In front of a large crowd at Teagle yesterday afternoon, the gymnastics team turned in several season-bests and one incredibly gutsy performance before barely falling to No. 28 West Virginia, 193.55-189.625.
“It was our best performance of the season by far,” said head coach Paul Beckwith. “We performed how I thought we could perform.”
The most remarkable performance of the meet came from Cornell’s Randi Bisbano who, despite a broken and dislocated finger, turned in impressive routines on both the floor and the beam.
“Just friday the doctor said it was still fractured,” Beckwith said. “He said she could use it, but not too much. She really had a great day.”
Bisbano’s scores of 9.75 on the floor and 9.725 on the beam were some of the team’s best scores yesterday. Furthermore, as she remains unable to compete on the bars — her best event –due to her injury, the sophomore should become an even larger asset for the team as her health improves.
Other gymnasts also stepped up for the Red on the bars. Senior Andrea Mavro came through with a mark of 9.70, while juniors Shellen Goltz and Cathy Schnell pitched in with a pair of 9.675’s.
Senior Meghan Miller also put together a strong performance on the bars. Her 9.575 set a personal best for her in that event.
On the balance beam, sophomore Haley Guttman tied Bisbano with a 9.725 score to lead the Red. Their performances also set the team’s season-high for that event.
“We had a really great beam day,” Beckwith said. “We had to count no falls in that event.”
Sophomore Kara Kucera turned in the team’s high score for the day on the floor, earning a 9.775. The mark also represented Cornell’s best score in that event this season.
Meanwhile, a pair of freshman shined for the Red on the vault. Megan Gilbert and Madison Kucher each notched personal season highs with 9.575 and 9.5 marks, respectively.
“It was both their highest scores ever on the vault,” Beckwith said.
“[Gilbert’s performance] ranks as one of the top-10 ever in Cornell history. I’m very very happy with that.”
Beckwith further said that with the Ivy Classic at Yale coming up next week, the team appears in good shape to make a run at the title.
“Our focus for this event was to use it as a stepping stone for the [Ivy Classic],” Beckwith said.
“This was a good boost for us.We now have a lot of confidence heading into next week. I expect that whatever team hits its events will win next week … It’s ours to win.”
Archived article by Scott Reich
Sun Staff Writer