By TUCKER MAGGIO-HUCEK
This weekend, the Cornell gymnastics team traveled to Providence, R.I. to compete against Brown, Yale and Penn in the Ivy Classic. Despite showing a consistent performance as a team, the Red could not measure up to the Bears. The Ivy foe dominated the meet with a score of 193.375, a full three points higher than second place Yale (190.250). While Cornell finished the meet with the lowest score of the four teams, only a little more than two tenths of a point separated second place and fourth place.
According to senior Melanie Jorgensen, the standout performer for the Red, the squad’s wavering energy level contributed to the Red’s poor performance in the afternoon.
“Going into Ivy Championships everyone was pumped up and excited. … We carried that into our first event, floor, where we had our best team score of the year,” she said. “But we had trouble keeping our energy up after some disappointing vault performances.”
The Red failed to carry the positive momentum from its strong floor showing onto the vault, recording two falls in the event. Junior Sammy VanderPutten started off the event strong, scoring a 9.550. After counting two falls moments later, sophomore Sara Schupp picked up the slack and scored a 9.600. While Schupp finished in fourth and VanderPutten took fifth, the overall team score on vault hurt the Red’s chances in the end.
RYAN LANDVATER / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERMelanie Jorgensen scored a 9.800 on bars to win her second consecutive Ivy Classic title.