Gymnasts plan to utilize freshmen

When the Penn gymnastics team faces off at West Chester, the faces of the competitors will not be the same. Freshmen Shelly Arnheim, Dawn Landua, Lori Taylor and Deanna Williams have been patiently waiting for this chance all season. Three meets in one week and an unknown virus have combined to weaken the elder Quakers, so tonight the freshmen will get their chance to shine. "It's a mixed up lineup," senior co-captain Mary Pedersen said. "We're putting in people who haven't been on certain events. We're going to give people a rest who deserve a rest, and give others an opportunity." Pedersen is taking the night off, while juniors Monique Burton and Nikki LeBrasseur and senior co-captain Mona Nedjar have been cut back to two events instead of their normal three. "It's absolutely demanding to compete Friday-Tuesday-Saturday," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "We'll rest some of the members that have been working overtime, and move the young lions up." Since only six athletes can compete in each event, more than half of the 13-member team has to sit out each time. As a result of these limitations, the freshmen have not had as much meet experience as the others, until tonight. But this will not weaken the Penn squad in any way, the team believes. They all have been working hard in practice since the season began. And they will finally be able to draw profits from their work in the meet this evening. "They deserve the chance," Nedjar said. "I expect them to do all they can do. I'm looking forward to seeing my younger teammates perform and show off what they've been working so hard for." "Our whole team is solid," Landua said. "The people we put up to compete are very strong, and the people right behind them can step in. This is the freshmen's chance to compete and get experience." The meet against the Division II Rams was postponed from earlier this year due to the ice storms. So what would have been extra early-season practice has now become much-needed competitive experience for the newest Penn members. "It's unfortunate that we've been iced out of three meets this season," Kovic said. "But I'm confident we have the depth to go in and perform well." Even faced with tough opponents in the horizon, the Quakers are not thinking past this meet. However, they are also preparing for Saturday's quadrangular against Division III Ursinus and Ivy rivals Cornell and Brown. But as evidenced by the poor performances of North Carolina and William & Mary at the Towson Invitational this past weekend, there is always the possibility of an upset. "In gymnastics, you can never discount a meet," Pedersen said. "Anything can happen on any given day. But in the back of your mind, there's always the Ivies." Though the scores the team receives at West Chester may not be record-setting, the Quakers feel they will be able to turn out a winning performance. "We're putting in freshmen. That's not going to take away from anyone's performance," Pedersen said. "I don't know if we're going to be scoring 183, but why not?" It's time for the young ones to show their stuff.