Gymnastics looks for revenge against Yale

If the gymnastics team had a sour taste in its mouth after finishing behind Yale by the smallest of margins at last weekend's George Washington Invitational, it will have the chance to rinse it out Sunday. Penn (5-2, 1-0 Ivy) will host the Elis at Hutch Gym at 1 p.m. in what is shaping up to be a mid-season battle for Ivy League supremacy. After his squad finished behind Yale (3-0, 1-0 Ivy League) by 1.275 points in Washington, Penn coach Tom Kovic vowed to alter his training strategy in preparation for the rematch. Since then, that most amorphous of promises has taken shape. "Before, the emphasis was on attempting high quantities of routines. Now it's on the mastery of the routine," Kovic said. Despite the adjustments he has implemented in practice this week, Kovic isn't overly concerned about his team's chances against the Elis. "I can only see where we can improve. I am not going to worry about Yale," he said. One of the areas in which the team is looking to improve is the uneven bars. Last time out, the Quakers bars lineup did not have its best performance of the season, garnering only 41.35 total points. "We've had trouble making our bar routines and we want to change that," Kovic said. In order for the Quakers to achieve their desired result this Saturday, they'll probably have to net closer to 45 points in the event. That total is certainly within the team's grasp, especially with talented freshman Shilpa Rao leading the way. Of course, no matter how hard either team has been preparing, or how intensely they have concentrated this week, the Quakers will enter the meet with one large advantage: The pride of knowing they're the defending Ivy League champions. To a team as competitive and cohesive as the 1995-edition Penn gymnastics team, finishing just behind an arch rival in an invitational and losing to them head-to-head is a horse of a vastly different color. When the season started, the Quakers outlined some very specific team goals. Ranking prominently among those aspirations is a second consecutive Ivy League crown. While that title won't be decided until the end of this month, when Penn hosts the Ivy Invitational, Sunday will be one of the highest hurdles they will have to overcome along their way. A win over an upstart Yale squad will send a message to the rest of the conference. For now, though, Penn's gymnasts are concentrating on vanquishing last weekend's bitter aftertaste.