Gymnasts edged out by Rutgers

The Penn gymnastics team suffered a rude awakening Wednesday night. Thanks to shaky routines and questionable judging, the Quakers lost at Rutgers 183.1 to 180. "The Rutgers meet was not typical," senior co-captain Mary Pedersen said. "It was a combination of a few small mistakes and home-team advantage. You're supposed to score better at home, but the judges made sure they won." The union of vacation time, travel to the meet, debatable judging and even the fact the meet was held on a Wednesday defeated the 4-3 Quakers. "There were a combination of things going on," senior co-captain Mona Nedjar said. "The Rutgers team was much improved. Our team is just as talented, but not as consistent as we have been throughout the season." The Quakers do not see the loss as a setback. Instead, the Penn team has learned some hard lessons. The meet may even be a boost to the squad. "The loss is not doing anything to team morale," Pedersen said. "We're not upset or depressed about it. We did the best we could, and now we know what we need to fix, and where we were lacking." "It's a disappointment, because we assumed we were going to beat them, no problem," Nedjar said. "There are always variables, and this time things came up in their favor. If anything, the loss puts us back in the perspective that we are not invincible." Added knowledge aside, the Quakers were quick to criticize the judging. After all, Rutgers received the highest scores of the season while performing the same quality routines. "The judging was extremely biased in their favor," Nedjar said. "We had a number of wonderful performances, but you'd never know it from looking at the scores." Despite the low scores, the Quakers did show improvement at this meet. Individuals still managed to excel. Junior Nikki LeBrasseur turned in what Nedjar termed LeBrasseur's best beam performance of the season, but earned only a 9.35. Freshman Dawn Landua received an 8.6 for her much-improved bars routine. Junior Monique Burton excelled on floor again with a 9.5. In perhaps the biggest shock of the evening, Pedersen was defeated in the all-around competition, finishing second. Despite her own outstanding performance, LeBrasseur felt things should have turned out better. "It sucked," LeBrasseur said. "There wasn't much we could do about it. It was the craziest atmosphere I've ever competed against. The Rutgers fans were so rude." According to team members, the audience seemed to think they were at a basketball game, standing and waving their arms at the end of the vaulting lane. It was no surprise the Quakers seemed distracted, since a mistake on the vault could cause serious injuries. "We tried very hard to focus," LeBrasseur said. "We did the best we could under the circumstances." The Rutgers meet has already been forgotten, as the team prepares to face Bridgeport at Hutchinson gym tomorrow (1 p.m.) "We did the best we could," Pedersen said. "We've got to come out clean and hit our routines. We're going to perform a lot better against Bridgeport." Though the Quakers have qualified for the ECAC championships as a team for the first time ever, their season goals are not fulfilled. Now the Quakers want be seeded above Ivy-rival Yale. "We're in ECACs, but we don't want to come in seventh," Pedersen said "We're looking to get a 183 score. We want to pull the spot above Vermont or pass Yale." Tomorrow's meet will be the last score that can be included in the team's total for ECACs. The Quakers need big performances from everyone in order to achieve their desire. Tomorrow's contest with Bridgeport will be a sentimental meet for the three Penn senior gymnasts. It is the last home meet of their collegiate careers. It is also the next-to-last meet the team as a whole will compete in. No one has any doubts they can beat Bridgeport. "We're really looking forward to it," Nedjar said. "It's our last time to shine at home. We know what we have to do and we can do it. We've worked all season for this and it's going to be fantastic."