Strong showing in the ECAC/East Regional

The ECAC/East Regional Championships were hosted by Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA on Saturday March 9th. This meet would determine the team and individual qualifiers to the NCGA National Championships to be hosted by Ithaca College on March 22nd and 23rd. At the outset of the meet there was very little doubt as to who the four teams would be to represent the East Region to Nationals. Ithaca, Cortland, Ursinus and Springfield were well ahead of the rest of the pack in their SAS ranking and would have to miss badly to be overtaken by the next highest team of SUNY-Brockport. The top four teams were very evenly matched though, and the team title at this meet was up for grabs. Much like the team competition, the individual event and all-around titles were also going to be there for the taking.

Springfield, Ithaca, Brockport and MIT led off rotation number one on vault, bars, beam and floor respectively. Three of Springfield's 6 vaulters could not land their vault, so they were off to a mediocre start although Gina Gutierrez landed a beautiful layout tsuk for a 9.475 and a third overall finish on the event. Ithaca had to count a fall from Teri Nelson on bars, but senior Jocelyn Genoa made up for it by scoring a 9.425 good enough for second place overall. Brockport looked a bit tight on beam but didn't seem to count any falls on the event. MIT also looked tight at the outset and gave up close to a point off their team average on floor. On the second rotation, Ursinus, Wilson, Rhode Island College and Cortland competed in the olympic order of events. The host Bears looked strong on vault as they took the top two spots on vault with Kristen Grimmel's great handspring double-full (9.525) and Jennifer Fouse's high handspring front tuck (9.50). These two showed exactly why they are ranked number one and two in the NCGA coming into the meet. Wilson College got through bars very well by posting a season high score on the event. Rhode Island, competing with 6 all-arounders because of injuries, lost their first competitor of the meet with what appeared to be an ankle injury. The rest of the team hung in there although they had to count several falls. Cortland, on the other hand, lit up the floor exercise with several great routines including Carrie Costello's well deserved 9.60 (which landed her in a second place tie). At the end of the first rotation, the standing showed: Cortland 47.075, Ursinus 46.575, Springfield 45.475, MIT 44.975, Brockport 44.675, Ithaca 44.425, Rhode Island 43.4 and Wilson 36.575, and the tone of the meet had been set.

In the third rotation MIT vaulted to a new school record 45.525, Springfield just about matched their SAS on bars with a 43.475. Ithaca took to the beam where 5 of the 6 hit routines for a 46.05 and Brockport had themselves a field day on floor with a season high 46.525 which included the 2002 Floor Champion score of 9.675 from sophomore newcomer Carrie Santore. Rotation number four had Cortland hitting a 46.35 on vault but having to count a fall from Carrie Costello who could not land her huge handspring front tuck. Ursinus had to count a fall on bars from their 4th nationally ranked gymnast Jessica Cowden, but made it up with Jumaah Johnson's bars title performance of 9.50 and came away with a 44.55 on the event. Wilson took to the beam where they again hit their routines fairly well for a 40.275 and Rhode Island College, now competing with just 5 gymnasts, put together a solid 45.225 including a season high 9.475 from Shannon Hughey which earned her a qualifying spot as an individual to the Nationals Championships.

Half way through the meet, and things were just getting interesting. Brockport kept up the pressure by putting together an oustanding vault set of 46.325 which was third best in the meet. MIT could not carry the momentum from vault to bars and struggled to a 42.65. Springfield in the meantime was opening the door for Brockport as 5 out of their 6 beam routines came off the apparatus and they managed a 44.20 on the event. Ithaca took to the floor which is one of their strongest events and put together the highest event total of the meet so far with a 47.30 including top ranked Leslie Gelatt's 9.60 which produced a silver medal for her. The next rotation started with Rhode Island posting a 44.625 on vault including a 9.325 on a pike tsuk from Caren Normandin which earned her a spot to Nationals on that event. Cortland swung well on bars, hitting 5 out of their 6 routines for a 44.20 including a high of 9.1 from Trisha Zappala. Ursinus took to the beam where they tallied up a 45.80 but suffered falls from two of their top beam workers. Desiree Yuhasz though put together a 9.55 routine good enough for a fourth place tie and Kristen Grimmel was having herself a good all-around day with a 9.425. On floor, Wilson College got a 9.025 from Lisa Summers for a 42.025 total. With one rotation remaining for each of the teams, the scores were as follows: Ithaca (heading to vault) 137.775, Cortland (heading to beam) 137.625, Brockport (heading to bars) 137.525, Ursinus (heading to floor) 136.925, Rhode Island (heading to bars) 133.25, MIT (heading to beam) and Springfield (heading to floor) were tied at 133.15 and Wilson College (heading to vault) had a 118.875. Still anyone's meet as Ithaca was heading for a strong vault event, the host team of Ursinus would finish with the crowd behind them on floor exercise, and Cortland had the tall task of finishing up on beam, but they are the top ranked beam team in the NCGA.

Ithaca came through with a 46.075 vault set to finish with a 183.85 and had to sit in the last rotation to see if they would be overtaken. Brockport put together a 42.45 total on bars and came away with a season high 179.975, but it wouldn't be quite enough to earn them a spot to Nationals. MIT hit 3 out of 6 beam routines including season highs from Whitney Watson 9.325 (individual beam qualifier) and Merritt Tam 9.55 (4th place tie overall). The engineers' 44.75 total helped to a 177.90 team score. Springfield somewhat redeemed themselves on floor but had to be disappointed with a 46.50 total on what is traditionally their best event. Their 179.65 total would not challenge for the team title, and even though they finished behind Brockport at this meet, they would still qualify to Nationals based on the strength of their SAS. An anticipated last rotation had Wilson finishing on vault with a 42.975 and a season high 161.85 which was great to see. Rhode Island put up a 40.825 on bars for a commendable 174.075 considering that they finished with only 5 gymnasts and competing wihtout their head coach who was instructed by her doctor not to make the trip as she is close to delivering her first child.

It came down to two teams on the last rotation. Ursinus had to make up 7 tenths and it was strength against strength, Ursinus on floor with the home crowd and Cortland on the unforgiving beam with a smaller but loud supporting group in the stands. The Bears led off with a 9.325 from Kristen Reed and the Red Dragons suffered a fall from Megan Powers for an 8.325. Shawna Eddy was next with a 9.35 on floor and she was outdone by Jamie Leto's 9.575. Jennifer Fouse matched her teammate's 9.35 but Carrie Costello redeemed herself after a couple of bad events and didn't give up much ground earning a 9.3. After three gymnasts and counting a fall from Cortland, Ursinus had the lead now with the big guns still to come and a score to drop. Kristen Grimmel finished up a great all-around meet with a 9.525 to Trisha Zappala's 9.4. Casey Aivazian did her best to tie for silver with a 9.6, but she was matched and outdone by Janelle Domaradzki's silver medal performance of 9.675 on the beam. Jumaah Johnson closed out the meet for Ursinus to loud cheers and a 9.55 routine, so it came down to whether the number one ranked beam worker in the NCGA would be able to stay on the beam, because Ursinus could not win if she hit. Not only did Danin Squires hit, but she displayed why she is number one, earning a 9.75 first place finish for her and her team. Cortland's 47.70 beam set was the highest event total for any event during the meet, and they outdid Ursinus' 47.35 on floor.

The Red Dragons took the ECAC/Regional title for the first time since 1992 with a very strong and well-deserved 185.325. The home team had to settle for second place scoring a season high 184.30. In the all-around, it was Kristen Grimmel's 37.625 total that took the crown over a strong 37.425 performance from MIT's Merritt Tam and a 37.30 from Brockport's Carrie Santore. Grimmel captured the vault with a 9.55, teammate Jumaah Johnson took the bars at 9.5. Cortland went 1-2-3 on beam with Danin Squires leading the way at 9.75 and Carrie Santore bested everyone else on floor with a 9.675. Overall a very well run meet with some wonderful performances. The NCGA is getting stronger every year and this year's Nationals will be testament to that.

Stay tuned....