March 27, 2008

FULLERTON, CA - With the regular season behind them, the Cal State Fullerton women's gymnastics team heads north to Boise, Idaho, for the 2008 Western Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Boise State on Saturday (March 29) at 5 p.m. PT.

CATCH THE CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE: In conjunction with its website partner, JumpTV Sports, the Western Athletic Conference will provide a live video stream of all four events, simultaneously, of this weekend's WAC Gymnastics Championships from Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho. Fans can sign up to view the meet at www.wac.tv and is available on a pay-per-view basis for $10.95.

I NEED STATS, STAT: Live scoring of the championships will also be available via Boise State's official athletics website at www.broncosports.com.

ROTATION: Cal State Fullerton will begin the championships with a bye before starting on floor exercise in rotation two. The Titans will be on vault in rotation three, bars in rotation five, and beam in the sixth and final rotation.

IN THE POLLS: Boise State is the highest-ranked team in the conference entering this weekend's championships, standing at No. 16 in the nation thanks to its 195.600 regional qualifying score. Southern Utah is No. 24 (194.890 RQS), San Jose State is No. 35 (194.050), Sacramento State is No. 37 (193.585), Utah State is No. 40 (193.200), and Cal State Fullerton is No. 41 (193.105).

A LOOK BACK: Cal State Fullerton heads to Boise this weekend looking to improve on last year's fifth-place finish at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Cedar City, Utah. The Titans scored a season-high 193.625 to edge Boise State and were led by Shannon Kawada, who finished tied for eighth on vault with a 9.80 and set a career-high with a 9.80 on bars to tie for fourth and earn all-conference honors.

MAD ABOUT MADDIE: Fullerton freshman Maddie Steinauer is looking to vault her way right into the Titan record books in her rookie season as her 9.803 season average would set a new single-season school record that has stood since Kelly Mathiasen's 9.778 average in 2000. Steinauer, who won vault for the fourth time and posted her seventh top-three finish last week in a tri-meet at Arizona, has scored 9.80 or better on vault in each of her last eight consecutive meets and in nine of 10 meets overall this season.

SPEAKING OF VAULT: The event has been the high-scoring for the Titans this season as Fullerton is averaging a 48.523 on vault and has posted a season-high 48.900 in the event twice this season - the third-highest score in the WAC in 2008. In addition to Steinauer's exploits above, freshmen Alaina Baker (9.734 average) and Shelly Cooper (9.722 average) would also break into the school's single-season top 10 in the event.

CONSISTENCY: After a slow start to the season, the Titans have really picked things up scoring-wise, breaking the 191-point barrier in each of their last nine meets, including scoring a season-high 194.825 against Boise State and Feb. 17 and scoring better than 193 points in three of their last five meets to close out the regular season.

BAKER'S DOZEN: Alright, so it's only been 11 meets, but it has been one heckuva ride for freshman Alaina Baker during her rookie season at the Division I level. Baker has competed all-around in every one of the Titans' meets this season, taking home individual honors twice and posting eight top three finishes. She has scored 38 points or better in 10 of the team's 11 meets, including a career-high 39.125 against Boise State on Feb. 17 - which is tied for the seventh-best all-around score in the WAC this season.

FINDING BALANCE: Junior Jessica Tait has been the Titans most consistent performer on beam this season, leading the team with a 9.695 average and scoring 9.725 or better in each of her last five meets. She set a career-high with a 9.825 in the event during a quad meet with UCLA, Brown, and Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Jan. 20 to finish second and later tied that mark on Feb. 17 against Boise State.

PUSHING FOR REGIONAL BIDS: If the Titans don't qualify for the NCAA Regionals as a team, freshmen Alaina Baker and Maddie Steinauer are both making cases for postseason bids as individuals. Baker ranks No. 67 in the nation and 10th in the region in the all-around with a 38.825 RQS (good for sixth in the WAC) and No. 42 in the nation and seventh in the region on floor with a 9.855 RQS (second in the WAC). Steinauer is No. 69 in the nation and No. 11 in the region with a 9.835 RQS on vault - an average which also stands third in the conference. Junior Jessica Tait is also in the running on beam, standing No. 23 in the region (fifth in the WAC) with a 9.760 RQS.

RECYCLED NOTES
TITANS SHINE IN THE CLASSROOM: Ten Cal State Fullerton gymnasts posted grade point averages of 3.50 or better and the team posted a cumulative GPA of 3.67 during the fall semester - the highest among all of Fullerton's 17 varsity athletic squads.

"I am very proud of our student-athletes' accomplishments in the classroom during the fall," second-year Head Coach Jill Hicks said. "I knew when I recruited these athletes that academics were a priority for me and it's good to see them maintaining their discipline in class and upholding my expectations for the team. The team set a goal of a 3.5 GPA and have done well to accomplish and exceed not only my expectations, but their own as well."

In addition, two gymnasts achieved a perfect 4.0 with three more at 3.9 or better.

Excelling in the classroom is nothing new for the Titans since Hicks arrived on campus in 2005 as nine different gymnasts have been named to the Western Athletic Conference All-Academic squad a total of 13 times while eight student-athletes have been named to the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches Academic All-America honor roll 11 times.

ABOUT THE COACH: The Titans are led by second-year head coach Jill Hicks, who was voted the 2007 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in her inaugural season. The fourth head coach in the history of the program, Hicks helped lead Fullerton to wins in three of its first four meets and an upset of No. 21 Arizona State. Hicks spent one year as an assistant coach for the Titans in 2006 in her return to coaching after spending 14 years as an assistant at Oregon State and the following four years as a coach and choreographer at the National Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo. Hicks, who is married to the Titans' sixth-year head wrestling coach, Dan Hicks, helped the Beavers to nine consecutive NCAA appearances and helped produce 33 All-Americans and five national champions.

YOUTH IS SERVED: Of the 16 gymnasts on the roster for the 2008 season, 12 of those student-athletes are underclassmen - half of those freshmen.

ALL (OVER) AMERICA ROSTER: Perhaps historically known for a more California-centric roster in the past, Cal State Fullerton's second-year head coach Jill Hicks has gone outside the state borders to assemble this year's roster. Of the 16 student-athletes, 10 hail from outside of California - including freshman Alaina Baker, who traveled over 1,700 miles from her home in Oak Grove, Missouri, to compete for the Titans.