Saturday's season-opening meet for the Penn gymnastics team pitted the last two champions of the ECAC against one another.
Penn, the 2004 champ, was edged by Towson. The Tigers, the defending champions, won the quad-meet, 187.225-186.500 over the Quakers.
Also competing at Hutchinson Gymnasium were Ursinus -- which finished in third with with 173.275 points -- and Wilson in fourth with a score of 162.475.
"Towson is a very formidable opponent," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "We don't want to be on the flip side, but we were. We have to deal with it.
"It's going to build confidence in the team," he added. "They know that they can compete with the current ECAC champion."
Although the Quakers could not pull out the victory, many individuals turned in strong showings at the meet.
Sophomore Stephanie Ortiz won the all-around with a 37.900. Teammate Emily Petkun, a senior, finished right behind Ortiz in second place with a score of 37.875.
Petkun turned in team-highs on the bars and beam, and Ortiz led the Quakers on floor exercise.
Several freshmen had strong performances for the Quakers, including Jordan Brewer, who had the team-high on the vault with a 9.725, and Stefanie Navarro, who due to injury was only able to compete on balance beam.
"I was really pleased with the freshman performance today," Kovic said. "Knowing [Navarro] is going to be back on all four events for the Yale competition is very encouraging."
The Quakers scored 48.075 on the vault, which tied for the fifth best performance in team history on the event -- the top performance came in the Ivy Classic in 2004, when Penn recorded a team score of 48.675.
Penn travels to Yale on Saturday for its first meet against an Ivy League opponent. In last year's ECAC championships, the Quakers just beat out the Elis for third place by 0.875 points.
With Petkun leading a strong senior class and a large supporting cast of talented freshmen, Penn should challenge for the league title once again.
"I'm really excited for this season," Kovic said. "I think it's going to be our best season ever."
PENN -- 186.500Towson -- 187.225Ursinus -- 173.275Wilson -- 162.475
