February 1, 2002

Gymnasts Travel to N.H. Invite

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The women’s gymnastics team is on a roll. In the first month of the season, the team has already set its second and third highest scores ever. Its third place ranking in the ECAC puts the Red gymnasts in a position they have not seen in ten years. Having only ranked as high as sixth in seasons passed, the team is on pace to finish with its highest ranking ever.

Despite its early success, coach Paul Beckwith assures that the team has not lost its focus.

“The ranking is a boost of confidence. But, we have a ten meet season. We don’t have a week off from mid-January to the end of March, so we have to keep getting up for the meets.”

The team ranks third in the ECAC in both average and highest score and has had some individual success as well. Following the lead of freshman teammate Shellen Goltz earlier this season, freshman Megan Miller was named Rookie of the Week by the ECAC for her efforts at UMass. She has consistently scored 9.7 or higher on the bars and ranks first in the ECAC in that category.

Into New Hampshire

The Red gymnastics team plans on extending its winning ways tomorrow when it competes in the New Hampshire Invitational.

“I think we’re ready,” Beckwith said. “We belong in the meet. We get better every week. There are a couple of spots up in the air that will be decided during warmup. If we go in and hit everything, we’ve reached our goal.”

Beckwith sees the weekend as another opportunity to improve.

“We plan on beating Temple. To beat New Hampshire, we’ll need one of our best meets ever. But, we’ll mostly be thinking about our performance. We’re going after scores.”

Archived article by Adam Matthews