Junior Alaina Baker leaps off the balance beam during her performance at Titan Gym versus Michigan State. Photo by Camille Tarazon/Daily Titan Staff Writer.

Although Cal State Fullerton's gymnastics team was defeated Friday night, March 12. Spirits remained high as the seniors were recognized and a Titan junior took first place all-around.

CSUF came in second with a 191.250 while Michigan State won with a 194.850. Scoring first place on floor with a 9.900 and first place on all-around with a 39.075, junior Alaina Baker took individual honors for the Titans.

Baker, 18, has perfected her floor routine over the past two years.

Humbly accepting her accomplishments, Baker honors her fellow Titan gymnasts.

"I am really proud of the whole team and everything they've done. And they do their best every time," Baker said.

Michigan State senior Rochelle Robinson, took first place in vault with a 9.850, bars with a 9.825 and beam with a 9.825 to help push the Spartans ahead of the Titans. But the night was all about Fullerton's seniors.

Seniors Britni Echeverria, Shannon Kawada and Kori Underhill were praised before the meet for their accomplishments as their last season will soon come to an end.

It was a big night for Kawada who competed in two new events, scoring a 9.625 on vault, 9.675 on bars and a 9.300 on floor.

Echeverria was part of a three-way tie for fourth place on bars with a 9.775.

Underhill scored an 8.750 on beam and an 8.700 on floor.

"We had a strong start on vault and bars, we didn't do so well on beam, but made up for it on floor," Kawada said.

Kawada was seen cheering on her teammates and giving hugs and high-fives to keep their spirits high.

"I cheer as loud as I can hoping the girls will feed off my positive energy and I say positive works to motivate them," Kawada said.

The Titan gymnasts' spirits were high, but Titan Head Coach Jill Hicks thought the scores should have been higher.

"Their performance was average," Hicks said. "They did really good on two events, poor on beam and average on floor."

Hicks explained that the team experienced some falls on beam and floor that were out of character for the athletes; nerves may have played a part. Overall as a team, Hicks feels they could have done better.

Michigan State took advantage of CSUF's falls earning a score of 48.575 on beam compared to CSUF's score of 46.500.

However, Hicks did not hesitate to praise those who strived to keep up the team's morale.

Apart from congratulating Baker, Kawada and Echeverria for their performances, she was very proud of junior Shelly Cooper's performance.

Cooper tied for third place on vault, her bar routine earned her a 9.750 and her 9.625 floor routine gave off so much energy that some audience members got up and danced.

"Shelly Cooper did very well tonight," Hicks said.

The CSUF team lost a couple girls to injury but they are said to be able to compete for next week's competition at Southern Utah.

Titan gymnastics will be hosting its final meet of the year at Titan Gym for the Western Athletic Conference Championships March 27 at 6 p.m. Last year at Sacramento State, the Titans finished fifth in the WAC Championships.