Pitted against a surging Temple squad, the Penn gymnastics team took a step backwards Saturday.
At the Liberty Classic Invite hosted by the Owls, the Quakers came in second with a point total of 187.175, three points shy of the Owls (190.15) who are 1-5 including a loss to Penn last weekend.
Despite having an off meet, as head coach John Ceralde called it, the Quakers held the lead over four other teams throughout most of the day. But Temple finished strong on the floor to take the meet.
"We were slightly off but we had some good key points on each event. But being slightly off can make a big difference in a meet like this," Ceralde said. "Temple started with a bye and had a good first event and they just had a nice surge."
Finishing below Penn were Ursinus College with 185.475 points, then Bridgeport with 180.575 points and West Chester with 175.625.
While Penn put up some solid routines and seemed to compete at a higher level than the rest of the field, the team missed some major bonus combinations, leaving them short against Temple.
Hitting floor routine passes was a particular problem for the team, as the floor did not have as much spring as expected. Ceralde felt his team's timing was off and freshman Marissa Rosen agreed.
"Every floor is different, you just have to learn to adjust," Rosen said. "Some of us went too hard and stepped out and some of us didn't go as hard for it and landed short."
A highlight of the day was sophomore Sarah Wexler's floor routine. Wexler's performance continued to have the most energy and personality as she wooed the judges and the crowd. Her floor routine garnered a 9.7, a career-high for Wexler and the team's highest score of the day.
Another highlight was sophomore Lauren Markowitz's vault score, 9.650. She had an almost-perfect landing and tight form.
This meet also marked the debut for freshman Lucy la Cour, who hyperextended her knee in warmups at the first meet.
"I was a little nervous," la Cour conceded, "but this team is amazing and they were behind me all the way."
Rosen (37.95) and junior Stephanie Ortiz (36.925) came in second and third respectively in the all-around competition. But even in a weak field of competition nothing came easy for the Quakers.
"It was a rough meet for us but I think we came together and we really pushed through the last event," Rosen said. "It's a fight . [where] there's a few mistakes in front of you and you have to get up and do what you know you have to do and perform."
Wexler put it best when describing Temple's victory and her own team's prognosis.
Temple "put it together better than we did today," Wexler said. "Every meet is different, it's anybody's ballgame. Today we didn't have it but I'm sure throughout the season we can do it."
Note: Kimberly Chin did not compete because of a recurring knee injury from last season.
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