Though the gymnastics team was outscored by No. 11 University of Oklahoma (196.375), No. 13 University of Missouri (196.225) and No. 18 West Virginia (195.250), the Bears held their own last Friday at the University of Oklahoma, posting a 185.950 against some of the strongest programs in the country. The Bears set a number of personal bests and season-high scores despite falling short of team scoring aspirations for the weekend.
"We may not have had our best meet of the season, but considering how strong the competition was, we were not disappointed," said co-captain Stephanie Albert '10.
On vault, Carli Wiesenfeld '12 earned a season-high 9.625 to lead off the Bears in 19th place. Following were Helen Segal '10 (9.575), Chelsey Binkley '11 (9.525), Victoria Zanelli '11 (9.500), Melissa Bowe '11 (9.425) and Lauren Tucker '12 (9.250). Brown earned a total of 47.650 on vault, the best team score this season for the Bears.
Lilly Siems '12, also with a personal best, recorded Brown's top score on the bars, with a 9.550. Bowe (9.200) and Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt '10 (9.025) helped the Bears tally a 45.275.
Binkley tied her season-high of 9.650 to earn 16th place on the beam, while co-captain Jennifer Sobuta '09 was close behind, earning 9.625 for 17th place. Tucker followed with a 9.500 and Katie Goddard '12 with a 9.050 for a team combined score of 46.625.
On the floor exercise, Binkley, Wiesenfeld and Zanelli each scored a 9.400 for 19th place, while Segal (9.275) and Goddard (8.925) brought the Brown mark to 46.400.
Zanelli notched a 36.075 in the all-around, finishing in eighth-place.
Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne said she is optimistic heading into the Bears' next competition at the Ivy Classic at Yale University on Feb. 28.
"We did score our highest total on vault this weekend, but the girls let their nerves get the best of them on the other events," Carver-Milne said. "They know what they need to correct before Ivies next weekend. We will work hard this week. We are excited to have our strongest performance at Yale on Saturday."
