Gymnastics Topples Rutgers

The gymnastics team continued its record-setting season over the weekend by traveling to Piscataway, N.J., and defeating Rutgers for the first time ever in the Livingston Recreation Center. The Red gutted out a slim 190.350-190.075 victory to improve its overall record to 13-5 and secure third place in the ECAC.
The Red was able to maintain composure and come away with the win, despite being shaken up halfway through the meet when freshman Kaitlin Hardy was taken away on a stretcher after injuring herself while warming up. There was obvious concern amongst the team for Hardy, but the Red was able to regain its focus and finish the meet strong.
“We were happy that we were able to pull it out,” said sophomore Maddie Pearsall, who won floor with a score of 9.700 and was the Red’s top all-around performer, posting a 37.975. “It was awful seeing Kaitlin being taken away on a stretcher. But we were able to maintain our focus and pull together to finish out the last two events strong.”
Sophomore Kerri Lavallee continued her stellar performance on vault, winning the event for the second consecutive week with a 9.825. Freshman Melanie Standridge also added to her dominating performances on beam, winning the event for the third consecutive week with a score of 9.750. Rounding out the Red sweep of individual scores, senior Jennifer Yee won bars with a 9.700.
The Red and its coaches were happy with the win and the way the team rallied after the injury to Hardy. However, they are still looking for improvement by the team the ECAC Championships roll around.
“Our coaches were happy with how it ended up,” Pearsall said. “They were very pleased that we had an individual win in each event. But overall they’re looking for more consistency out of us.”
It is clear that the team feels confident in its abilities, but is still working to find that extra bit to put them over the edge.
“We definitely still have some room for improvement,” said freshman Bethany Neczypor, who placed third in both bars and beam. “We’re all pretty much there, we just need to pull everything together.”
The Red was forced to count three falls over the weekend, two on beam and one on bar. The team knows that if it is going to outlast rival Towson at the ECAC Championship in two weeks, it is going to have to limit falls even more.
“We still haven’t had a meet where we haven’t had to count any falls,” Pearsall said. “But we feel like we’re getting better every week and we know that we need to if we’re going to win [the ECAC Championship].”