DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis captured individual meet titles on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise en route to a team total of 193.350, good for first place in a three-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's gymnastics meet at the Pavilion Sunday afternoon.
Alaska Anchorage finished a close second in the meet at 193.125, while Causeway Cup rival Sacramento State placed third at 191.625. Both visiting scores represent season highs.
Sophomore
Kyla Kessler scored a 9.800 to capture the vault, senior
Aya Suzuki won the bars with a 9.750 and sophomore
Kelley Hebert claimed the floor title at 9.850. Additionally, sophomore
Gabby Landess finished second in the individual all-around with a 38.625 total while senior
Yasmine Yektaparast was the beam runner-up with her career-high 9.875.
The balance beam arguably brought some of the bigger UC Davis highlights of the meet. Besides Yektaparast's new PR, sophomore
Sarah Liddle hit a 9.800, Landess hit a new career high of 9.825 in the anchor position of the lineup while Kessler went 9.875 in exhibition.
Then on floor, Suzuki made her collegiate debut in the event with a 9.775. The Aggies scored 48.650 in the fourth rotation, matching their vault total. The floor score also kept UC Davis ahead of UAA in the team standings, as the Seawolves had climbed within a 194.700-194.650 deficit after three rotations.
Both the Seawolves and Hornets are coached by former UC Davis gymnasts: Tanya Ho for Alaska and Randy Solorio for Sac State. Appropriately, Sunday's meet served as the annual Alumni Day, with numerous Aggies returning to their home arena.
Alaska's Sophia Hyderally won the individual beam competition with a 9.900, just off her own school record from the 2017 MPSF Championships. Seawolf teammate Isabelle Fox won the all-around at 38.800. UAA's team total of 193.125 ranks sixth in its program history.
Sacramento State junior Alexis Belkoff led her team with shares of second place on both vault and floor, , scoring 9.775 and 9.800, respectively.
UC Davis returns to action for back-to-back road meets at San Jose State (Feb. 1) and Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 9).
TEAM SCORES - 1. UC Davis, 193.350; 2. Alaska Anchorage, 193.125; 3. Sacramento State, 191.625.
VAULT - 1.
Kyla Kessler, UC Davis, 9.800; 2. Alexis Belkoff, Sac State, 9.775; 3(tie).
Gabby Landess, UC Davis;
Kelley Hebert, UC Davis; Destiny Watley, Sac State; Lauren Schmeiss, Sac State, 9.750.
UNEVEN BARS - 1.
Aya Suzuki, UC Davis, 9.750; 2.
Kyla Kessler, UC Davis, 9.725; 3. Sophia Hyderally, Alaska, 9.675.
BALANCE BEAM - 1. Sophia Hyderally, Alaska, 9.900; 2.
Yasmine Yektaparast, UC Davis, 9.875; 3(tie).
Gabby Landess, UC Davis; Kaylin Mancari, Alaska, 9.825.
FLOOR EXERCISE - 1.
Kelley Hebert, UC Davis, 9.850; 2 (tie). Sophia Hyderally, Alaska; Alexis Belkoff, Sac State, 9.800.
ALL-AROUND - 1. Isabelle Fox, Alaska, 38.800; 2.
Gabby Landess, UC Davis, 38.625; 3. Shaye Mathias, Sac State, 38.250.
ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
