Gymnastics falters in final meet of season

Something about the East Coast Athletic Conference Gymnastics Championships brings out the best in teams.

Saturday, all six squads competing -- Penn, Brown, Yale, Cornell, William & Mary, and James Madison -- scored significantly above their average scores at Yale.

Despite delivering their third-highest team score in program history and tying their ECAC-high, 191.9, the Quakers finished in last place.

"We had a couple of errors, but nothing horrible happened," freshman Julie Kikla said. "We didn't do badly, but everyone did better."

For the third consecutive year, William & Mary took the conference title, scoring a 195.2, significantly higher than its meet-average of 191.445.

The Tribe, who delivered their second-highest score in team history, won both the vault (48.575) and bars (48.85) competitions.

Second place in the meet went to the home team, as the Elis scored a season-high 194.9. Yale took the floor competition with a 49.45.

Brown, who scored a season-high 194, took the bronze medal, winning the beam competition with a score of 48.75.

James Madison (193.075) finished fourth, followed by Cornell with 192.6 and then Penn.

"I was really surprised by two teams -- Brown and Cornell," junior Christy Green said. "They each had perfect meets and we made mistakes."

The Quakers' best performances came in the vault competition, as they tallied the program's second highest score on the apparatus, 47.925.

Sophomore Christina Anzalone tied her career-high on the vault with a 9.55, while teammate Yael Sollins set a personal-best in the event with a 9.6.

"We always do really well at vault at ECACs for some reason," Green said.

With a 47.9 on bars, the Quakers turned in their fifth-best score on the apparatus in team history.

"We all pulled together on bars," said Kikla who scored a 9.7 in that event. "The attitude of the team was great and it helped us succeed."

Penn's gymnasts were disappointed with their performance on the balance beam (47.725).

"On beam, we had a few falls that brought our score down," Green said. "People after the falls kind of stepped up and tried to get us back on track, but it wasn't enough."

Kikla believes her team lacked confidence on the beam.

"People got nervous," she said.

When asked whether she thought Penn's youth -- a team that features only two seniors -- was the reason for this apprehensiveness, Kikla responded, "That could have been a factor, but I don't think that's the entire reason why. It's not like no one has been to a big competition before."

Penn also scored a 48.35 on the floor, the sixth best score on that event on the day.

Despite finishing last in their final meet of the season, the Quakers are still proud of their accomplishments this year.

"It was a fun year because the last few years our team has been really sick and injured," Green said. "We broke a lot of records this year too which means that we are improving."

The Penn gymnasts are already looking forward to next year's campaign.

"I can't wait to start next season, especially after our last place showing this year at ECACs," Kikla said. "Next year we will be even better and we are only graduating two seniors. Next year we will just crush everybody."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.