2008 Woodie Awards
Gymnastics: Willacy garners ECAC honor
Senior named Gymnast of the Year as she and two others head to Regionals
Kevin Hess
Sports | 4/2/08
Decelia Willacy's hard work has paid off. Willacy, a senior and co-captain on the gymnastics team this season, was named the ECAC's gymnast of the year. Towson has now been responsible for three of the last four winners of the prestigious award.
Teammate and fellow senior Christina Ghani won the award back to back in 2005 and 2006. Willacy has only missed one meet in her career and has been a durable competitor for head coach Dick Filbert.
"It's a very high impact sport and really, the only time she missed a meet was because she had the flu," Filbert said. "I've only ever had one gymnast compete in every meet. It's quite remarkable, and her skills are very high because they are performed at a risky level."
It has also been announced that two of Willacy's teammates will be joining her at the University of Florida next week for the NCAA Regionals. After guiding the Tigers to the ECAC Championship last week, junior Annukka Almenoksa and Ghani will compete with Willacy in the all-around competition. Willacy earned a No. 2 seed, and Almenoksa has secured a No. 4 seed in the meet.
Despite an injury-plagued season, Ghani was named as a regional competitor for the fourth straight year, and was slated as a third seed. However, Ghani, still nursing an injury suffered last month, will not be competing in the sunshine state. The team also has three alternates on the roster as potential participants who will compete if those who originally qualified cannot.
Sophomores Alise McDonald and Jackie Schweitzer are alternates in vault and balance beam respectively, while senior Cristina Lindo will wait to find out if she will participate on the bars as the team's third alternate.
"We were very close to getting the whole team down there," Filbert said. "This was an extraordinary season. With only seven returning kids, we really had half of a team, and we were low in terms of experience. On paper, it was going to be a hard season, but it was remarkable."
UCLA, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, West Virginia and host Florida will be the other teams competing in the regional meet.
Teammate and fellow senior Christina Ghani won the award back to back in 2005 and 2006. Willacy has only missed one meet in her career and has been a durable competitor for head coach Dick Filbert.
"It's a very high impact sport and really, the only time she missed a meet was because she had the flu," Filbert said. "I've only ever had one gymnast compete in every meet. It's quite remarkable, and her skills are very high because they are performed at a risky level."
It has also been announced that two of Willacy's teammates will be joining her at the University of Florida next week for the NCAA Regionals. After guiding the Tigers to the ECAC Championship last week, junior Annukka Almenoksa and Ghani will compete with Willacy in the all-around competition. Willacy earned a No. 2 seed, and Almenoksa has secured a No. 4 seed in the meet.
Despite an injury-plagued season, Ghani was named as a regional competitor for the fourth straight year, and was slated as a third seed. However, Ghani, still nursing an injury suffered last month, will not be competing in the sunshine state. The team also has three alternates on the roster as potential participants who will compete if those who originally qualified cannot.
Sophomores Alise McDonald and Jackie Schweitzer are alternates in vault and balance beam respectively, while senior Cristina Lindo will wait to find out if she will participate on the bars as the team's third alternate.
"We were very close to getting the whole team down there," Filbert said. "This was an extraordinary season. With only seven returning kids, we really had half of a team, and we were low in terms of experience. On paper, it was going to be a hard season, but it was remarkable."
UCLA, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, West Virginia and host Florida will be the other teams competing in the regional meet.
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