Gymnastics loses by half-point at Yale

Coming down to a half of a point in the last rotation of the day, the Penn gymnastics team was unable to maintain its lead and was defeated by Yale. Despite the loss in New Haven, the Red and Blue broke the school overall scoring record on the vault, amassing a score of 46.875. One of the key performers for the Quakers (1-1) on the vault was junior Shannon Stafford, who finished with a personal score of 9.550. "Shannon's performance on the vault on Saturday was nearly flawless," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "It was one of the best performances that I have seen in the 2 1/2 years that I have been coaching her." Adding to the Quaker highlights of the day were the floor routines. Junior Molly Sullivan aided the entire floor team in accruing the highest floor total of the season with a personal score of 9.625, leading to an overall team floor score of 47.150. The Quakers went into their final beam routines leading the Bulldogs by two points. A much improved team from last year, Yale (6-0) was able to capitalize on the weaknesses of Penn, pulling out ahead with a beam total of 45.200. "With the close of a competition, the fatigue factor sets in," said Kovic. "Not only is the beam a tough apparatus to compete on in general, it is an even more difficult area to finish a meet." The Quakers finished the day with an overall team score of 183.950, just a half of a point under the Eli's, who ended the day with 184.450 points. "Despite having a rough beam day, the team competed well in all other areas," Penn tri-captain Shilpa Rao said. "As a whole, we were all disappointed by the loss, but we have another chance to get them at Ivies." The Red and Blue have had a long start to their 1998 season, competing on the road in their first three meets. Tomorrow, the Quakers have the opportunity to showcase their talents on their home ground at 6 p.m. in Hutchinson Gymnasium as they take on Temple. The team faced Temple earlier in the season at the George Washington Invitational Tournament. Historically, Temple is always a talented team, though this time the Quakers know what to expect. At the end of last week, the Quakers faced another team setback due to injuries with the loss of freshman Kelly Haberer to a dislocated elbow. Also out for the season is freshman Taissa Brandon, who will undergo surgery on her elbow. As they head into tomorrow's meet, the Quakers are looking to improve their overall team performance, concentrating much of their time on the beam. The Red and Blue are hoping to continue improving their routine hit percentages, amassing numbers upwards of 90 percent. "We will have had two days of practice before we face Temple," said Kovic. "Our focus will be on performing sharp, crisp routines."