Coming off the Ivy League Championships last weekend, the Cornell Gymnastics team finished second in a five-team competition at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. Cornell (2-1) had its highest team score of the season, 191.550, behind only Rutgers, who scored 194.350. The Red finished ahead of Southern Connecticut State (187.825), Yale (186.000) and West Chester (181.325).“Everyone had a great day. Everyone stepped up to the plate and really did a great job,” said Red assistant coach Melanie Dilliplane. The Red started with some solid performances on vault by sophomore McKenna Archer and senior Emily Santoro, placing fourth and fifth respectively, with a 9.700 and 9.675. Freshman Melanie Jorgensen helped the Red on the uneven bars with her 9.700, as did freshman Alexis Schupp and senior Maddie Pearsall, who had great performances on bars, tying for seventh with a 9.675. The uneven bars was the highest scoring event for the Red — a total of 48.200 points. Junior Melanie Standridge had the performance of the meet, finishing first on beam with a score of 9.800. Not far behind was senior teammate Danielle Scott, who finished second with a 9.750. The Red did not have a single fall on beam this week, which Dilliplane attributes to all the hard work the team has put in at practice. “They worked really hard in the gym this week, especially on balance beam, where we had some great performances, ” Dilliplane said.Floor was the second-highest scoring event for the Red. Santoro and Pearsall had the highest scores on floor for the Red, with a 9.700 and 9.650, respectively. Admittedly, the Red had some nerves going into Ivies last weekend, but clearly shook them all off this week, as demonstrated by the team score and the great individual performances. “Ivies is a pressure meet. …they went into this meet without feeling as much pressure. …the girls felt really confident,” Dillipane said. The season continues for the Red with a home meet this Saturday against Brown at 1 p.m. The focus will be on the seniors and their accomplishments on the team. Next week, the Red travels to Brown for its last regular-season meet, when it will compete in ECAC’s. Cornell is currently ranked third and has a great chance of making Nationals, held in mid-April.
Original Author: Karen Schillinger