Olympian Peszek making most of final college gymnastics season
Hoosier Olympian Samantha Peszek is the NCAA's top-ranked gymnast in the all-around
Samantha Peszek could have retired from competitive gymnastics last year. Instead, her scores are soaring in her final UCLA season.
The fifth-year senior is a 2008 Olympic silver medalist from McCordsville and a Cathedral High School graduate. Peszek, 23, ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in the all-around (39.588 average) and on balance beam (9.917). She has scored 9.90 or more in six of 11 routines and won nine first places out of 13.
Peszek was chosen Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week after beating previously top-ranked Georgia Dabritz of Utah before a crowd of 14,873 Friday at Salt Lake City. Peszek's all-around score was 39.625, best in the nation this year.
She sat out 2013 with an Achilles injury and said after last year's NCAA Championships that she would use her redshirt season. In the UCLA announcement, she said she left the nationals "feeling healthier than I've ever felt."
She finished fourth in the all-around at NCAAs and won the Fayetteville Regional. She was NCAA champion on balance beam as a freshman in 2011.
Her Hoosier teammate from the Beijing Olympics, Bridget Sloan, is sidelined until late in the season. The junior from Pittsboro severely sprained her ankle in Florida's Jan. 11 meet at Ball State, where she scored a perfect 10.0 on vault.
PURDUE THROWER NO. 3 IN NCAA HISTORY
Indoor track and field notes:
>> Purdue's Chukwuebuka Enekwechi threw the 35-pound weight 78 feet, 10 ½ inches Saturday at South Bend. He ranks No. 3 in collegiate history and No. 2 in Division I behind the 80-3 ½ by Wisconsin's Michael Lihrman, also set Saturday. Those two rank 1-2 in the world in 2015.
>> Elsewhere at South Bend, Notre Dame's Chris Giesting (Batesville) ran 600 meters in 1 minute, 16.70 seconds. That ranks No. 6 in collegiate history and makes him 10th-fastest American ever at the indoor distance. Indiana State's Adarius Washington (Warren Central) won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.84 to become Missouri Valley Conference Athlete of the Week; he ranks No. 8 in the NCAA. The Sycamores' Katie Wise (Indian Creek) won the women's 60 meters in 7.31, ranks 10th in the NCAA and also won MVC honors.
>> Purdue is No. 4 in national women's dual-meet rankings by Track & Field News. Indiana is 13th and Indiana State 18th. In men's rankings, Indiana is ninth, Purdue 19th and Indiana State 22nd.
SPORTS OF ALL SORTS
>> Diving: USA Diving's World Championship trials for individual Olympic events will be May 15-17 at Indiana University's aquatics center in Bloomington. IU diver Michael Hixon has already made the team on 1-meter. Synchronized teams will be chosen April 9-12 at Greensboro, N.C. The worlds are July 24-Aug. 2 at Kazan, Russia. … Purdue's Steele Johnson, a freshman from Carmel, won platform in Saturday's dual meet against Indiana and was selected Big Ten Diver of the Week for a fifth time.
>> Soccer: Former Indy Eleven forward Ben Spencer scored the first goal to help the United States beat El Salvador 2-0 Saturday in the under-20 CONCACAF Championship at Montego Bay, Jamaica. Former IU player Tommy Thompson is also on the U.S. team that qualified for the U20 World Cup, set for May 30-June 20 in New Zealand. … The Los Angeles Galaxy chose Louisville defender Daniel Keller (Brebeuf Jesuit) in the third round with the 62nd overall pick of last week's Major League Soccer draft.
>> Swimming: Indiana had to win the closing 400-yard freestyle relay to beat host Purdue 151.5-147.5 in a women's dual meet. IU's men beat the Boilermakers 162-138.
>> Tennis: Indianapolis' Brooke Austin, a Florida freshman, is the NCAA's No. 6-ranked singles player. The No. 2 Gators opened their season last weekend by beating Elon 4-0 and Maryland 4-0.
Call Star reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidWoods007.