Gymnasts improve at Towson

No one had any expectations for the Penn gymnastics team outside of the Ivy League. But lately, the Quakers have been shocking their competition and eliminating those who doubted them. This weekend was no exception, as Penn finished in a fourth-place tie with Maryland at the Towson Invitational. "We beat some teams that had no idea we existed," Penn senior co-captain Mona Nedjar said. "We're at the point where no matter what, we're fighting." Historically, Towson has been a very competitive meet for the Quakers (1-2). There, Penn had a rematch with several teams it faced at the George Washington Invitational earlier this season, including crosstown-rival Temple, Maryland, William & Mary and George Washington. The Quakers also faced North Carolina and host Towson State for the first time. "It's a little more pressure than a dual meet," freshman Dawn Landau said. "I think everyone rose to the occasion, and I'm really proud of how we all did." The Towson Invitational is unusual because the number of teams competing causes long breaks between events. The Quakers had no doubts of their own abilities, but the competition was of high quality. As Penn watched the other squads, the pressure built up. When it was all over, the team members were thrilled with their showing. "We certainly weren't expecting a fourth-place finish," senior co-captain Mary Pedersen said. "We were surprised to see that we beat UNC and William & Mary. It's a great feeling to finish in the middle of that pack." This year's fourth-place finish marks drastic improvement for a Penn squad that finished last out of seven teams a season ago. "Last year, we were clearly outdistanced," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "We normally use that type of competition to try to rise to that level. It's hard to predict what's going to happen." Following the same rotation it will have to deal with at the upcoming Ivy championships, Penn started out on its best event, the balance beam. The Quakers' performance there was a little shaky, but they improved as they moved through the evening. Even in its final and weakest event, the uneven bars, Penn did not falter, counting six out of six routines. "We're getting towards the end of the season now," Kovic said. "Each meet is building for the next. We're as good, if not a better team, than our competition." The Quakers are focused on next weekend's quadrangular meet against Division III Ursinus, and Ivy rivals Brown and Cornell. They are also thinking about qualifying for the ECACs as a team. Since only the top seven teams in the division can do that, Penn needs a high combined total score in each of its meets. "We didn't beat our record, but still did a good job," Nedjar said. "We still have room for improvement." "This meet was important for the team," Pedersen said. "You go South, and the scores tend to go up a little. We hoped to get a high 182-183 score to add to our total for ECACs." And the Quakers achieved that goal Friday as the team received 183.25 points overall. Penn was in second place after completing on the vault for its third rotation. "We're working so hard, and looking forward to Ivies," Nedjar said. "We're getting stronger and overcoming little obstacles like being sick. It's all starting to come together." Individuals excelled as well. Both Pedersen and Nedjar battled illness and turned in their usual fine performances. Pedersen finished third in the vault, tying senior Lynn Aronica's school record with a 9.65. She also finished third on the uneven bars (9.5) and all-around (37.35) events. Junior Monique Burton had a personal best with her third-place (9.6) result in the floor exercise. "We've had a few people sick or injured," Nedjar said. "But Monique just shined. She absolutely sparkled on the floor." Victory was not high on the team's pre-meet list of priorities. After this performance, perhaps it will be in the future. It certainly won't be a shock any more.