Amy Bieski missed her chance to advance to the NCAA National Competition yet again.
The junior gymnast came up 0.15 points short of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships during the Southeast Regional Competition Saturday.
She didn’t hesitate to let herself know about it.
"I’m hard on myself," the Nanticoke, Pa., native said. "I’m always like, ‘Amy, you know you can do this,’ but obviously that’s the way the cards fell."
Bieski scored a 9.850 on beam and 9.800 on the floor exercise for an all-around score of 39.100. She finished ninth overall in the meet. Despite failing to clinch the national bid for the third consecutive year, the all-around performer remains optimistic entering her final year in the Old Gold and Blue.
"I still have a year left, and it’s definitely a goal to make it next year," Bieski said.
The junior will be looked upon to provide even more leadership next season as the Mountaineers return 14 of 18 gymnasts but lose seniors Chelsi Tabor, Shelly Purkat, Ashley Wilson and Kristen Spoerke. Although WVU will not be sending any gymnast to Gainesville, Fla., for the national competition, Mountaineer head coach Linda Burdette-Good was content with the way her team performed all year.
"With all that happened this season, I thought we finished in amazing style," Burdette-Good said. "To come into a Regional Championship, and record minimal mistakes, I was very pleased with the way our team performed."
WVU assistant coach Jason Butts, who won his second-consecutive Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award, said it was one of his favorite seasons in the coaching profession.
"The team faced a lot of adversity this season, and we had some uncharacteristic injuries," Butts said. "But we had a lot of kids step up and fill in the gaps."
And while the season comes to a close for the team, the future does look bright for the program, especially with the team’s incoming recruiting class, Butts said.
"We have a great incoming freshman class," he said. "Obviously we’re losing a lot of good stuff out of our senior class, so the recruiting class has a lot of big shoes to fill."
Bieski will return as the team’s leading point performer next season and will be accompanied by Tina Maloney, Nicole Roach, Emily Kerwin, Alaska Richardson and Naja Johnson, among others.
"We’re losing a lot of leadership and that hurts," Burdette-Good said. "But we hope the incoming freshman class will step in and be even better so we can build on what we accomplished this season."
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