Gymnastics takes streak to Towson

The Penn gymnastics team heads to Towson on Saturday for their last meet before the Ivy Championships, which will take place just a week later at Yale. After a pair of wins last weekend against Temple and a weak Ursinus squad, the Quakers (4-1) can expect a much higher level of competition on Saturday. The competing schools will be Temple, George Washington, James Madison and host Towson. This will be the third time that the Quakers have faced Temple this season. Penn finished one spot ahead of the Owls -- and took fourth out of seven teams -- at the George Washington Invitational on January 21 before beating them last weekend in a dual meet. Last year, Penn placed fifth out of six teams at Towson. This year, the Quakers' toughest competition looks to be George Washington -- ranked No. 25 in the country -- which is averaging a score of 193.817 per meet, as compared to 187.004 for the Red and Blue. The Quakers will look to overcome the Colonials and the rest of their weekend foes with the help of their strong freshman class. Penn's newcomers have been the story of the season thus far, as they keep showing remarkable improvement with each additional meet. In a meet against Temple last weekend, freshman Anna Wilson set a school record in the floor exercise with a 9.925 and tied the school record on the bars with a 9.750 in only her fifth meet at the collegiate level. She previously established a new mark on the vault with a 9.775 against Yale. In addition to Wilson's feats, fellow freshman Christy Green finished second on the bars and third on the floor exercise against Temple. Against Ursinus, Wilson took first in the vault and the bars, while freshman Netta Gurari took first in the floor. Green placed second in the vault against the Bears. "Especially with the number of injuries we've had, [the freshman] are expected to help out," senior tri-captain Sarah Bruscia said. "They're helping out more than we expected." The Quakers have run off three consecutive wins since suffering a home loss to Yale on January 27. In their last meet, a 184.950-179.600 victory over Ursinus, Penn gymnasts snagged a first-place finish in every event and finished second in three events. This weekend's Towson Invitational will be Penn's last chance to make any major adjustments before traveling to New Haven in search of their fifth straight Ivy Championship title on February 24. After the Ivy meet, things get no easier for the Quakers. The ECAC Championships take place March 24 at Cornell. After that, the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships follow in April. A strong performance this weekend could give the Quakers the momentum they need going into the Ivy Championships and beyond.