University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Prepare for Mountaineers and Golden Bears
3/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 8, 2006
PITTSBURGH - The Pitt Panthers (11-7, 3-5 EAGL) will take on the Mountaineers for the third consecutive meet in the past week and a half. After losing their first home meet of the season to West Virginia, Pitt is ready for another league victory. This will also be the first ever meeting between Pitt and UC Berkeley. Cal the second new team to be added to the Pitt schedule this season along with Penn.
"We dodged some bullets tonight," Head Coach Debbie Yohman said after Tuesday's meet with the Mountaineers and James Madison. "We were wonderful in warm ups, but we didn't quite compete the way we like. But we're getting better little by little. We didn't count a fall in the meet, and I think winning against West Virginia is definitely within our reach."
The tri-meet was an evening of season and career highs for the Panthers, a trend they'd like to continue into Friday's meet. Sophomore Samantha DeBone (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield)set a career-high 9.825 on the uneven bars to finish third. Freshman Victoria McGuigan-Carl (Reading, Pa./Exeter) scored a career-high 9.625 on the balance beam, and sophomore Nicole Drane (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) set a new career high of 38.275 in the all-around. The team set a season-high score of 48.900 on the floor exercise to give them first place on the event. Several gymnasts improved their floor routines including Jessica Garber (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster) and Robyn Marszalek (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), both scoring season-high 9.800s.
After Friday's tri-meet, the Panthers will have one regular season competition left when they host Penn State on Saturday, March 18, at 7 p.m.
