Invite offers showcase for Gymnastics

This season has proven to be a tumultuous one for the Penn gymnastics team.

With eight freshmen on a team of 15, the Quakers started off hopeful but cognizant of their youth.

So far, the Red and Blue have yet to pick up a win in dual-meet competition, but that's not to say that they haven't gained an immense amount of experience.

This weekend, Penn has another chance to show its improvement to the east coast, as the Quakers head to the Towson Invitational in Towson, Md.

"The last meet was a confidence booster because we were behind in the end and we really fought in the last event," Penn sophomore Christy Green said. "Now that we know that we can do that, it will really improve our performance this weekend."

The Invitational will show case some of the eastern seaboard's strongest squads and the Quakers are ready to step up to the competition. This is also Penn's last chance to prep before Ivy League Classic held at Brown on Feb. 23.

"It's an exciting meet because there's a lot of good gymnastics going on," Green said. "I think we're not looking to beat anyone in particular. We just want to have the best meet that we've had so far this year."

In recent weeks, the Quakers have begun to shine individually and are now looking to combine the success into a team effort.

Green, who placed first in the all-around competition against Yale on Jan. 26, was named the co-ECAC Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 6.

Freshman Laura Bouchelle has emerged as the Quakers' top performer on the vault. Last weekend she placed first in the competition with a score of 9.625. Bouchelle also clinched the top spot at the Red and Blue's season opener against Cornell on Jan. 12.

This weekend the Quakers are focusing on improving their scores as a team.

"We just want to go in there and do well for ourselves," Penn senior Juliana Mariani said. "We're trying to get our scores up a little bit. We got our hitting percentage up, but now we're working on cleaning up our routines."

In addition to working on the finer points of their routines, the Red and Blue have increased the difficulty of their routines, in order to earn more points in competition.

Turning up the intensity of its practices, Penn has attempted to duplicate meet circumstances to better prepare itself.

"We've just been working on pressure routines in practice so that it feels like a meet situation," Green said. "Sometimes in competition we get so nervous, that its so much easier to screw up."

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