Eight Ladies Set Career Highs at Metroplex Challenge
The Centenary Ladies gymnastics team finished third in the Metroplex Challenge on Saturday evening as they competed against Oklahoma and Texas Woman’s University at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
Fort Worth, Texas - The Centenary Ladies gymnastics team finished third in the Metroplex Challenge on Saturday evening as they competed against Oklahoma and Texas Woman's University at the Fort Worth Convention Center as eight Centenary gymnasts recorded career-high scores.
The Ladies finished with an overall team score of 189.925, improving upon their 185.725 that they posted last week in their season-opening meet at home versus TWU and Air Force. Oklahoma won Saturday's meet with a score of 198.225 while the Pioneers placed second at 194.050.
Ladies' Junior All-American Kendall Sanders (Spring Branch, Texas) continued her impressive start to the season as she finished second overall in the all-around with a new career-high score of 38.575, second to Oklahoma's Anastasia Webb's 39.725. Sanders' previous best score in the all-around was a 38.525 set last season. Sanders scored a new career high 9.750 on vault on Saturday, a 9.700 on floor, a 9.575 on bars, and a 9.550 on beam.
Sanders, who scored a 37.075 in the all-around in Centenary's season-opening meet on Feb. 7, is coming off of a fantastic sophomore campaign in which she was named to the 2020 Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association DIII regular season All-America Team in the all-around and was also named a 2020 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Nationals All-American as she received second team honors in the all-around.
Sophomore Lauryn Stiff (Branson, Mo.) had a successful meet as she recorded a pair of new career-high scores on vault (9.625) and on floor (9.45). Sanders' career-best 9.750 on vault landed her in a 10th-place tie in the event with her teammate, sophomore Kendall Huff (Riviera, Texas), for whom the score was also a new career-high mark. Huff's previous best on vault was a 9.675 set last week.
Senior Sierra Ponder (Stone Mountain, Ga.) was the Ladies' top finisher on bars, earning a 9.700. Junior Kendall Knaps (Prairieville, La.) placed 11th (9.675), and Sanders finished 13th with a score of 9.575. Knaps' score was a new career-high. Sophomore Kennedy Stephens (Bella Vista, Ark.) was Centenary's top finisher on beam as she set a new career high with a score of 9.650. Sanders (9.550) and senior Jerrica Harris (Memphis, Tenn.) placed 12th and 14th respectively as Harris posted a 9.450. Sanders was Centenary's top finisher on floor as she tied for eighth with a score of 9.700.
Freshman Courtney Tripp (Bridge Creek, Okla.) earned a career-best score on vault (9.55) and sophomore Rose Deshler (Hastings, Minn.) recorded a career-high score (9.475) on floor.
Centenary scored a 48.275 overall on vault, its best score of the night of the four events, a 47.750 on floor, a 47.625 on bars, and a 46.275 on beam. The Ladies' 48.275 is their best score in any single event since receiving a 48.425 on floor on March 6, 2020 in a quad meet versus Arkansas, LSU, and TWU and is their best overall score on vault since the 2019 season.
The Ladies remain on the road next weekend and will see TWU for a third week in a row as the Pioneers will host Centenary on Friday, Feb. 19 for a dual meet inside Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas at 6 p.m.
Centenary then closes the month of February in the state of Missouri for a tri-meet versus host SEMO and Illinois State on Friday, Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. and will face SEMo again on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. Both meets that weekend will be held at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Ladies then face TWU and Oklahoma again on Sunday, March 7 in Denton, Texas at 2 p.m.
The Ladies will celebrate their three seniors in their final home meet of the regular season on March 12 against TWU at 6 p.m.
The Ladies' complete 2021 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/gymnastics/2020-21/schedule.
Live stats and live video are available for the March 12 meet.
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