Gymnastics to face Kovic's alma mater

The Temple alumnus will lead his Quakers against the Owls on Saturday. The Penn gymnastics team doesn't have any time for a letdown. How do the Quakers follow not only a victory over Ivy rival Brown, but two broken school records, one tied record and a season-high team point total? Try a crosstown rivalry meet pitting the Quakers against Temple at Hutchinson Gym on Friday at 6 p.m. "[It is] another pride meet of sorts," Penn captain Lizzie Jacobson said. "They are definitely our rivals, sort of [a] 'Philly pride' thing." The two teams met earlier in the season at the George Washington Invitational. There, Penn placed third out of six teams, while the Owls landed in fifth. "The rivalry is great. Penn is always up for the Temple meet, and Temple is always up for the Penn meet," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. Adding to the rivalry is Kovic's history up north on Broad Street. "We love this meet every year [because] Tom's a Temple alum, which makes it fun for him," Penn senior Kirby Thorpe said. The meet takes on an added importance because the stakes are rising for both teams with the ECAC Championships and NCAA Regionals approaching in March. "We want to take advantage of every meet at this point in the season because it's very tight. We're ranked first in the ECAC, but James Madison and Yale are right behind us," Kovic said. Also looming on the horizon is the Ivy Classic taking place later this month at Cornell. "I think now we've gained some confidence, and we'll use this meet as another step in building up our confidence for the Ivy Championships," Penn junior Jenn Capasso said. Both Penn and Temple boast athletes of similar distinction coming into Friday's meet. Penn sophomore Lauren Hittner was named ECAC women's gymnastics Athlete of the Week on Wednesday on the strength of her outstanding performance and school record all-around score of 38.60 in last Saturday's win over Brown. Temple, however, will counter with sophomore Maggie Tolerico who was named the Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week after her second-place all-around finish against Towson. The two Philadelphia rivals also have had similar team accomplishments. Penn broke school records in team vault score and individual score last week, while Temple set a new record in the team's final score. "Historically, [Temple] has been good competition for us," Capasso said. "These two teams have been very evenly matched [in the past] so I think it'll be a good matchup." However, the Quakers have one thing that may provide the edge over Temple's momentum. With the team record back at .500, the Red and Blue are coming off an exciting victory, whereas Temple will try to recover from a loss last weekend. "Last week's meet helped boost our confidence, and we stayed really focused," Penn senior Becky Nadler said. "I think that the increase in focus and confidence will help us perform even better this Friday." Kovic is even more encouraged by the fact that despite Penn's current success, the team realizes that they still have room for improvement. "I like exactly where we are at this point in the season. We're physically and mentally strong, but we've still got things to work on, so we're only going to get better," Kovic said. The return of Penn sophomore Sarah Tudryn and the addition of some new skills and routines will also make Friday's meet an exciting one to watch. "We are always working to improve our routines, both in difficulty and quality of performace. There may be some exciting things to look for," Jacobson said. The prospect of defeating Philly rival Temple in this pride meet, however, still remains a strong motivating factor to win Friday. "Temple is a really good experience for us to get ready for the other meets we have against non-Ivy schools," Nadler said. "[Besides], Tom loves to beat his alma mater."