Women Gymnasts Qualify for NCAA East Regional Championships
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 23, 1998
The Pittsburgh women's gymnastics team qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships with a sixth place finish in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) conference championships this past Saturday at Rutgers University. The NCAA East Regionals will be held April 4 at Pittsburgh's Fitzgerald Field House.
In addition, the Panthers received several conference honors. Pittsburgh Head Coach Debbie Yohman was named Coach of the Year for the first time in the EAGL. Yohman shares this honor with West Virginia head Coach Linda Burdette and North Carolina State's Mark Stevenson. Five gymnasts were named to All-EAGL, including Lisa Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) who received first team honors on vault; Samantha Salyers (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard), first team on bars, Danielle "Freddie" Alba (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt), second team on bars; Colleen Crisi (Woodhaven, Mich./Carlson), second team on beam; and Calli Bodnar (Graytown, Ohio/Oak Harbor), first team on floor.
The Panthers finished the EAGL championships with a score of 192.225. Salyers and Alba were Pittsburgh's top two finishers, as each had second-place finishes on the uneven bars and balance beam, respectively. Salyers tied for second with West Virginia's Kelly Foley with a season-best score of 9.9, and Alba tied her career-best score of 9.9 on the balance beam in a three way tie on the event with North Carolina State's Monica Berry and Jennifer Sommer.
As a team, Pittsburgh finished sixth on the vault with a score of 48.10. The Panthers highest finisher in the event was Fronhofer, who tied for 12th with a 9.7. Pittsburgh junior Erika Flamer (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) was close behind, placing 16th with a 9.675.
The Panthers registered a seventh-place finish on the uneven bars with a score of 47.65. In addition to Salyers' second-place finish, Alba also placed in the top 10, finishing ninth and tying her season-best score of 9.8 on the event.
On the balance beam, Pittsburgh knotched a fourth-place finish (48.625) with Alba placing second and sophomore Pamela Lieberman (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglass) placing 18th with a score of 9.75. Crisi followed in 20th-place with a 9.725 score.
Pittsburgh finished fifth on the floor exercise with a score of 47.85, and Alba was the Panthers' top finisher placing 18th with a 9.65. Senior Joy McElhinny (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) and sophomore Vanessa Rutherford (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) each scored a 9.575 and tied for 23rd.
In all-around competition, Alba was the only Panther to compete, finishing tied for ninth with Towson's Kim Yenco with a 38.450.
University of Pittsburgh 1997-98 Gymnastics Results (9-11 overall, 5-7 EAGL) Date Opponent Time Sunday, January 18 WEST VIRGINIA (192.025-187.875) L Saturday, January 24 MISSOURI, URSINUS (190.10, 188.10, 169.625) 2W Saturday, January 31 at JMU w/Rutgers (187.925, 185.25, 182.125) 2W Friday, February 6-7 at Cat Classic 3rd-190.625 1W, 2L Saturday, February 14 RUTGERS* (190.075-186.625) W Friday, February 20 at Kent (192.675-190.05) L Friday, February 27 OHIO STATE (188.525-187.825) L Sunday, March 8 at New Hampshire (193.575-190.475) L Saturday, March 14 TOWSON (193.15-191.025) W Saturday, March 21 EAGL @ Rutgers 6th-192.225 2W, 5L Saturday, April 4 NCAA East Regionals 6 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. April 16-18 at NCAA Nationals-UCLA TBA Team Scores (Season Highs) Individual Scores (Season Highs) Vault: 48.40 @ UNH-3/8 Vault: Bodnar-9.725 @ UNH-3/8 Bars: *48.575 vs. Towson-3/14 Bars: Salyers-9.9 @ EAGL-3/21 Beam: *48.725 vs. MISS/URS-1/24 Beam: Alba-9.9 - 2X Floor: 48.225 @ Cat Classic-2/6 Floor: Bodnar-9.775 vs. WVU-1/18 Team: 193.15 vs. Towson-3/14 AA: Alba-38.825 vs. Towson-3/14 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Season High) NAME AA V UB BB FX Freddie Alba 38.825 9.675 9.8 9.9 9.75 Calli Bodnar 9.725 9.775 Kristin Bond 9.275 9.7 Tracey Brown 9.65 Sara-Claire Campesino 9.325 9.35 Colleen Crisi 9.775 9.825 9.7 Becky Doll 9.5 Erika Flamer 37.55 9.7 9.30 9.275 9.7 Erin Freyvogel Lisa Fronhofer 9.70 9.625 9.75 Janet Highhill 9.45 9.775 9.65 9.2 Pamela Lieberman 9.65 9.725+ 9.825 Joy McElhinny 9.15 9.65+ Vanessa Rutherford 36.80 9.625 9.1 9.575 9.575 Amanda Salacinski 9.6 Samantha Salyers 9.9 9.075 9.525 TEAM 193.15 48.40 *48.575 *48.725 48.225 * School Record + Collegiate High