Gymnastics meets test in Ithaca

Vaulting and flipping their way into the 1998 season, the Penn women's gymnastics team will debut its skills in competition this Saturday at Cornell in its first meet of the season. While the women have been training long and hard since mid-October, this Saturday will be the true test of the Quakers' strength as they attempt to maintain their Ivy Classic title. After breaking team records, improving the team scoring average by five points and placing second in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Red and Blue are still looking to top last season's performance. The Quakers returned to the mat January 5 in order to train for this weekend's meeting with the Big Red. With a tough training schedule -- consisting of long hours of conditioning and demanding and repeated performances -- the girls suffered minor cuts and bruises. They are now, however, ready for competition. "The girls really worked hard last week in an effort to prepare themselves for competition," Penn head coach Tom Kovic said. "I am really proud of them for getting through the week, despite the tough training schedule." This week, with the conditioning stage now complete, the women are working to refine their overall performance. "A successful completion of the routines is what we are striving for in this last week before the start of the competitive season," Kovic said. "My expectations of the team are high this year and we are all excited to get the season started." The Quakers have not lost to Cornell since the late 1980s. All signs thus far show that Penn is eager to keep the record going. "Everybody on the team is excited to finally be getting a chance to compete," senior tri-captain Carin Kaplan said. "After such a long pre-season, it will be nice to see all our hard work paying of." The Red and Blue will look to the senior tri-captains for leadership as well as top performances. With five freshmen and five sophomores on the squad, the seniors will need to set an example for the rest of the squad. Kaplan, who had a season-high floor score of 9.70 last season, should help give them a competitive edge. Because the Cornell women's team picked up some strong recruits this year, the Penn women are not taking this weekend's meet for granted. "Cornell will probably give us a run for our money," tri-captain Shilpa Rao said. "But we feel that with the new freshmen that we have along with our already strong group of girls, we can still come out on top." The competitive season commences with the Quakers consistently on the road until February, when they face Temple University in Hutchinson Gymnasium. "If the morale and competitive level of the team is high, then we have a good chance at another run for the Ivy Classic title, as well as first place in the ECAC," said 11th year coach Kovic. This weekend will be the first meet at the college level for many Quakers. Freshmen Sarah Bruscia, Jennifer Capasso, Kelly Haberer and Amanda Tiffany are all new faces to the Penn team. Another Penn frosh, Taissa Brandon, is out for the season with an elbow injury. The California native will have to wait to build on her high school accomplishments at this level. The Big Red have their work cut out for them this weekend in Ithaca, N.Y., as they face the mighty Quakers in their first time out as they tumble their way into the competitive season. Although they have a lot to live up to, the Penn women are up for the challenge.