University of North Carolina Athletics
Courtney Bumpers Ties For National Title On Floor Exercise
April 17, 2004 | Women's Gymnastics
April 17, 2004
LOS ANGELES - After being the only solo competitor to qualify for the individual event finals of the 2004 NCAA Gymnastics Championships Saturday at UCLA, sophomore Courtney Bumpers will add another success to her growing list of accomplishments - a national title. Bumpers tied for first place on floor exercise in Saturday's finals with a score of 9.9375.
"It's almost surrealistic for me," said head coach Derek Galvin. "She did everything she possibly could to put herself in that position. She moved into No. 1 in the national rankings in late February, held it all the way to the national finals and did it at finals."
umpers has been ranked No. 1 on floor exercise since Feb. 23, when she jumped ahead of her co-champion, Alabama's Ashley Miles. She earned seven perfect 10.0's during the 2004 season, including one at the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championships on March 20.
umpers, who was recognized as a first team All-America on floor earlier Saturday, faced gymnasts from Alabama, UCLA, Utah, Stanford, Iowa and Georgia in the individual event finals. UCLA won the national title in the team finals Friday, Georgia was the runner-up and Alabama and Stanford tied for third place.
umpers advanced to the event finals after a 9.925 floor exercise performance in Thursday's preliminary round. The score was good enough for a tied second place position in Session II of the preliminary round and a tie for fourth overall.
With an all-around score of 39.45 Thursday, she placed 15th - the highest finish of any of the 12 individual competitors at the meet.
The 2004 EAGL Gymnast of the Year and Southeast Region Athlete of the Year, Bumpers is the only gymnast in Carolina history to qualify for the final round of the NCAA Championships as well as the first EAGL gymnast to win a national title. In addition to her first place finish on floor at the 2004 nationals, Bumpers finished fourth on balance beam in 2003.
Galvin called the young gymnast the "darling of the meet."
"People recognized how difficult her floor routine was," he said. "Everyone was cheering for her, and every coach here came up and congratulated her after it was over."
Floor Exercise Finals Results
1 Courtney Bumpers North Carolina 9.9375
1 Ashley Miles Alabama 9.9375
3 Jeanette Antolin UCLA 9.9000
3 Melissa Vituj Utah 9.9000
5 Alexis Brion Alabama 9.8875
5 Alexis Maday Iowa 9.8875
5 Caroline Fluhrer Stanford 9.8875
8 Chelsa Byrd Georgia 9.8750
9 Natalie Foley Stanford 9.8500
Players Mentioned
