March 25, 2008

Gymnastics Takes Third of Four Despite Season-High Score

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After spending the break in Ithaca, the women’s gymnastics team finally got a chance to leave town this past weekend as they competed in the Pitt Classic on Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh. The women finished third of four teams in a very competitive meet while earning a season-best 192.00 overall score. Pitt won the meet with a 194.10, also a season-best for the Panthers.
The University of North Carolina took second with a 193.725 overall score, while Temple University trailed with a 188.625.
On the uneven bars, junior Jennifer Yee was the Red’s top finisher, tying with four other competitors for fifth place with a score of 9.725. Freshman Gabriella Sanguinetti also gave a top-10 performance on the bars, earning 10th place with a score of 9.70.
The Red’s team score of 48.225 on the bars earned second place to North Carolina’s 48.775. Cornell also took second in the floor exercise with a team score of 48.375, while Pitt won the event with an impressive 48.90.
The top individual performance on the floor for Cornell came from sophomore Brittany Howse, whose score of 9.775 was good enough for a third place tie with Pitt’s Shannon Vafiadou. Freshman Maddie Pearsall finished seventh with a 9.725. [img_assist|nid=29092|title=Perfect arch|desc=Senior Megan Gilbert helped propel the gymnastics team to a third-place finish at the Pitt Classic on Saturday.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
On the vault, freshman Emily Santoro was the Red’s only top-10 finisher, as her score of 9.725 earned her seventh place. As a team, the Red took third on the vault with a total of 48.175. North Carolina topped Pitt in the event, with team totals being 48.925 and 48.60, respectively.
On the balance beam, Cornell was led by junior co-captain Stacey Ohara and senior co-captain Megan Gilbert, who took sixth and seventh place, respectively. Ohara earned a 9.60 on the beam, while teammate Gilbert was close behind with a 9.575. Pearsall was another top finisher on the beam, tying North Carolina’s Karli Jones for tenth with a score of 9.525.
At the end of the day, the Red saw seven top-8 finishes in an extremely competitive, national-caliber meet. Pearsall was also the fifth-place all-around finisher with an overall score of 38.425.
Stellar performances on every event and incredible depth allowed the Red to count only two scores under 9.5 all day and post the remarkable 192.00.