For the members of the Penn Gymnastics team, the ECAC Championship is their last opportunity to make their mark on this season.
And for some, including senior Emily Petkun, it will be the last event of their careers.
"Its bittersweet," she said. "I'm really excited to be done and rest and give my mind and body a rest from doing this because it's very demanding. But it's going to be weird to be done; it's going to be sad."
As the season comes to an end, the Quakers face eight of their biggest rivals tomorrow in Kingston, R.I.
Coming off of a loss to Cornell, Penn hopes to bounce back in the championships, where it will compete against Towson, Yale, Rhode Island, Brown, Cornell, James Madison, Temple and William and Mary.
Although Penn has won the ECAC Championships twice -- in 1998 and 2004 -- the returning champion, Towson, has been dominating all season and is favored to take home the title this year.
It has been a long road to recovery for Penn because it has faced several disappointing losses at the beginning of the season to Towson, Yale and Rhode Island. Despite this, the Quakers have steadily established themselves as a contender for the championships.
"There were some really high points and some really low points, but I feel like it doesn't come down to whether you win or lose but how much effort you put into every time you go out there, every practice and every competition," sophomore Stephanie Ortiz said.
Penn coach Tom Kovic says he believes Penn is in a very good position to claim second place, if not first.
He admits that Towson at this point appears to be head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, with qualifying scores several points higher than every other team competing. Although the Tigers have a clear advantage over the rest of the competition, the remaining teams seem to be in a tight race to finish well in this meet.
"If we go and perform like we have done for most of the season, which is inconsistently, then we don't have much of a chance," Kovic said. "But if we go in and have the meet of the season and go in and hit our routines like we know we can, then that second spot is up for grabs."
The Quakers say they are aware that this is the last chance of the season to reach their potential and that they must build up their own confidence to take a challenge like this.
"Everyone is putting in their best effort in every turn and giving their all at every practice," Ortiz said. "I think we're ready."
Petkun, who has been an important leader for the Quakers this season, has had a very successful season, finishing with several all-around titles and first place on different apparatuses.
She says she feels confident going into this meet, especially after winning the all-around at Cornell, and hopes to do her best to make her performance stand out.
She adds that she believes the younger players on the team will play a very vital role at the championships. With talented freshmen on vault and floor exercise, Petkun says she thinks that the freshmen are capable of breaking out and putting up some very big scores that could help boost Penn to a victory.
Whether or not Petkun will compete in the NCAA Regional Championship has yet to be determined,but she and the other seniors on the team do know one thing -- this meet may be their last.
