Bloom and Boldt End Season at NCAA Regional Championships :: Tara Boldt finishes 13th and Katie Bloom finishes 17th in all-around

April 9, 2005

LINCOLN, NE (Saturday, April 9, 2005) - The 2005 Southeast Missouri State gymnastics season officially ended Saturday at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Redhawks two regional qualifiers failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships, but still impressed the field that included four nationally ranked teams.

Tara Boldt (Lakeville, Minn./ T.A.G.S) finished 13th in the all-around with a score of 38.300. For Boldt it was her second-straight appearance at the NCAA Regionals. Last year she finished tenth.

Senior Katie Bloom (Snellville, Ga./ Gwinnett Gymnastics Center) capped-off her Redhawks career with a 17th-place showing in the all-around with a score of 37.675. After being an alternate at last year's regional she ended her career with a solid performance.

"I'm extremely proud of these two student-athletes," said Head Coach Tom Farden. "Against top-tier competition they gave their best and left everything they had out their tonight."

Boldt was paired with host and 6th-ranked Nebraska throughout the meet and showed she was not intimidated by the Big 12 power. Opening with the vault she scored a 9.600 to tie for 13th in the event.

On the uneven bars Boldt struggled but still managed to score a 9.400.

Boldt bounced back with a solid beam routine that scored a 9.600.

She saved her best performance for last. On the floor routine she finished tied for ninth with a score of 9.725.

Bloom competed like a champion in her final meet of her career. Competing with 29th-ranked Arizona State she opened the meet with a score of 9.475 on the vault.

On the bars she struggled but still managed to recieve a score of 9.400 from the highly critical regional judges.

On the beam Bloom fought back from an early fall to score a 9.100.

Like Boldt, Bloom saved her best for last as she ended her career with a marvelous floor routine. Despite the performance the judges only scored her a 9.700, which placed her 10th on the floor.

8th-ranked Michigan won the Regional with a score of 196.600 followed by Nebraska (196.300), 19th-ranked Missouri (195.100), 18th-ranked Arizona (194.700), Arizona State (194.500) and Illinois (193.825).

"We as a program will miss Katie (Bloom)," said Farden. "She represents everything that we look for in a student-athelete and will miss her dearly. With Tara's (Boldt) performance today we expect her to take over the leadership role that Katie will leave vacant and lead the team, not just individuals, to next year's NCAA Regional."