Pac-12 announces gymnastics weekly honors

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The Pac-12 Conference office announced today the Pac-12 women’s gymnastics weekly honors for the week of Mar. 10 - Mar. 16. UCLA’s Samantha Peszek was named the Gymnast of the Week, UCLA’s Danusia Francis was voted Specialist of the Week, and CALIFORNIA’s Jessica Howe was selected as the Freshman/Newcomer of the Week.

Senior Samantha Peszek finished the regular season strong with a career-high score of 39.7 in the all-around to outperform Utah State and Bowling Green. The Bruins finished the tri-meet with 197.05, the best home score of the season. This is the second consecutive week Peszek has won the all-around while posting a career-high.  Peszek, a native of Indianapolis, IN, earned victories on vault (9.95), and bars (9.975). Her score of 9.95 on vault tied her career-high. She also took second on beam scoring 9.925 and tied for fourth on floor with a 9.85. 

Kenilworth, England native Danusia Francis scored the first perfect 10 of her career this past weekend to take the event title. This is only the 8th time in UCLA history that a perfect 10 has been achieved on beam. Francis also contributed 9.875 on floor to place third and a 9.85 on bars to tie for fifth. Her efforts helped the Bruins score over 197 as a team for the third consecutive week. She has scored 9.9 or better on beam in seven of eight meets this year and has four event victories. 

Freshman Jessica Howe led the Golden Bears past UC Davis with a pair of title-winning performances on beam and in the all-around. Despite suffering a broken toe, Howe was able to record a career-best 39.350 in the all-around and finished no lower than fifth on any of her events. She matched her career-high 9.85 on floor to take third and took the crown on beam with a 9.85 to claim her fourth beam title of the season.  

Gymnast of the Week has been selected every week of the season since 2001. The Specialist of the Week award was added in 2008. It is the second year for Freshman/Newcomer of the Week.

Both teams will compete at the 2014 Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 22 hosted by California. UCLA is in the first session with a start time of 1 p.m. PT, while California will compete in the second session which will begin a 6:30 p.m. PT. Both sessions will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.

For more information including a complete television schedule please visit www.pac-12.com.

Also Nominated:
Gymnast of the Week: Kaytianna McMillan, OSU; Tory Wilson, UTAH; Aliza Vaccher, WASH.
Special Performance of the Week: Serena Leong, CAL; Erika Aufiero, OSU; Georgia Dabritz, UTAH.
Freshman/Newcomer of the Week: Madeline Gardiner, OSU; Hallie Mossett, UCLA.

2014 Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Weekly Award Winners