Cornell made history on Saturday, becoming the first Red squad to defeat rival University of Massachussets in a dual meet. En route to a 189.250-187.925 victory, the tumblers set a school record on the uneven bars for the third straight meet.
Good Day
The score of 48.225 was the highest score of the day in any event and bettered Cornell’s previous top score of 48.075 on the bars. The victory improved the Red’s mark to 2-0 on the season. UMass is now 1-2.
Top Performances
Freshmen Meghan Miller, Shellen Goltz, and Andrea Mavro finished second through fourth, respectively to lead Cornell to the high score on the bars.
Red all-arounders Larissa Calka and Goltz — both rookies — played integral roles in the team’s success.
“I believe Shellen’s 37.7 is the second highest in school history,” said an elated head coach Paul Beckwith. “That’s a huge all-around performance for us.”
As a team, Cornell won the uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise despite dropping the opening event of vault.
On the vault, sophomore Denise Hurd placed first with an average score of 9.525.
Passing the Bar
Junior Shannon Weiman’s 9.7 was good enough for first place on the bars, during which the Red was forced to contend with unsportsmanlike cheering from the UMass squad which was then stationed at the floor exercise apparatus.
Despite the attempts to distract them, the tumblers posted a solid score of 47.625 on the beam.
Big Win
“It was a huge win for us, any time we beat a team like that we’re in great shape” said Beckwith.
“The best news is we still didn’t hit like we should be able to, so we still have a lot more to look forward to.”
Cornell also gained some confidence from the victory in that the Minutewomen previously defeated conference rival Yale, who the Red have yet to go up against.
“It’s still early in the season, so the scores should be getting better, but this is the best start we’ve ever had,” concluded Beckwith.
Archived article by Owen Bochner