Pitt
Michigan State
Panthers Drop Meet At Michigan State, 193.875-193.475
2/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 11, 2012
PITTSBURGH -
The Pitt gymnastics squad led Michigan State until the final rotation, the balance beam, falling to the Spartans, 193.875-193.475. The Panthers move to 3-4 overall and are 2-2 in EAGL action.
“It was not the way we wanted to end the meet tonight, and not the way we’ve been competing,” head coach Debbie Yohman said. “We’re disappointed of course in our beam performance, especially the kids themselves. I don’t think it will happen again though. They have so much more confidence in themselves and we have so much confidence in them, it was just a fluke. On the other three events and for half of the beam, we did everything we set out to do for this meet and that’s a good thing. Regardless of our beam performance, this was still a real nice road score and we’re looking forward to improving on that.”
The Panthers started out the night on the uneven bars, scoring a season-high 48.675. They were led by junior Alyssa Adrian, who scored a career-high 9.825 and finished second on the event. Also scoring on the bars was freshman Haley Bodenheimer, who tied for third with a career-high 9.775.
On vault, Pitt’s freshmen and veteran Alicia Talucci paved the way as she tied with rookies Bodenheimer and Haley Sedgewick for second with a score of 9.825. Both Bodenheimer and Sedgewick recorded their career-highs with that score. The squad had a collective effort on vault as well, as they again scored a season-best 48.825.
Moving on to the floor exercise, sophomore Katie O’Rourke claimed the title for the second consecutive week as she scored a 9.825 to lead all gymnasts. Also scoring for the Panthers were Bodenheimer in a tie for second (9.800), Talucci tied for fourth with the third best score (9.775) and Sedgewick tied for sixth with the fourth best score (9.750). Bodenheimer has not scored lower than a 9.800 on the floor all season. Pitt’s team score of 48.825 ties for their second highest score of the season.
Entering the final event of the night, the Panthers held a commanding lead. Pitt was forced to count two falls on the balance beam and relinquished the lead. Pitt recorded a team score of 47.150. The Panthers were led by senior Lisa Taylor and O’Rourke, who each tied for second with a 9.700 on the event as Pitt’s only scorers.
Bodenheimer again claimed the all-around event with a score of 38.400.
The Panthers will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. against Bowling Green at Fitzgerald Field House.
