It looks like having a color as your team mascot is better than it being an adjective to describe it. Building on the success of winning the Ivy Classic, the Red outperformed both the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers and the Golden Eagles from Brockport this weekend while attaining a season-best score of 192.675.
Continuing its rebound after a shaky start to the year, Cornell posted a season-high score for the fourth consecutive week.
After opening the year with a 189.375 and then dropping all the way to a 182.875 four meets later, the Red has improved in each meet since.
“The team is really improving week after week,” said senior captain Molly Parker. “It’s exciting, coming off a big win at Ivies, to not let that momentum stop –– and to keep our momentum going with ECACs at the end of month. That’s what we’re building up for.”
At this point last year, the team’s high score was only a 192.450 –– and that was its only 192 up until then.
This season the Red has already put together three scores of at least 192.550, hitting its stride a bit earlier this year in comparison to last year’s stretch run.
“I feel like we really have hit our stride earlier, and we have been much more consistent with the lineups and have benefited from having a lot of depth,” Parker added.
Rutgers managed a 190.950, while Brockport rounded out the field with a 188.250. Rutgers’ strength showed on the beam where the Scarlet Knights posted a winning score of 48.125, taking the second through fifth place honors.
The top performer in the apparatus, however, was Red sophomore Melanie Standridge, one of three individual winners for Cornell.
“Those individuals are really leading the way, helping make the rest of the lineup excel and pull up our scores and be more consistent,” Parker said of the Red’s individual winners.
Cornell won each of the other three events with a 47.800 in vault, 48.450 in bars and 48.625 in floor –– a meet-high score. Cornell managed a 47.800 on beam.
Juniors Emily Santoro and Kerri Lavallee finished atop the leader board on vault with a 9.725 and 9.700, respectively. It was also Santoro’s third consecutive 9.725 – and third consecutive win.
The Red dominated the uneven bars, taking the top four spots. Sophomore Bethany Neczypor won with a 9.825, her third straight victory in the event.
Parker –– who won the event four meets ago for the Red –– came in second with a 9.800, followed by freshman Sarah Hein (9.750) and junior captain Maddie Pearsall (9.625).
Standridge’s 9.875 was tops for Cornell and also the best beam score of the day. This was a 1.500 point improvement from the previous week for Standridge.
Senior Brittany Howse was the Red’s top performer in the floor exercise, getting third with a 9.825. Senior Emily Lenk and Pearsall added a fourth and fifth place finish, respectively, helping Cornell put together its best score in floor on the season.
“We’ve been doing pretty well in all the events and have been consistent throughout the season, but recently we’ve been able to pull up our scores in floor and bar,” Parker said. “Instead of 190 it’s 192. They’re really the make-or-break events.”
Original Author: John Forman