West Virginia Gymnast WinsBig 12 Conference Honor

Yes, we should point out that we are placing the Tiger mascot for the University of Missouri, which took its up and coming women's gymnastics program from the Big 12 to the SEC as a bit of a joke as conference realignments in college sports have gone quite a bit whacky, which must amuse coaches of Ivy League schools, who will probably never have such concerns.

The Big 12 Conference, which only has three schools with college gymnastics, announced this week that Jaida Lawerence, a freshman from Rocky Hill, Conn., was named BIG 12 Newcomer of the Week.

Lawrence, pictured on top, scored a 9.9 in the vault competition during a home meet vs. EAGL-conference schools Maryland and Rutgers. The Mountaineers had also competed in the EAGL until this year. In fact, the program had the most EAGL titles in the gymnastics-only conference.

The Connecticut freshman also received a  9.725 on bars during the same meet.

The other two Big 12 gymnastics honors for the week went to Taylor Spears, pictured bottom, a junior from Plano, Tex., who is ranked first on the balance beam nationally. Spears had a 9.9 on the beam during a road meet against traditional powerhouse Alabama; the Crimson Tide won that meet by a relatively close 197.725-196.900 score.

Another Sooner Lauren  Alexander, a sophomore from Naperville, Ill., was named Big 12 Specialist of the week for her own 9.9 beam score versus Alabama.


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