Gymnastics hosts Ivy Classic

The Quakers face more competition to repeat last year's Classic title. It used to be that the Ivy League Classic was a two-team battle between Penn and Yale for the conference title in gymnastics. But that was then, and this is now. The Quakers host Brown, Cornell and Yale Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Palestra to determine this year's Ivy League champion. Last year, the Quakers defeated the other three schools with a team score of 187.350 to win the title at Brown. The dual meets between Ivy League teams that have already occurred this season indicate that this should be one of the most competitive Ivy Classics in years. Penn is 2-1 against the other Ivies in 1999. The Quakers beat Cornell 186.075-176.050 in the season opener January 16 and Yale 185.550-172.500 two weeks later. On February 7, however, Penn lost a heartbreaker at Brown 182.700-182.575. That meet seemed to solidify Brown's position as a favorite for this year's conference title. "It's really exciting this year," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "I can't really say one team dominates. It should be a very competitive Classic." The Quakers are coming off a last-place showing against tough competition at the Towson Invitational last weekend, but Penn's score of 187.150 was actually its highest of the season. As a result, the Quakers feel they are carrying some momentum into the Ivy Classic. "I am expecting the team to win," senior co-captain Shannon Stafford said. "We've now hit every single event at a meet. We just haven't put it all together in one meet and that's what we'll hopefully do." The big breakthrough for the Quakers last weekend was their performance on the beam. Penn finally hit all six of its routines, which it had not been able to do earlier in the season. That performance, along with the efforts last weekend on the vault and particularly the floor exercise, give the Quakers three events in which they have a great deal of confidence. The real concern for Penn during practice this week has been the bars. The Quakers suffered five falls in six routines on the bars last weekend. The event's difficulties wiped out Penn's chances of finishing third at the invitational and instead placed them fifth overall. "I think we'll have a much stronger performance on bars this weekend," freshman Katie Laatsch said. "We start on bars this time which means we should be stronger for the event." Last weekend, bars was the final event for the Quakers and the team cited fatigue as a reason for its struggles. This Sunday, Penn will begin on the bars and continue with beam, floor and the vault. Freshman Sarah Tudryn should help the team on bars as she returns from an ankle injury she suffered in the Yale meet. According to Kovic, every competitor in the event has been more consistent in practice this week. Looking at the rankings, the Quakers appear to be slight favorites going into the Ivy Classic despite the loss to Brown. Penn is ranked eighth in Region 5 with an average score of 184.540. Brown is one spot behind with an average of 184.231, while Yale and Cornell are in 14th and 15th places, respectively, with scores in the high 170s. This is expected to be more than a two-team competition, however. Last weekend Brown scored a team-record number of points in beating Yale 188.875-186.075. While the Elis lost, they showed their improvement and potential to compete for the title this weekend. The Ivy Classic represents the beginning of what Kovic considers to be the championship part of the season. He hopes his team will begin to peak this weekend and continue a high level of performance through the ECAC Championships on March 27. According to Kovic, this weekend means a lot to the Quakers. "I wouldn't say it's more important than ECACs,but it's a real tradition," Kovic said. "The first Classic champion was awarded in '77. It's a great meet and we're proud to host it."