After suffering a disappointing defeat against three nationally ranked teams last weekend in New Hampshire, the gymnastics team rebounded this Sunday and defeated the University of Bridgeport.
Competing in the Pizzitola Center, the Bears did not disappoint the home crowd as they outscored the Purple Knights a season-high 186.125 points to 180.575. In addition to another tally in the win column, the team posted several individual personal and season highs.
The team won every event except the vault, where it fell to Bridgeport, 45.725 to 45.150. The Bears soundly defeated the Purple Knights on the uneven bars, 46.950 to 44.025 and were equally impressive on the balance beam, winning 46.450 to 44.600. Brown also comfortably won the floor exercise, which was its highest scoring event, outperforming Bridgeport 47.575 to 46.225. Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne said the meet was a great success and that it was team's best meet of the entire season.
Alicia Sacramone '10 led the Bears yet again with victories on the bars, beam, floor and the all-around competition. Her best performances were on the beam and floor, scoring 9.85 on both. On bars, Sacramone posted a 9.750. By the end of the day, she had tallied 38.750 points in the all-around.
The Bears were overpowering on the bars, sweeping the top four spots. Co-captain Hannah Goldstein '08 took second behind Sacramone, posting a 9.525. Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt '10 finished third with a 9.475, and Jennifer Sobuta '09 took fourth with a 9.250. Goldstein, Kirkham-Lewitt and Sobuta's efforts were all season highs.
Co-captain Sarah Durning '08 said Sunday's lineup for the bars was the best all season.
Brown had a one-two punch in the beam competition, with Sacramone taking first and Sobuta finishing second. Carver-Milne pointed to Sobuta's performance as particularly noteworthy.
"Jen Sobuta scored 9.75 in the last three meets. It was great that she got a personal best of 9.8," she said.
On floor, Bridgeport's Katherine Reitz took second behind Sacramone with a 9.575, and Bruno's Kirkham-Lewitt nabbed third with a season-high performance of 9.525. Although they fell short of top three, Goldstein and Alanna Kwoka '10 successfully added a new element into their routines - a double back - which will make them more competitive in next week's competition.
Though the Bears did not win the vault, they still had strong results. Kwoka, last week's ECAC Rookie of the Week, led the field with a 9.425, while Sobuta took third with a 9.375. Reitz, however, denied Brown a sweep on the podium, capturing second place with a 9.35.
The team's depth was best demonstrated by the all-around results, which combines each gymnast's scores for all four events. Brown swept the top four spots in the all-around - Sacramone won with 38.750 points, Sobuta finished second with a season high of 37.850, Kwoka took third with 36.600 and Kirkham-Lewitt finished fourth with 36.500.
"Everyone felt really good about the meet," Goldstein said. "This definitely was a confidence boost for next weekend."
Next weekend, the team heads into the most important meet of the season - the Ivy Classic at the University of Pennsylvania. The team has been working all season in order to perform its best at this competition and improve upon last year's last-place finish.
But the absence of Durning and Rachel Foodman '09 due to injury and the limited size of the team are daunting obstacles for the Bears to overcome. Every Bear healthy enough to perform must hit her routines perfectly in order for the team to be competitive.
UPenn is the slight favorite to win the Ivy title, as it sits in the No. 2 spot in the ECAC rankings. But Cornell and Yale are right on the Quakers' heels, claiming the third and fourth spots on the list. Brown is farther down, coming in eighth. In the end, however, no amount of speculation can determine how teams will perform under the pressure of the winner-takes-all meet.
When asked the team's goal this Sunday, Carver-Milne, Durning and Goldstein answered without hesitation: "To win." The team is taking every measure this week to ensure victory, said Durning.
"We are trying to make sure we are as confident as we can be going in," she said. "If we feel good at practice, then we'll feel confident at the meet. We're working hard at the gym, and everyone is ecstatic."
Goldstein is likewise confident in her team's ability and believes the Bears are at an advantage because of their underdog status.
"This is the strongest team I have ever been on at Brown," she said. "What we have going for us is no one is expecting us to win, and no one knows our potential."
