Women's gymnastics went back on the road this weekend to College Park, Maryland to face the University of Maryland, Ball State and Temple.
Despite minimal faults and no major falls, Cornell still finished fourth with a total score of 193.175. Head coach Melanie Hall believed that the results seemed odd.
“We counted zero falls, so that’s always a good day when that happens,” Hall said. “I think some of the scores were a little weird. I don’t know how else to say it. They’re just somewhere a little lower than what we thought they should have been.”
Regardless of the team’s overall standing, this marks only the fourth time this season that Cornell has finished with a score over 193.00.
The Red got started on the floor exercise, scoring a 48.450. Junior Addy Rothstein and sophomore Sarah Goetter tied with the team’s highest score of 9.750. Senior Cami Whitaker scored a 9.700, which marks the second week in a row that she has scored a 9.700 or higher on the event.
Freshman Ella Fox has been a solid gymnast on the floor exercise scoring only below a 9.650 three times this year. Hall knows that when it comes to the freshmen, there is a different kind of pressure present.
“When you’re in middle and high school, you’re competing for yourself,” Hall said. “When you get to college it’s much more of a team aspect and … there’s more pressure. I think the freshmen in general have done a phenomenal job kind of adjusting to that change.”
Next, Cornell competed on vault, finishing with the same total score earned on floor with a 48.450. Once again, Whitaker walked away with a team-best of 9.775.
Whitaker has been consistent in bringing the best performance on vault. As a senior, Whitaker has had a great impact on the team.
“She is going to be very much missed on both vault and floor because she is super consistent and her difficulty has increased over the years and her consistency has increased.” Hall said.
Whitaker frequently brings the team’s highest score and also has the highest start value on vault.
“The maximum she can get is our highest start value,” Hall added. “It’s worth a 10 … almost everybody else is worth either a 9.90 or a 9.95.”
Almost everyone on the team performs a modification of a Yurchenko full, giving them a general start value of 9.95, while Whitaker performs a Yurchenko tuck 1.5, bringing her start value to the maximum of 10.
Next, the Red swiftly moved onto the uneven bars where it scored a 48.200 as a team. The uneven bars have been the only event that has yet to welcome any freshmen into the lineup.
The Red’s starting six has been quite consistent with senior captain Morgen Shambo, junior captain Josie Moylan, Rothstein, sophomores Ava Schenck-Davis, Goetter, Dahlia Jhaveri and occasionally junior captain Natalia Tehrani and sophomore Nora Sherman switching for the final spot.
This lineup seems to have been working quite well for the team. The team has been routinely finishing with no major faults throughout the season while scoring over a 48.00. This weekend seemed to be no different.
Schenck-Davis and Jhaveri secured the team-bests this week with a 9.675. Goetter and Shambo followed suit with scores of 9.650 and 9.625 respectively.
The Red finished off its night with the balance beam, ending with a score of 48.075. Tehrani and sophomore Anne MacKenzie obtained the highest scores for the team with a 9.775.
Freshman Lauren Golioto was added into the beam lineup for the first time last week and kept her place for this meet as well.
“In the fall, she had come in with an injury and we were just working through it and making sure she was super strong before we put her in the lineup,” Hall said.
The Red’s next competition is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday in West Chester, Pennsylvania at the West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
