The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/author/des58cornell-edu/page/3/)
With a resume that already boasts multiple all-around titles, individual championships and a 2008 ECAC Rookie of the Year honor, freshman gymnast Maddie Pearsall added to her accomplishments a strong 12th-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regionals on Saturday evening at Penn State’s Recreation Hall.
Both the men’s and women’s crew will use its 2000 meters of opportunity this weekend to determine where the Red stacks up against a few fellow Ivy League boats. The lightweight men will compete against Harvard and Penn on the Cayuga Inlet on Saturday, while the women will face Radcliffe and Princeton on the road.
This weekend marks the first Ivy League opposition the lightweights have encountered since the fall. The men will use the race to take stock of their current speed.
“We basically just want to see where we are at this point in the season, because we haven’t had a race yet against people in our league,” said senior Billy Boyce.
It was smooth sailing on the inlets for the men’s and women’s rowing teams this weekend, as all boats turned in competitive performances against some nationally-ranked competition.
For the heavyweight men, in conditions drastically different from those during last weekend’s races in California, nearly all boats came away victorious from a dual race against Georgetown. The women put their oars in the water for the first time since November at the Cayuga Cup at Yale, defeating Syracuse while losing to the No. 2 Bulldogs.
It was smooth sailing on the inlets for the men’s and women’s rowing teams this weekend, as all boats turned in competitive performances against some nationally-ranked competition.
For the heavyweight men, in conditions drastically different from those during last weekend’s races in California, nearly all boats came away victorious from a dual race against Georgetown. The women put their oars in the water for the first time since November at the Cayuga Cup at Yale, defeating Syracuse while losing to the No. 2 Bulldogs.
Though racing on opposite sides of the country, the men’s lightweight and heavyweight rowing teams did share one thing this past weekend — success. The men’s lightweight team spent Saturday morning and afternoon racing several heavyweight teams at the Ithaca Invitational, and dominated the Cayuga inlet by handily defeating all competition. The heavweights also rowed tough against some of the highest-ranked crews in the country.
Despite a huge margin of victory, the lightweight rowers found room for improvement in their first team effort of the season.
With only Nationals remaining in the 2008 season, the future of the women’s gymnastics team remains bright after a successful weekend at the ECAC championships held in Williamsburg, Va. The Red posted another season-high mark of 192.075 to finish just out of second in the eight-team field. In addition to the season-best overall mark, freshman Maddie Pearsall was named the 2008 ECAC Rookie of the Year.
“Going into the meet we were ranked second, and I think that was our goal, if not first of course,” Pearsall said. “It was really close, so we were happy with how we did.”
Easily the most successful program at Cornell, the men’s lightweight rowing team launches into the 2008 season set on defending two consecutive national titles and a runner-up finish at the esteemed Henley Royal Regatta last spring.
“We are definitely stronger than we’ve ever been before. We are working on things and picking up speed,” Bunnell said. “I don’t want to make predictions, but I think we’ve put ourselves in a good place to do well.”
Before a single boat even launched into the water from the docks of the John Collyer Boathouse last spring, the 2007 women’s rowing team was left high and dry on shore in the wake of a sudden coaching switch when former head coach Dan Roock was replaced by head coach Hilary Gehman.
The resulting changes in the team’s training regimen and coaching style were a considerable shock to the squad. Fortunately, most of last year’s varsity boat returns to the inlet, one year later, with more experience and an unrivaled determination to build upon the hard work they did in the 2007 season.
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.
Like the rest of the Cornell campus, the women’s gymnastics team is ready for a break after finishing their eighth consecutive weekend of competition with a victory. The Red defeated Temple on the road 190.375 to 189.125 Saturday afternoon, with spectacular performances on the vault and uneven bars. The Red’s early success was crucial for the team, as four falls were included in the scoring on balance beam, the final event of the day.
On the vault, freshman Kerri Lavallee broke onto the collegiate scene with a strong performance after struggling with injuries for most of the season. Lavallee’s 9.875 not only won the event, but tied the school record, matching Rachel Goldberg’s 2004 record score.