Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Michelle Gachet Thomasina Wallace (left) and Shanice Howard prepare for their routines Tuesday at Spartan Complex.

For the second time in the school's history, two SJSU athletes will compete in the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship, April 16 -19 in Nebraska.

Freshman Thomasina Wallace and senior Veronica Porte qualified for the NCAA nationals after their performances at the NCAA West Regionals in Seattle on Saturday.

"They are great athletes," said head coach Wayne Wright. "Especially considering what they've done here for our team."

Wallace finished regionals, tying two school records in the all-around and on the uneven bars.

Last in the rotation on the uneven bars, Wallace's routine earned her a score of 9.950, tying an SJSU record set by Shirla Choy in 2003 at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.

"My routine was fun," Wallace said. "In warm up, I actually sat down my dismount. It was kind of nerve wracking, but I just remembered that I knew the corrections to fix it and I just went in and did the routine like I knew I could."

Wright said Wallace's routine was deserving of the score.

"I went back and looked at the video a couple times," Wright said. "As a coach, you always want to look for something, and I really couldn't find anything."

Her all-around score was a 39.400 - tying Choy's record.

"I am very proud of her tying the school records," Wright said. "It was quite funny, the alumna who had the record was in the audience, and she actually called me and said 'she broke my record' and then, of course, 'congrats.'"

Porte scored high across the board to qualify for nationals, finishing with an all-around score of 39.000. Her highest score came on the floor with a 9.825 and a 9.800 on vault.

"Since it's my senior year, I just went into the meet having fun," Porte said, not knowing if the meet would be her last.

Wright said Porte is solid all around, but her strongest event is the floor.

"She just did a phenomenal routine," Wright said. "She's a solid performer day in and day out."

Porte said both her and Wallace have been one-two, competitively staying with each other the whole season. At the beginning of the season, they made plans to go to the NCAA championship together.

Continued...

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