Air Force Academy

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. -- With first-place finishes in three events, including the all-around, the Air Force women's gymnastics team opened the 2006 home schedule on Friday, Feb. 10, with a second-place finish in a tri-meet that featured Centenary and Wisconsin-Stout. The Falcons posted a season-high team score of 181.650, as they captured second place. Meet winner Centenary (185.750) and third-place Wisconsin-Stout (174.575) book-ended Air Force in its first meet of the year at Cadet West Gym.

Senior Lauren Robison posted a 37.675 in the all-around to capture the top honor, narrowly edging out Centenary's Sarah Ball by .025. Robison also posted a 9.500 on the uneven bars to tie for first. Also contributing to her all-around total was a second-place mark on the vault (9.575) and a fourth-place score on the balance beam (9.350) -- the team's second-best score of the night on the beam.

Junior Christine Powers garnered a season-best 9.675 on the balance beam to win that apparatus. That mark is also the best total of the season for any Air Force gymnast, displacing Powers' previous best of 9.625 set at Texas Woman's University.

Air Force also picked up a pair of third-place finishes, as junior Sashonna Iwaniec scored a 9.550 on the vault to take third, while sophomore Katie Donnell tied for third on the uneven bars with a 9.200.

The floor proved some difficulty for the Falcons, as the team's top finishers, Robison and Donnell, tallied matching scores of 9.250 to tie for sixth.

Despite the woes on the floor, Air Force set season-best event scores on three of the four rotations. Air Force cleared the 46-point mark on the vault (46.375) and balance beam (46.250), while improving its floor score (45.275) by nearly a point and a half.

The three teams return to action on Sunday (Feb. 12) for a 1 p.m., showdown in the Cadet West Gym.