Pitt
EAGL Championships
Women's Gymnastics Boasts Best Showing At EAGL Championship
3/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 20, 2000
PITTSBURGH - The women's gymnastics team had its most successful showing in the five-year history of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championship on March 18. The Panthers, who hosted this year's event, placed second (195.275) behind champion North Carolina State (196.000), which won its second-straight title.
Pittsburgh, which finished sixth in the regular season EAGL standings, had its second-highest point total in school history made up of season high team scores on both vault (48.550) and uneven bars (49.100). The Panthers overtook Maryland, which led the competition for most of the evening, in the final round of the championship to place second. The Terrapins struggled on balance beam while Pittsburgh excelled on floor exercise, its most productive event of the season. Senior Lisa Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) helped the Panthers with a score of 9.900 on floor, while Danielle "Freddie" Alba (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and Nathalie Sulpher (Ottawa, Canada/Franco-Quest) each scored a 9.875 on the event. Fronhofer's performance was good for a third-place (tied) finish.
Alba had a strong performance in the all-around, tying for second with a mark of 39.275 and finishing closely behind Gillian Cote of Towson who scored a 39.300. Alba also won her first career EAGL title on balance beam, finishing in a three-way tie for first with a 9.850.
Sophomore Raya Mullin (Runnemeade, N.J./Triton) finished fourth (tied) on bars with a career-high 9.900. Junior Becky Doll (Elmhurst, Ill./York) also had a career-high on vault with a 9.750.
At the annual EAGL banquet held Friday night, several Panthers earned postseason honors. Fronhofer led the way when she was named the 2000 EAGL Scholar-Athlete of the Year for maintaining a 4.00 grade-point average as a biology major. She also earned first-team All-EAGL on floor and second-team honors on vault. Alba and senior Samantha Salyers (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) were named to the All-EAGL first team on beam and bars, respectively, while Sulpher earned her first postseason honors on vault (second team).
In addition, eight Panthers were named to the EAGL All-Academic Team, including Doll, Fronhofer, Pam Lieberman (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas), Vanessa Rutherford (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury), Jennifer Easter (Dover, Del./Caesar Rodney), Amanda Salacinski (Chicopee, Mass./Chicopee), Rebecca Singleton (Poland, Ohio/Boardman) and Lisa Yarosh (Seymour, Conn./Seymour).
Pittsburgh will compete at the NCAA Region V Championships hosted by Penn State on April 1.
