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Samantha Peszek wins NCAA balance beam title

David Woods david.woods@indystar.com
UCLA's Samantha Peszek waves to fans after being introduced as the balance beam champion following the NCAA women's gymnastics championships Sunday, April 19, 2015, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Samantha Peszek seemingly ended her college gymnastics career Friday in style. On Sunday, she added an exclamation point.

The Olympian from McCordsville, co-champion of the all-around, added the balance beam title in the NCAA Championships at Fort Worth, Texas.

Peszek, a fifth-year senior at UCLA, stuck her dismount and finished with a score of 9.95. Stanford's Ivana Hong was second at 9.9375. Coincidentally, they were both on the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the 2007 World Championships.

"I don't think I could have planned this any better if I tried," Peszek said in a UCLA news release. "Coming into the meet, it was all about the team for me. The fact that I was able to do well individually and am able to leave gymnastics and leave the sport that I have done for 21 years in peace, knowing that I have done everything that I can possibly do … I think I checked all of the boxes and I feel good and excited to start the rest of my life."

It was the third NCAA title for Peszek, who won on beam as a freshman in 2011. She tied Florida's Kytra Hunter in the all-around (39.60).

Peszek was on the U.S. team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she was injured in warm-ups before team preliminaries and could compete on only one event. Team USA won the silver medal behind China.

A Beijing teammate, Pittsboro's Bridget Sloan, finished second in two individual events: uneven bars (9.95) and vault (9.925). Sloan also came through with a clutch 9.95 in bars in Saturday's team final, helping Florida to a third successive NCAA championship.

"It's been an incredible journey this year," said Sloan, who was sidelined for part of the season after injuring her ankle in January meet at Ball State. "I definitely had a little bit of a rocky start, but to come in here and perform tonight, it was absolutely incredible and it was exactly how I wanted to end my junior year."

Florida's 197.85-197.80 win over Utah equaled the smallest margin in NCAA history.

In the team final, Utah's Georgia Dabritz (39.70), Sloan (39.65) and Hunter (39.625) had all-around scores higher than what won on Friday.

Call Star reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.