The Yale gymnastics team scored its second win of the season this weekend, beating Temple at the New Hampshire Invitational, finishing with a score of 191.300. But the Elis failed to overcome No. 14 Auburn and No. 27 New Hampshire.
The win this weekend came as a welcome confidence boost for the Bulldogs, who look to repeat last year’s Ivy League championship performance when they travel to Ithaca, N.Y. next weekend.
Brynne Kennedy ’06 said the team saw the results of the New Hampshire Invitational in a positive light.
“We weren’t really expecting to beat [Auburn or UNH],” Kennedy said. “We were trying to do our best and get some good scores. Our goal for the weekend was to beat Temple, so most of us saw the meet as a win.”
In gymnastics, a team’s scores during its regular season meets are what determine post-season berths. Thus, Yale still has a good shot at making the NCAA Regional Championships because the Elis have been consistently scoring in the 190s and their opponents have been highly competitive. This weeekend’s UNH invitational was the third straight meet in which the Bulldogs scored better than 190.
Leeron Avnery ’06 said beating Temple also came with the sweet taste of revenge.
“We lost to Temple last year when we went to West Virginia, so it felt good to beat them this time,” Avnery said.
Kathryn Fong ’05 tied for second on uneven bars with a 9.850, while Fong and Anne McPherson ’06 tied for second on the balance beam with twin scores of 9.825.
Suchitra Paul ’07 praised Fong and McPherson’s performances.
“Anne did great on beam, and Kat placed on bars and beam, so they’re both doing really well,” Paul said.
Yale won the Ivy League championship last year, and this year the Bulldogs are looking to repeat that achievement. The Elis are confident they can do it.
“We’re really a much more prepared, healthy, and put-together team than we were at the beginning of the season,” Kennedy said. “We just have to keep practices up throughout the week and work hard and perform the way we have been over the past few competitions and we should do really well.”
The Elis remain one of the top-scoring teams in the Ivy League going into next weekend’s Ivy League championships.
Avnery said consistency would bring the Bulldogs the title.
“We’ve been scoring in the 190s the past few weeks,” Avnery said. “All we have to do to make sure we can win is stay up in the 191-192 range, which is definitely possible.”
Paul said she agreed.
“We’ve been doing pretty consistently well,” Paul said. “Everything’s coming together finally and I think we’ll be ready. Our team has been through a lot this year and to win Ivies would be really rewarding.”
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