This past weekend, the gymnastics team traveled to Harrisonburg, Va to compete for the annual ECAC championship, the largest and longest competition the Red participates in all season. The event, which featured nine schools, was held Saturday afternoon at James Madison University.
Last year, the team was able to capture second place in the competition. This time around, however, the Red ended the day of events with a team score of 189.525 — leaving them with a seventh-place finish.
The Tigers of Towson University took home the championship with a team score of 194.525, which pushed them past a close second-place finish posted by Rhode Island (192.225), as well as last year’s champion Penn (191.975).
The day opened with a promising beginning as the team took to the mats.
“On the floor, we had the best day of the year as far as score, which was great,” said head coach Paul Beckwith.
The team looked on as sophomore Randi Bisbano had one of her best performances of the year in the floor exercise. The judges were equally impressed with her performance, as Bisbano received a personal and team season high score of a 9.8.But the afternoon turned sour when the team took to the bars.
“[This] is usually our best event, but it didn’t turn out as we would have liked,” Beckwith said. “Our first two were great, but after that we didn’t do as well.”
Among these first two was senior Andrea Mavro, who scored a career high on bars, receiving a 9.775.
“She really nailed her routine,” Beckwith said.
Unfortunately for the Red, the rest of the team was less successful in the event, and it was this lack luster performance on the bars that crippled its chances of placing in the top of the championship.
“We could have been at least a point and a half higher, which is the difference between third and seventh place,” Beckwith said. “We’re kind of disappointed because we could easily have been third or fourth.”
However, the team’s disappointing finish has not cast a dark shadow on the season or the team’s overall morale, as the Red remains confident and continues to think positively.
“Hopefully at our national meet in two weeks we can redeem ourselves,” Beckwith said. “We know that if we hit, we’re as good as all those teams.”
Archived article by Ben Kopelman
Sun Contributor