by David F.P.
(Scores from Troester)
Here’s just a quick look at the past weekend in New England/New Jersey College Gymnastics. (literally typed hastily for time reasons) There will be more detailed posts to come in future weeks featuring discussions of routines, and more than just score posts. The first few weeks are tough as I rarely see more than a few teams first hand, and in this case due to weather haven’t seen any except on video. As the weeks go on as well I will also delve into more context regarding the teams faced as well as the teams in the region, but in the first few weeks it’s still a period of seeing how the teams are shaping up.

Yale at Penn
Yale scored 181.475 in a defeat versus Pennsylvania who scored 184.9 - Both teams are facing injuries. Both teams only competed five gymnasts on the Uneven Bars and Yale only had five Vaulters and Beam competitors as well. Yale’s Alina Liao edged Penn’s Jordan Brewer, Elise Bowe, and Rebecca Engberg for the top All Around score. Allison Mak and Lauren Tatsuno led the team on Vault with a 8.575, Liao was third with a 9.55, and Sherry Yang added a 9.225. Laura DiPaolo led the Quakers with a 9.75 on that event.
On the bars Liao led the team with a 9.575, and Sarah Hughes added a 9.25, but no other Yale gymnast approached 9 in their depleted rotation. Tatsuno put up a 9.7 on Beam, and Brigitte Kivisto added a 9.6, but the other three Yale gymnasts approached but could not top 9. On floor it was also a tough day for Yale, but Kivisto led the way with a 9.65, Tatsuno and Yang added 9.475s as well, Hughes a 9.35, and Mak and Liao topped 9. It was clearly not the best of days for Yale’s FX squad but on the other hand, if their scores return to normal that’ll be potent. Penn’s Bowe and Lizzie Lowe led the team on Bars with a 9.45, Sarah Parsons led the team on Beam with a 9.625, and Brewer scored a 9.525 in the FX. When things were really broken down the teams were relatively close in the Vault, but Penn took a four point lead on Uneven bars managing to put up more scores despite having only five gymnasts as well. Penn’s beam scoring topped Yale but Yale gained 2 points back on Floor. In the only event Yale had six gymnasts they still put up a solid score.

UNH, Bridgeport, Air Force at Pitt.
New Hampshire set itself up well in the rankings with a 194.025 topping Pitt’s 193.025 by 1 point, but both scores are improving from the week before. D2 Bridgeport scored a 188.475 in their first meet which is quite an opening score for them and it also topped D1 Air Force’s 186.9.
For UNH Helena Diodati and Justine Turner both topped 9.8s on Vault, Katie Caliendo was right behind them and Diane Grey, Danielle Reibold and Julie Sauchuk put up solid scores as well. It was Diodati with a 9.825 on Bars to lead the team followed by Reibold and Grey’s scores above 9.7, Kelsey Alwin and Katie Lawrence added to the good scoring as well. On Beam Taryn LaFountain picked up a 9.875, Chelsea Steinberg’s 9.825 was right behind her, and Turner right behind her as well. Diodati was .025 out of the 9.8s and Keeley Smith and Reibold rounded out the scoring. Turner’s 9.775 was the top floor score for the Wildcats, Lafountain, Sauchuck, Caliendo, and Reibold were closely spaced behind. Reibold also performed as a rare UNH all arounder and picked up a 38.125.
For Bridgeport, Ravin Iasiello’s 9.75 was the top score, Miranda Der, Lorraine Galow, Niki Calderon, Amanda Goodman, and Hannah Forti were all close behind. Galow’s 9.55 was the top mark on Bars with Forti following, and Bethanne Dulany and Der not far behind. On the Beam Bridgeport had their most struggles of the day though Galow’s 9.65 set the pace and Yvonne Scott had a 9.425. On the floor Breanna Collins led the way in her lone event with a 9.625, Galow was behind her, Iasiello right behind, Der right behind her, and Repko adding the fifth highest score of 9.525. Galow posted a 38.425 in the all around and Der a 36.725.
Top performers in brief for Pitt include Dani Bryan and Molly Moyer who had 9.8s on Vault, with Alicia Talucci and Shannon McConnell close behind. Alix Croop had a 9.8 on the Bars, and Victoria McGuigan-Carl a 9.725. Croop again hit a 9.8 on the Beam, and Shannon Vafiadou and Jessica Byich were right behind. On the Floor it was Krista Rubini’s 9.775 at the top, with Talucci and Croop close.
For Air Force, Sammi Jones had a 9.675 on Vault and Abbey Rogers was close. Rogers had the top 9.625 score on Bars, and a 9.725 to lead the team on Beam. On the floor, Jenna Dudley’s 9.75 was the top score of the day. Five AF gymnasts competed all around. Dudley and Rogers had 37.1. Lisa Wong a 37.075, and Brittany Dutton and Sammi Jones were close behind.

Towson at Brown
The Defending ECAC D1 champs Towson topped Brown 189 to 185.95 as snow pelted the region.
Brown put forth a mix of half newcomers and half veterans in their lineup. On the Vault Lilly Siems had the top score of 9.35 with Carli Wiesenfeld, Chelsey Binkley, Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt, and Vicki Zanelli all adding scores above between that and 9 as well. Zanelli’s 9.4 was the top score on Bars for the team, Jennifer Sobuta added a 9.3, and Melissa Bowe and Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt added scores about 9. On the Beam, Wiesenfeld led a solid rotation for the Bears with a 9.6. Siems posted a 9.5, Katie Goddard a 9.4, Zanelli a 9.375, and Binkley added a 9.025. On the Floor Binkley rebounded from the Beam and posted a 9.725, Goddard put up a 9.6, Helen Segal a 9.55, Whitney Diederich a 9.45 to round out the scores above 9. Siems had a 36.375 all around score for the day. Brown’s newcomers have made an impact quickly. Top performers for Towson included Alise McDonald’s 9.725 and Avis Hixon’s 9.675 on Vault. Kacy Catanzaro’s 9.675 on Bars, Jackie Schweitzer’s 9.775 and Alyssa Dittman’s 9.7 on Beam, and Hixon’s 9.675, and McDonald’s 9.65 on Floor. McDonald also posted a 37.9 All Around and Megan Wooden a 37.625

Rutgers at GW Invitational
To detail all six times would take quite a while so I’ll focus on Rutgers who put up a 186.25 in the event. Alyssa Lewandowski had a 9.575 for the team’s top vault score, Kiah Banfield and Latara Northcutt were close behind her, Alexandra Belvis and Maddie Zwiebel were just a few tenths behind. On the Bars it was a tough day but Kristy Behr’s 9.5 topped the team, Nicole Schwartz, Northcutt, and Prishani Seebadri were close behind. On the Beam, Danae Johnson’s 9.675 set the pace, Schwartz had a 9.5, and Alison Hartwig, Jessica Haddaway, and Northcutt added solid scores as well. Johnson’s 9.6 was the top FX score, Lewandowski and Northcutt added scores within a few tenths as well. Northcutt had a 37.15 in the All Around as well.

MIT, SCSU, Ithaca at Cortland
Cortland and Ithaca’s score aren’t up on Troester yet so I’ll have to deal just with MIT and SCSU in a vacuum. SCSU put up a 181.8 likely in part to a tougher day than usual on the Floor. A solid Vault rotation was led by Taylor Murray’s 9.425, Briana DiPinto’s 9.3, and Justine Basley, Taylor Wierzba, Jessica Kiback, and Samantha Pernal all posting solid scores as well. On the Bars, Sarah Darst continued to score well on her specialty with a 9.65, Basley had a 9.5, Sarah Holensworth topped 9 and the rest of the competitors were below 9 on an event with some struggles it would seem. On the Beam it looks like it was a tough time, with DiPinto’s 9.475 being the only score about 9, though most of the team was close. Floor was uncharacteristic as Basley’s 9.25 and DiPinto’s 9.2 were lower then their usuals. Wierzba put in a 9 for the 3rd highest score and the other 3 gymnasts were posting high 8s. Basley’s 36.925 was the lone all around score for the Owls.
MIT put up a 170.425 while having some tough events and also only having Julia Zimmerman for one event. It was a perfect storm to create an unusually low score for the Engineers. Leanna Morinishi and Karis Stevenson put up top scores of 9.175 on Vault, and Elizabeth Stavely added a 9.125. On the bars it was a tough day with no score above 9. On the Beam a similar occurrence came about. Floor was also tough as Katie Mingo hit a 9.2, but that was the only score above 9 for a very young team.