So Long Seniors... 
(by coach Miller-McEachern)

Cambridge, MA 2/16/08.....

After the success of last week's meet we finally felt like we made good adjustments to our team plan and were buckled in for a straight ride to ECAC's. Sometimes obstacles jump out at you and your focus seems to blur quite a bit as you find yourself making adjustments that weren't ever considered to be in the plan. 

Tis' the season to be sore and a little banged up. Each year at this time we see academic responsibilities as well as the wear and tear of our sport take it's toll on the team. It's just the nature of the beast, however this year it was more like an epidemic! Those little aches and pains decided to become major for quite a few….all in the same week no less!! Going into our meet we found out that 2 of our juniors Rachel Tatem and Julia Zimmerman had cause for concern as fractures were found in Rachel's shin and Julia's wrist. The very next day Sophomore Marie Heglund sprained her ankle on beam so it was now time to re-evaluate our "plan." 

No one wanted this to affect the celebration of our last home meet and a big group of parents that were arriving to support the seniors for their final hurrah in DuPont, so a few minor changes and we were ready to go. Seniors Sophia Harrison and Sarah Trowbridge had one last competition as an MIT Gymnast and EVERYONE was going to make sure it was a success. 

One of the coaches came up with this "big idea" that it might be fun to have Trowbridge back in the all around (I'm sure you can't guess which coach that was!), so she happily took the challenge! Having her back on vault was a fabulous idea as she posted a personal best 9.225 score that was good enough for 3rd place. Junior Laura Kelly (9.15) and freshman twins, Beth (9.175) and Becky Stavely (9.075) had great performances as well. Junior Alison Barnard took second place with a huge front handspring front vault with a 9.425 score. Harrison topped of this successful team effort winning the event with a 9.575 score. Sophomore Gina Policelli was given the opportunity to exhibition on vault and she did so with authority, sticking a perfect landing on her tuck tsuk. 

Bars seemed to be a bit "off" for us as our mistakes of the day were uncommon. Sophomores Policelli (7.5) and Katie Mingo (8.275) had a few mistakes but worked through them well. Barnard (8.85) and Kelly (8.75) answered the call for help with great routines. Trowbridge (8.225) struggled a little but Harrison (9.45) picked up the pace to win the event for the day. Bars was certainly about getting through it as a team. 

Beam, ever the character builder, was true to form and "dared" the team to stay on. Lot's of wobbles and a few missed requirements forced the team to stay focused. Kelly (8.8), Mingo (8.55), Harrison (9.05) and freshman Kristen Watkins (8.25) fought diligently for their scores. Trowbridge and Zimmerman (splint and all) rallied to win the event with identical scores of 9.35.

After a team meeting during the bye the lady engineers decided it was time to get serious. Everyone had her job…whether you were a competitor or not and they were ready to conquer the floor exercise. Kelly (8.55) started the group off with a pretty good routine and Trowbridge followed, scoring a 9.15. Harrison struggled in her very last floor routine in DuPont, but she'll get an opportunity to show that off on the road. Barnard (8.925) added a new skill to her routine, which proved to be a good decision by her team! Zimmerman and Mingo wowed the crowed as they tied for first place with a 9.425.

At the conclusion of the meet their coaches, teammates and parents honored Sarah and Sophia as major contributors to the MIT Gymnastics Program. But more importantly these two young women have had an incredible impact on their coaches and have been inspirations to their peers. Their energy, sportsmanship and talent will be greatly missed next year and we are excited to see what the future holds for these two amazing young women. 

Complete meet scores