By ryan February 6, 2001
If getting to its meet last Saturday was a rite of passage then the results show that the gymnastics team passed its test with flying colors. Leaving on Friday afternoon, the squad had to endure a 10-hour drive through snow and ice before it could reach Bridgeport, Conn., to face Bridgeport and MIT. The ordeal included a lengthy, bumper-to-bumper traffic jam on I-81 as well as an incident that involved getting the bus out of the snow it was stuck in. But when it finally arrived in the Constitution State where weather conditions were no longer an obstacle, Cornell — scoring 183.525 points — defeated both Bridgeport (183.000) and MIT (157.300). “We almost turned around,” head coach Paul Beckwith said of the drive. “But it was worth going.” Cornell was the top scorer in both the vault and the balance beam, and also took second behind Bridgeport in the uneven bars and the floor exercise. “We did what we needed to do,” Beckwith said. “We’re really pleased with how the kids did.” “It’s a turn on for the team,” said Abbey Vedder of the Red’s performance. “We needed a win.” Vedder was victorious in the balance beam, with a 9.725, and was second on the vault, finishing with a 9.375. “Abbey had a really good day,” Beckwith said, adding that she attained a personal best on the vault. Also finished in the top-five of a pair of events was Stephanie Daehler, who earned second on the floor and fourth on the beam. “Stephanie Daehler had a really, really, really, good performance on the floor and the beam,” Beckwith lauded. “Our beam team was awesome.” On the uneven bars, it was Rachel Goldberg who paced Cornell, taking second. Meredith Long placed fourth in the event. Despite being bogged down with in injuries, the squad seems optimistic that it can knock down some school records during the remainder of the season and earn a spot in the national championships. “If we can get our bar scores up, there’s no reason we can’t get a school record,” Beckwith explained, adding about this weekend’s performance, “It just bodes well for the future.” Archived article by Shiva Nagaraj
By ryan February 6, 2001
There was much Cornell swimming action this past weekend, with both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveling to Providence to face off against Ivy rivals Brown and Columbia. The only victory for either the men or the women came Sunday in New York City, when the Red defeated Columbia, 127.5-109.5. The Red won seven events, with junior Eric Gonzales winning both the 1,650 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. The Red started off the meet by winning the 400 medley relay in 3:27.98 en route to capturing six of the next ten events. Senior Will Norgard tied for first place in the 50 freestyle and finished second in the 100 free. He also swam a leg of the 400 freestyle relay team, which placed first in the event. Senior Jon Cebulski was the team’s top diver in the competition, finishing third in 1- and 3- meter dives. Other winners for the Red were senior Matt Harting, sophomore Forrest Kennedy, and senior Jim Drvostep. Harting won the 200 freestyle in 1:42.39, Kennedy took the 200 butterfly in 1:51.41, and Drvostep placed first in the 200 backstroke with a 1:51.12. On Saturday, the men faced off against Brown, and despite strong performances from Drvostep and Gonzales, the Red fell 161.5-91.5. The lone win for the Red was in the 100- yard backstroke, where Drvostep bested the competition with time of 52.05. Gonzales followed up with two second-place finishes, one in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:34.91 and then in 500-yard freestyle with a 4:39.55. Other top performers for the Red were, Harting, who finished second in the 200-yard freestyle; Kennedy, who took second in the 100-yard butterfly; freshmen Rob Payne, who placed second in the 200-yard individual medley; and Cebulski, who finished second in the 1-meter and the 3-meter dives. After finishing with a split this weekend, the men move to 2-6 over all and 0-6 in the EISL, with one meet left to go. The men face off against Harvard and Dartmouth at Teagle Hall pool this Saturday evening. The women also took on Brown and Columbia this weekend, but fell in the double dual meet, loosing to the Bears, 232-67, and to the Lions, 166-132. Against Brown, the Red’s sole victory came when senior Lisa Dughi bested the rest of the diving competition in the 3-meter dive, with sophomore Elizabeth Druy and freshman Jessica Hof finishing second and third, respectively. Dughi also finished second in the 1-meter, with Druy finishing third. Junior Shayne Geneva and the 400-yard freestyle relay team also logged strong performances for the Red. Geneva finished second in the 200-yard breastroke in 2:25.68. The relay team, consisting of juniors Yoko Shibata, Tina Shih, Lauren Marino, and Heather Dombrady, finished third in 3:45.57. “They went one, two, three in most of the events,” head coach Marrie Neumer said. Top performers against Columbia were sophomore Courtney Tawresey and Dughi again. Tawresey won the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breastroke, with Dughi taking both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. “We are beginning to rest, but I thought we would do better against Columbia,” Neumer added. With the losses, the women fall to 4-5 overall, and 2-5 in the Ivy League. The women wrap up their season Saturday at home against Buffalo State.Archived article by Josh Vlasto