint Gyory, vault.
Grabowski won the women’s all-around with a score of 37.800, followed by Texas A&M’s Renee McEntire in second at 37.325 and Penn State’s Katie Stoebe in third at 37.250. Grabowski topped the field on vault with her 9.650, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Stephanie Elison placed second and Stoebe finished third with scores of 9.350 and 9.300, respectively.
On uneven bars, Smith, Ave and Doughty all posted scores of 9.500 to share the NAIGC crown. Deroche won balance beam with a 9.825, followed by Spellacy in second with a 9.775. Miami’s Michelle Adams and Texas Tech University’s Jill Conoley tied for third place with a 9.650. Spellacy’s 9.650 on floor exercise earned her first place, with Ohio State’s Emily Brandner and James Madison’s Elly Hart finishing second and third, respectively, with scores of 9.600 and 9.500.
Richardson took top honors in the men’s all-around with an 84.300, more than one point ahead of second-place finisher Gyory’s 83.200. The University of Illinois’ Brian Hulbert was third with an 80.900. The trio finished in the same order on still rings, scoring a 14.400, a 14.300 and a 14.100, respectively. Richardson topped the field on pommel horse with his 14.800, followed by James Madison’s Stirling Van Winkle in second at 13.500 and Texas’ Jonathan Walker in third at 13.400.
On parallel bars, Richardson scored a 14.200 to best Texas teammates Ryan Huffer and Light Townsend, who finished second and third with scores of 13.900 and 13.800, respectively. Richardson and Hulbert went 1-2 on horizontal bar with Richardson earning a 13.800 and Hulbert posting a 13.200. The University of California – Berkeley’s Kenrick Lam and Texas State’s Andrew Schultz tied for third at 12.900.
Spitdowski scored a 14.100 to finish first on floor exercise, followed by the State University of New York at Brockport’s A.J. Banker in second and Townsend in third with scores of 14.00 and 13.800, respectively. Gyory posted the high score of the day on vault with a 16.300. Spitdowski was second with a 15.800 and Illinois’ Matthew Eckardt was third with a 15.400.