Gymnastics' oldest and youngest take spotlight

Seniors and freshmen. Friday's meet, a 188.500-181.950 victory against West Chester (Pa.), turned into a showcase for both the oldest and youngest members of the Penn gymnastics team. The seniors: captains Sarah Bruscia, Jenn Capasso and Kelly Haberer. They were each presented by Penn's underclassmen with four flowers and a navy blanket decorated with a maroon "P" before the meet started. "It's hard to believe because we've helped give stuff to the seniors every single year, and now it's our turn," Capasso said. "It's kind of weird. It goes by fast." The freshmen: Anna Wilson and Christy Green. One of the two was the top scorer in all four events, and Wilson broke junior Lauren Hittner's school record with her score of 38.950 in the all-around. "You always have hopes and aspirations, but you don't exactly know that they'll come true," Wilson said of her school record, the fourth she has set this season. The seniors: Capasso posted the Quakers' second-highest scores in both the beam (9.750) and the floor routine (9.700). Bruscia was third overall in the beam (9.475). The freshmen: Green and Tricia Chan both returned from ankle injuries on Friday. Chan competed in the beam and uneven bars, although, as Penn's seventh gymnast in each event, her scores were not counted. Green, who was on crutches three weeks ago, won the bars with a score of 9.650. "We're getting back to maybe not full strength as we would have been on paper in January," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "But we're a stronger team than we have been in a while." Still, a not-quite-at-full-strength Penn (5-1) had little trouble disposing of Division II West Chester (4-6) on Friday. The Quakers had a solid 2.450-point lead after the first rotation, and the Golden Rams never got any closer. But that was no surprise. Not to Penn ("We were pretty confident that we would win," Wilson said). And not to West Chester. "I knew that Penn was going to beat us," West Chester coach Jennifer Teneza said. "I wasn't looking for a win. I was just looking for a good team score for us." West Chester's score was its second-highest of the year, and Golden Rams' senior Holly Sliker tied her own school record of 9.775 in the floor. But West Chester was buried by four sub-8.400 scores in the beam, an event in which Penn's lowest score was 8.900. The beam is usually Wilson's weak point as well, but the Penn freshman scored a personal record 9.825 in the event on Friday to propel herself to the team all-around record. "I'm just trying to slow down, take my time and not think so much about what I'm trying to do [on the beam]," Wilson said. "You get more nervous that way." Wilson now owns Penn's school record in every event but the beam. Since-graduated Becky Nadler set that record, at 9.925, last year. Penn's seniors and freshmen weren't the only Quakers competing on Friday, however. In the floor event, Meaghan Sanders earned a score of 9.700, placing her in a tie for fifth. Meanwhile, sophomore Cristina Muresanu and junior Sarah Tudryn finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the vault.

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