The gymnastics team closed out the season with a sixth-place finish at the ECAC Championships in New Haven on March 21, totaling 188.175 points to beat out host Yale by 3.725 points in the seven-team event.
"I think we did well," said Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne. "We were really hoping to finish off the season with a 190, so that was a little bit disappointing, but I think we definitely made improvements."
"The girls went into the meet focused and not intimidated, which was great to see," Carver-Milne said.
Towson University scored 193.325 points to take home the title, followed by Cornell (193.050), Temple (191.475), William and Mary (190.125) and Penn (190.075).
Whitney Diederich '09 and co-captain Jennifer Sobuta '09 both turned in strong performances in the final meet of their careers. After the meet, Victoria Zanelli '11 was selected to compete in the all-around at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals.
The Bears took a big step forward from the 2008 ECAC Championships, when they tallied 183.050 points and finished last out of eight teams.
"We definitely improved on last year's performance," Zanelli said. "We had a couple mistakes and we could have done better, but overall it was a pretty good performance."
The Bears totaled a 46.825 on the vault, led by Lilly Siems '12 and Carli Wiesenfeld '12, who each scored a 9.425 to tie for 26th place. Three Bears secured 32nd through 34th places, as Lauren Tucker '12 posted a 9.350, Chelsey Binkley '11 followed with a 9.325 and Helen Segal '10 notched a 9.300.
Sobuta posted Brown's highest finish of the day, taking eighth on the bars with a 9.575. Vida Rivera '11 followed in 19th with a 9.450, while Melissa Bowe '11 finished in 22nd with a 9.375. Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt '10 posted a 9.275 for 26th place, and Zanelli placed 28th with a 9.100, as the Bears combined for a 46.775 on the bars.
Tucker led Bruno on the beam with a 9.650, good for 21st place.
"She had a tremendous performance on all three events," Carver-Milne said.
Siems trailed just behind in 24th place with a 9.625. Binkley posted a 9.350 for 34th, Wiesenfeld notched a 9.150 for 38th and Sobuta turned in a 9.075 to finish in 40th place. The Bears totaled 46.850 on the beam.
The Bears posted their strongest showing on the floor exercise, combining for 47.725. Binkley took 15th with a 9.650, while Segal and Katie Goddard '12 followed just behind in 19th place with a 9.625. Zanelli took 29th with a 9.450, while Diederich and Tucker each notched a 9.375 to finish in 32nd place.
Zanelli posted a 36.650 in the all-around to finish in 13th place.
"It wasn't one of my best performances this season, but I did all right," Zanelli said. "I didn't contribute as much as I could have - I let the pressure get to me, but I didn't collapse completely."
Both Carver-Milne and Zanelli praised the final performances of Sobuta and Diederich.
"Jen made her dismount (on the bars) for the first time this season," Zanelli said. "Whitney hit her routine as consistently as she has this whole season. I was really proud to see them both hit their routines."
Though all six of Brown's opponents notched at least one top-five finish on an event, Carver-Milne said she was not upset that no Bear finished higher than eighth.
"I think our scores weren't completely reflective of our performances, so I'm not disappointed in how they performed," Carver-Milne said. "I think in our minds we definitely did well, especially on the floor exercise, and whether or not we were rewarded with great scores was out of our control."
The season is over for most of the team, but Zanelli will return to New Haven on April 9-11 to compete at the USAG Collegiate Nationals at Southern Connecticut State University. Binkley was named an alternate for the floor exercise.
Zanelli will be named an All-American if she qualifies for each event's finals, but to do that she will need to improve on her showing at last year's Nationals, when she struggled to earn a 34.925 all-around score.
"Last year I kind of spazzed and was really nervous," Zanelli said. "This year I'm expecting to do as well as I have been this season and to hit four-for-four and hopefully come back an All-American on an event."
Meanwhile, the rest of the team will prepare for next season and dream big, hoping to improve on this year's second-place finish at the Ivy Classic.
"We definitely want that Ivy title," Carver-Milne said. "I think we had a taste of success this year with this team. We're losing two seniors, which obviously is going to be tough, because they've given so much to the program and they've had such great leadership and consistency. But we're gaining five freshmen next year, and I think this team will only get stronger."
