THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602240475
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RESTON LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
You've heard the line about brides and bridesmaids. Cox's gymnasts have lived it.
For the second time in as many years and for the fifth time since 1974, the Falcons finished second in the team portion of the Group AAA state gymnstics meet Friday in South Lakes.
Lake Braddock was again the Falcon foiler, taking an exciting 147.6-146.7 decision to defend last year's crown. The Bruins' point total beat their own state record set last year.
Kellam, which won the state title two years ago, was third at 145.05.
``They did it to us again,'' Cox coach Melody Hartranft said.
But not until the very end.
Lake Braddock found itself behind Cox and Kellam after two rotations, but came through with an outstanding effort on uneven bars to get back in the thick of things.
Still, the Northern Region champions needed another great effort on balance beam to edge Cox.
They got it and then some.
``We really had to dig deep,'' coach Mike Cooper said. ``I'll tell you, I knew the momentum was going to go up for us after that bars session.''
Lake Braddock, which won state for the sixth time to go with four second-place finishes, tallied a remarkable 38.1 on uneven bars. With all five competitors registering a 9 or better, the team actually threw out a 9.1 in adding up its top four scores.
``Can you believe that?'' Cooper said. ``Throwing out a 9.1. That's a score we could have used in the first two (rotations).''
Lake Braddock was equally impressive on beam, throwing out an 8.9 and keeping scores of 9.25, 9.3, 9.45 and 9.65 for a 37.65.
While the Bruins were cruising through their beam routines, Cox was left to watch from the sidelines, well-aware of what the opponents needed for victory.
``When they're doing bars and beam routines where 10s are possible and you're doing vaults that can score 9.6, you know,'' Hartranft said. ``We knew what they needed and when they stuck those last two beam routines, we knew it was all over.''
Christina Jones was the catalyst for Lake Braddock, scoring a total of 37.7 points that she hopes she can duplicate in today's 1:30 p.m. individual portion of the meet.
She'll face stiff competition from Kellam's Brooke Sawyer and Michelle Alexander, who paced the Knights' third-place effort. Sawyer finished with a total of 38.15 points - the same as her Eastern Region-winning all-around score. Alexander accounted for 37.2 points.
Salem's Meria Eisenbraun and Davinia Roberts will also be hopefuls for today's competition, which for the first time will see Group A and AA gymnasts going head-to-head against those from Group AAA. by CNB