Gymnastics scores a fifth-place finish

The Penn gymnastics team earned its best score of the year but still finished fifth out of five teams in a very competitive Towson Invitational on Sunday. The Quakers finished with 187.150 points but were defeated by two nationally ranked schools and two others which, like Penn, had especially strong performances. The host school, Towson, finished first with a 194.425 and was led by sophomore Nuna Parjanen's meet record 39.325 in the all-around. George Washington was second with a 192.175. Penn's toughest ECAC competition, James Madison, finished third with a 187.675 while Temple was fourth with a 187.575. "We were hoping we'd match up well with James Madison and we did," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "The scoring was more forgiving than it has often been this year." The Quakers put together their best beam effort of the year to open the competition with a 47.900. All six routines were hit, which has been a rare feat for Penn this year. Sophomores Sarah Bruscia and Jenn Capasso led the Quakers with scores of 9.725 and 9.625, respectively. "I was able to hit beam and everyone else was too," Bruscia said. "We had a lot of inconsistency earlier in the year. This was my best performance of the season." Penn continued its stellar performance on the floor -- where every gymnast scored over nine for the second consecutive event -- and the team finished with a 47.425. Senior co-captain Molly Sullivan's 9.725 led the Quakers. Sullivan was the only Penn gymnast to compete in the all-around competition. She finished with a season-best total of 38.175, good enough for sixth place in the invitational. "Sullivan's performance will contribute well to her regional qualifying average," Kovic said. "She has to finish [in the] top six in the region to qualify." Capasso and junior Becky Nadler also earned high scores for their performances on the floor. Capasso had a 9.675 and Nadler earned a 9.525. The third event for the Quakers was the vault. Penn had one miss on its way to an event score of 46.700. Sullivan was the top Penn finisher with a 9.625, followed by sophomore Kelly Haberer's 9.450. At this point in the competition, the Quakers had a strong chance of finishing third, if they could only get a good effort on bars. Unfortunately, they didn't get it. Penn had five falls during the six routines as it dropped into fifth place. "We just couldn't sustain the momentum we had," Kovic said. "There was a lack of concentration due to fatigue. Our focus slipped." There was probably more to the disappointing bar effort than fatigue, however, considering that three of the six Penn participants were competing in their first event of the afternoon. In addition, the only gymnast who had already taken part in three events, Molly Sullivan, earned the highest Penn score, a 9.275. Kovic has been coaching and will continue to coach bars more closely than the other events. He plans to work on a training strategy this week that will get the Quakers ready for the Ivy Classic this Sunday at the Palestra. "Bars will be the first event at the Ivy Classic, so fatigue shouldn't be a problem there," Kovic said. "It was definitely better to get the bugs out Sunday than this weekend." So despite the fifth-place finish, the Quakers were comforted by some of their best performances of the season in three events. As they prepare for the Ivy Classic this week, they will try to figure out how to do equally well on the bars.