March 5, 2013

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Shelby Edwards has earned recognition from the Pac-12 Conference once again, garnering the title of Freshman/Newcomer of the Week for the week of Feb. 25 – Mar. 3 the conference announced today (Full Release).

The San Tan Valley native made a name for herself thanks to her contributions to the two season high event totals that enabled the Wildcats to fly past Arizona State 196.500 – 193.850.

In only her second appearance on vault, Edwards began the meet with a bang, tying seasoned vault teammates Amber Wobma and Kristin Klarenbach with a 9.850. Her score of 9.850 was the second highest for the team and the third highest in the meet.

“Shelby is still recovering from her injury, and competing a full on vault is something she hasn’t done for a long time. Oregon State was her first time trying it, and we spent a lot of time in the gym last week trying to improve upon the vault and get those minute details to fall into place,” Head coach Bill Ryden commented. “You could really see a difference this meet, she always works incredibly hard in the gym and the results came for her.”

Edwards’ momentum only continued in her second event. Next to last in the lineup, the freshman knocked a routine out of the park, earning a score of 9.90 from one judge and 9.850 from the other for a total 9.875. Not only was this a new career high, but this routine earned Edwards’ her second event title for her career.

“That was by far Shelby’s best beam effort. She is becoming more and more comfortable and more confident. You can see it in her face; she has a huge desire to help the team in any way she can, and it’s finally coming together for her,” Ryden said.

This award is Edwards’ second from the Pac-12, and Arizona’s third conference recognition for the 2013 season.

“This is nice for us and nice for our program to receive this recognition especially after such a great performance at the meet,” Ryden said. “Once again this shows how valuable our freshman class is to us and how big of an impact they are making.”

Edwards and the rest of the freshman class will be key to helping the team in the upcoming meet this weekend at No. 2 Oklahoma. The meet will take place Friday, March 8 at 7:00p.m. CT.

Complete List of 2013 Pac-12 Women’s GymnasticsWeekly Award Winners:

Gymnast, Specialist, Freshman/Newcomer

Jan. 8 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA Nicole Dayton, STAN Sophina DeJesus, UCLA

Jan. 15 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA Olivia Courtney, UCLA Hailey Gaspar, OSU

Jan. 22 Georgia Dabritz, UTAH Tory Wilson, UTAH Shelby Edwards, ARIZ

Jan. 29 Ashley Morgan, STAN Natasha Sundby, ASU Sophina DeJesus, UCLA

Feb. 5 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA Tory Wilson, UTAH Danusia Francis, UCLA

Feb. 12 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA Georgia Dabritz, UTAH Jessie Sisler, ARIZ

Feb. 19 Makayla Stambaugh, OSU Tory Wilson, UTAH Allison Northey, WASH

Feb. 26 Makayla Stambaugh, OSU Lia Del Priore, UTAH Allison Northey, WASH

March 5 Makayla Stambaugh, OSU Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA Shelby Edwards, ARIZ