Department of athletics, physical education and recreation
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Women's Gymnastics Opens Season with Weekend Split
Jan. 14, 2008
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Junior Julia Zimmerman and senior Sophia Harrison opened the women's gymnastics season in style on Sunday afternoon, finishing 1-2 in the all-around competition to lead the Engineers to a 1-1 record in a tri-meet at Rhode Island College. MIT (175.100) handily defeated the host Anchorwomen (161.200), but was edged by Division I opponent Brown University (178.075). The meet served as the season-opener for all three squads. Zimmerman, the defending Division III National Champion on the beam and in the all-around, placed first on the vault (9.450), beam (9.275) and floor exercise (9.550) en route to a 36.575 and first-place finish in the all-around. Meanwhile, fellow Engineer Harrison was nearly as impressive, placing second on the vault (9.350) and third on the beam (9.200) to earn an all-around score of 36.200, good enough for second-place. Most impressive about the pairs' top-two finish is that it came in a meet which featured Division I competition from Brown. After a shaky start to the meet on bars, the Cardinal and Gray rebounded in fine fashion on the vault. Zimmerman and Harrison claimed first and second-place in the event, respectively, while an impressive handspring front vault from junior Alison Barnard earned an 8.900 to help pace the Engineers. Fellow junior Laura Kelly (8.750) and freshman Kristen Watkins (8.675) also turned in solid performances to get Tech on track. MIT next moved on to the floor exercise, where junior Rachel Tatem opened with a 7.750 to set the tone. She was followed by Sarah Trowbridge (8.550), Katie Mingo (8.850) and Kelly (8.800), who landed a beautiful double-back. Zimmerman and Harrison (8.900) rounded out the impressive performances for the Engineers. Tech finished the meet on the beam, and thanks to first and third-place finishes from Zimmerman and Harrison, respectively, the team rounded out the competition on a high note. Trowbridge (8.650) and Mingo (8.350) also turned in impressive scores in the event. Overall, MIT won the vault, beam and floor events, with only Brown's victory on the uneven bars preventing the Engineers from earning the sweep. Head coach Jen Miller-McEachern was delighted - if not slightly surprised - with the result of the season-opening meet. "Traditionally, our goal for the first meet of the season has always been to have everyone walk out of the gym the same way they came in; happy and healthy," she said. "But little did [the coaching staff] know that the team had a different agenda. They decided that if they stayed supportive and focused on one another, everything would fall into place." MIT will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 19, when it will host Ursinus College, Wilson College and Rhode Island College at 1:00 p.m. in the team's home opener. |
