PREVIEW: Gymnastic seeks to repeat in '99

The Penn gymnastics team has its sights set on a second-straight ECAC title and sixth Ivy crown of the 1990s. Before 1998, no Ivy League school had ever won an ECAC gymnastics title. Last March, however, the Penn gymnastics team put an end to that streak, capping its best-ever season with a team-record 190.575 points and the ECAC title. This year, a relatively young Penn team hopes to build on that success despite the loss of three valuable seniors. The season begins Saturday at 1 p.m. in Hutchinson Gymnasium when the Quakers host Cornell. Penn lost tri-captains Kathleen Gunn, Shilpa Rao and Carin Kaplan to graduation. But 12th-year coach Tom Kovic expects his younger gymnasts, including six freshmen, to competently fill the void. "Sarah Bruscia, a sophomore, has had a brilliant preseason," Kovic said. "I expect her to play a very important role and have potential in the all-around." Last year, Bruscia filled in for an injured Rao at the ECAC championships, competing on the beam for the first time in her collegiate career. Her score (9.65) helped the Quakers take first in the beam and win the title. In addition to Bruscia, senior captain Molly Sullivan and freshman Sarah Tudryn are potential all-around competitors. In the all-around, an athlete competes in all four events -- the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Sullivan shocked the Ivy world by claiming first place in the all-around as a freshman at the 1996 Ivy Classic. After two-straight seasons of narrowly missing the cutoff for the NCAA Regionals, Sullivan hopes to bookend her four years with another Ivy title and her first trip to the NCAA Regionals. Jenn Capasso is seeking to improve on an impressive freshman season. In '98, she earned the Ivy beam championship and place second on the beam at the ECAC championships. The Quakers are also expected to be sparked by the return of Kelly Haberer, who missed her entire freshman season in 1998 with a severely dislocated elbow. Junior Becky Nadler is one of only three Quakers to have ever claimed an individual ECAC title, winning the beam competition in 1997 and floor exercise in 1998. Penn has been preparing for the season since practice began October 15. That was the beginning of what Kovic calls "phase one" of the season. "The first phase of the program consists of heavy physical conditioning and skills acquisition and runs through the first week of December," Kovic said. "Everyone is then sent home with training assignments for winter break, and we hope that everyone maintains shape." The gymnasts came back early from winter break to begin "phase two," which Kovic describes as a gradual push to championship-level performance in "phase three." Unfortunately, Penn has two costly injuries to deal with. One is to senior captain Shannon Stafford, who is still rehabilitating from an ACL injury suffered last year. "I should be back sometime in February," Stafford said. "I started rehab a week after my surgery and was cleared to practice as of Thanksgiving, so I'm just trying to get my full strength back right now." The other injury is to junior Lizzie Jacobson. Last year's ECAC balance-beam champion just had wrist surgery and will be out of action for a few weeks. "We should still be good competition against Cornell," said Sullivan, undaunted by her team's injuries. "I'm happy to actually be healthy at the start of the season, since I always seem to be injured this time of year." With a healthy Sullivan leading the way, the Quakers hope to be ready for Cornell's visit to Philadelphia. Kovic believes that the four Ivy schools competing in gymnastics -- Penn, Cornell, Brown and Yale -- have the potential to make 1999 one of the most competitive Ivy seasons ever. Penn won at Ithaca last year, 178.5- 175.6, to start its season 1-0. But Cornell returns its strongest and deepest team to date. The Quakers usually get their toughest Ivy League competition from Yale, but Cornell will also be a serious contender this year. The Big Red have 12 returning gymnasts but are expecting to rely heavily on their eight freshmen. Coach Paul Beckwith's team is led by sophomore Sonya Negriff and juniors Kristin Guenther, Elise DiVincenzo and Alison Sheets. At last year's Ivy Classic, the championship meet for the four schools competing, Penn steamrolled the competition, in the process avenging a loss to Yale earlier in the season. Three weeks later, Penn finished the season with its first ECAC title, earning its first team score over the elusive 190-point mark. The Quakers defeated traditionally strong programs James Madison and William and Mary in addition to Northeastern and the other Ivy competitors. This year, Penn hopes to add its third-straight title, and sixth in the last nine years, in 1999. There are a lot of question marks for the Quakers as their season gets underway. Can the Penn freshmen contribute immediately? How much will the injuries to Stafford and Jacobson affect the team? And finally, just how improved is Cornell? On Saturday, these questions will be answered as Penn begins its defense of last year's Ivy League and ECAC titles.