Panthers Ready For Tough Competition At EAGL Championships
3/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Panthers Ready For Tough Competition At EAGL Championships
3/16/2004
Pittsburgh's Alyse Zeffiro is tied for fifth nationally with an RQS of 9.95 on the floor exercise. |
PITTSBURGH ? Many of the nation's top collegiate gymnasts will be at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday evening for the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championships at 6 p.m.
The Panthers (13-8-1, 4-4-1 EAGL) are currently ranked fifth in the conference and 34th in the nation heading into Saturday's meet. Visiting teams include 13th-ranked North Carolina, 21st-ranked West Virginia and 23rd-ranked North Carolina State. The other teams competing include Maryland (32nd), New Hampshire (38th), Towson (43rd) and Rutgers (50th).
Pittsburgh senior Alyse Zeffiro (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) is one of eight EAGL gymnasts ranked among the top 25 nationally in an event. Zeffiro is tied for fifth in the nation on the floor exercise with a Region Qualifying Score of 9.95. She became the first Pittsburgh gymnast in history to record a perfect 10.0 score at the Fitzgerald Field House on March 9 against West Virginia and James Madison. Zeffiro also posted a 10.0 on the vault that afternoon.
The top floor competitor in the country is North Carolina's Courtney Bumpers, with a perfect 10.0 RQS. She is also tied for 12th on the balance beam, tied for 24th on vault and is the 12th-ranked all-around gymnast in the nation. Her teammate, Olivia Trusty, is the 22nd-ranked all-arounder and is tied for seventh on the floor exercise. Christine Robella of the Tar Heels is tied with Trusty on the floor exercise, earning a top 10 spot nationally.
West Virginia's Janae Cox is tied for 16th among NCAA all-arounders and a couple spots below her at 19th is Maryland's Rachel Martinez. Ranked among the top 10 nationally on the uneven parallel bars is Towson's Juliya Kovaliova, with several scores of 9.9 or better in the event. Also ranked in the top 20 on the balance beam is Maryland's Sarah Hoenig.
This is the ninth EAGL Championships meet and New Hampshire is the defending champion after hosting the event in 2003. Other past EAGL winners include North Carolina (2002), North Carolina State (1999 and 2000) and West Virginia (1996-98, 2001). Pittsburgh's top finish was in 2000, placing second at the Fitzgerald Field House.