2008 Woodie Awards
Gymnastics upsets No. 7 UCLA
Huffaker, Sullivan lead Pioneers to first-ever victory over Bruins
Jim Tripp
Issue date: 2/13/07 Section: Sports
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There was a buzz of energy that was generated by the 2,224 fans that filled the gymnasium. This was the second largest regular season crowd ever at DU.
The No. 13 Pioneers hosted UCLA in what was the sixth meeting between the two teams. UCLA held the series 5-0 coming into the event. However, UCLA returned home 5-1 against DU, as the Pioneers were able to hold the Bears off in the last event on Saturday.
The final score was 194.900 to 194.800, for the Pioneers and Bears respectively. There was a lot of anticipation for this match-up given that both the Pioneers and Bruins are ranked in the top 15 in the nation.
Heather Huffaker continued right where she left off in New Hampshire. Last week Huffaker won the all-around with a score of 39.275 and with the same score, she took home the same title against UCLA. Huffaker went 9.9 on the vault, 9.725 on the uneven bars, 9.750 on the balance beam and 9.900 on the floor. Her floor routine was second to last and she followed Gretchen Goerlitz who landed awkwardly near the end of her routine, falling to the mat out of bounds. The score was close, though no one knew how close.
After an uncharacteristically error-prone start to the floor exercise for DU, Huffaker had to turn it around, and she did just that, keeping DU right in the thick of things. Her floor exercise was second in the meet only to fellow teammate Sasha Sullivan. Sullivan followed Huffaker and produced a routine that earned her a 9.950, a personal best. Sullivan and Huffaker produced in the clutch situation that enabled the Pioneers to get their first ever win over UCLA. Sullivan's win on floor was the only individual event that DU won. Interestingly, Huffaker won the all-around without winning a single event.
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