Penn at Yale 1-26-08 First Look Report
By D.F. Pendrys [Image Gallery]
(Scores from eyewitness account and Troester.)
Yale opened up its Ivy League competition this season versus the Penn Quakers. The Ivy League match ups are interesting because the four teams operate under the same environment of both lacking athletic scholarships and of course adhering to Ivy League academic standards. Yale would score a season high 188.575 building off of their success last week. Penn’s 183.775 would be their lowest score so far this season, but perhaps it will prove to be a momentary dip. If wins and losses matter to teams then this would probably be a meet for that. In addition to this two NCAA regionals attendees would be in the house, as Alina Liao competed for Yale and Marissa Rosen for Penn.
While there seemed to be a smaller crowd at Yale from the week before there was still a vocal student section, even carrying signs in support of the Bulldog gymnasts as well as parents and other fans. The Quakers had a substantial number of parents present as well. Yale used to have a tradition where a t-shirt would be thrown into the crowd by a gymnast who scores a 9.7 or higher. Recently this was changed to a 9.5. Though today several Yale gymnasts would eclipse the previous number and several more shirts would end up flying into the Lee Amphitheater stands.
Rotation 1
Yale opened the meet on the Vault, and the team as a whole improved upon last weeks score. Alina Liao led the team with her 9.5, and Brigitte Kivisto was second with a 9.4. Alison Mak, Laura Lombardi, and Kristen Campbell also improved their score from the week before.
Penn opened on the Bars, and only competed with five gymnasts in the lineup. This naturally takes away the ability to chose the five of six best scores. They had to count a fall. However Marissa Rosen did pick up the top score for either team with a 9. Teammate Elise Bowe was second among the visitors with a 9.45, and Kimberly Chin and Jordan Brewer also contributed solidly to the scoring.
Rotation 2
Yale moved to the Bars, and also saw an improvement in their team scores. Laura Lombardi picked up the top Yale score with a 9.575, Sherry Yang was second with a 9.5. Alina Liao, Cynthia Leung and Brigitte Kivisto scored well too. Yale’s scoring has fluctuated the past two weeks but in what is undoubtedly a testament to teamwork, when one gymnast’s score has dropped, another’s has risen to keep the scores up.
On Vault, Penn’s score dropped from the week before, but still featured Jordan Brewer’s 9.575, and Marissa Rosen’s 9.425, as well as Kerri Lutfey and Katie Riggleman-Thomas’s solid scores.
Rotation 3
Yale turned to Beam, and while they were unable to replicate the scoring spectacular from a week ago, still put together a solid set of performances. Liao had a 9.625 to lead the team. Lombardi was second with a 9.5, Campbell had a 9.25, Tatsuno a 9.2, and a Mak a 9.125.
Penn improved upon their Floor scores as well in this meet.
Marissa Rosen picked up a 9.825, which was the top floor score of the meet (tied with Alina Liao), Jordan Brewer was not far behind with a 9.6, and Stephanie Ortiz’s 9.35, and Lucy LaCour’s 9.2 also were solid. Penn did need to count a fall though. Rosen had improved upon her score from a week ago, but Brewer had made a huge scoring improvement when she hit her routine.
Rotation 4
Penn finished on Beam, and improved their scores slightly from the week before. It would be Brewer who led the red and blue with a 9.625, Chin was second with a 9.5, and Ortiz had a 9.375.
Yale finished on Floor, and while their Beam score had dropped from last week their floor score soared, Liao hit with a 9.825, Kivisto a 9.75, Tatsuno a 9.725, and Campbell a 9.65. Mak picked up a 9.275, and Sarah Hughes a 9.2. Everyone’s scores improved from last week, though Campbell, Mak, and Hughes had the larger rises. It looked like a very good day on Floor for the Bulldogs.
Both of these teams have a lot of all arounders. Liao led them all with a 38.275, with Rosen and Brewer for Penn both having a 37.8. Kivisto was very good on 3 of 4 events, but the Beam dropped her AA score from last week to 36.7, and Campbell put together 3 good events for a 36.625. Penn’s Elise Bowe had a score drop from last week, but can also score well in the all around.
