2008 Kick-off (by Miller-McEachern)
Providence, RI 1/13/08.....
First meets can be tough sometimes, because just before the holiday break you think you're team is ready to go and then they have 3 weeks off. Coming back
January 1st seems like starting over. Traditionally, our goal for the first meet has always been to have everyone walk out of the gym the same way they came in; happy and HEALTHY!
The 2008 season started out with the same goal from the coaches but little did we know the team had a different agenda! We traveled down to Rhode Island College where we went against the Anchorwomen of RIC and the Bears of Brown University. The team decided if they stayed supportive and focused on one another everything would fall into place.
We started the meet on bars and for the first time ever, we were able to put a full line up on this event at the first meet of the season. Unfortunately, it wasn't our best performance. Sophomore
Gina Policelli, started us off with a solid routine to which junior, Alison Barnard followed scoring 6.95 and 8.35 respectfully. Junior,
Laura Kelly also answered the call with a great routine awarding her an 8.6 score. Senior Captains
Sarah Trowbridge (7.75) and Sophia Harrison (8.75) as well as junior
Julia Zimmerman (8.3) struggled to keep the momentum going but still put up good routines.
No one seemed to be worried as we moved onto the vault. Junior Rachel Tatem started us off with an 8.25 to which
Kelly (8.75) and freshman Kristen Watkins (8.675) followed with solid performances.
Barnard showed a great handspring front vault earning her an 8.9. Trowbridge performed an exhibition vault as well scoring an 8.2.
Zimmerman and Harrison finished the group off strong scoring 9.45 and 9.35 respectively. The goal was to stand up 5 out of 7 vaults. Mission accomplished and we were on our way.
The next event was floor which has always been a crowd pleaser with our great performances!
Tatem started off the group with a 7.75. Next were Trowbridge (8.55), Sophomore
Katie Mingo (8.85) and Kelly (8.8) who landed a beautiful double back.
Watkins exhibitioned as well earning a 8.0. Harrison (8.9) and
Zimmerman (9.55) finished with great performances. Feeling good, we moved into our final event.
We look at beam as "saving the best for last!" I can't count the number of times we've been complimented on our beam routines. Our high skill level and composition is to be commended…it's staying on that makes or breaks us. Falling took a little bit of a toll on us but not without determination to live up to the expectations.
Kelly started us off with an 8.1 and Watkins followed with a 7.0.
Mingo posted an 8.35 with Trowbridge contributing an 8.65. Sophomore
Marie Heglund did and exhibition routine as well. Harrison (9.2) and
Zimmerman (9.275) conquered the beam with solid scores to finish the meet on a high note.
Before the meet started coaches Ovalle and Miller-McEachern told the team that at the first meet
they don't ever worry about scores but at the end of the day the scores told an interesting story. During the awards ceremony, Zimmerman and Harrison placed first and second respectively on vault, and the all-around as well as first and third on beam. Brown scored a 178.075, MIT scored a 175.100 and RIC scored a 161.200 giving us a 1-1 record. The interesting part of the whole meet was that if you looked at which team event scores dominated, MIT won vault, beam and floor. Not to shabby for a
Division III team
The best thing about today's meet is that we were missing the depth of 3 very talented freshman. We're excited to plug them in! The lady engineers will have their home opener this
Satutfsy at 1pm against Ursinus College, Wilson College and RIC.