Department of athletics, physical education and recreation
|
|
Zimmerman Vaults into Record Books in Weekend Quad-Meet
Feb. 12, 2007
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Sophomore Julia Zimmerman broke the eight-year-old Institute record for the all-around competition by amassing an astonishing 38.175 in a quad-meet at Southern Connecticut State University on Sunday afternoon. The Chicago, Ill., native also notched a school-record 9.600 on the vault by performing the first front-handspring-front-layout in the history of Div. III women's gymnastics. Zimmerman's amazing contribution, which easily earned her the all-around crown, helped the Engineers finish third in the meet with a team score of 174.75. SUNY-Brockport won the competition with a 184.100, while Southern Connecticut (183.35) and Rhode Island College (170.925) rounded out the scoring. Zimmerman tied for first-place on both the vault and bars (9.45), while finishing second in both beam (9.525) and floor (9.60). Her all-around score of 38.175 broke the mark set by Sonja Ellefson, who collected a 38.135 in 1999. While head coach Jen Miller-McEachern was absolutely delighted with the individual performance of Zimmerman, she was even more impressed with the sophomore's insistence upon sharing the plaudits with her teammates. "As they were announcing the individual winners, Julia made sure that she was surrounded by the 11 people that helped her make history - her team," she said. Though the sophomore sensation's heroics were clearly the major highlights of the afternoon, there were other solid performances that helped buoy the team. Senior Lara Hershcovitch set the tone for the day by opening the competition with an 8.75 on the floor, introducing a new one-and-a-half twist on her last tumbling pass. Junior Sarah Trowbridge (8.825), sophomore Laura Kelly (8.825) and freshman Katie Mingo (9.05) all helped Tech gain the momentum that was key to spurring on Zimmerman's performance. In addition to the history-making vault of Zimmerman, senior Ashley Tran also got the squad excited by performing in the event for the first time since tearing her ACL last June. She was impressive in picking up a 9.05. Freshmen Gillian Conahan and Gina Policelli were solid in fill-in roles on the bars for the Cardinal and Gray, as the pair of first-years stepped up to plug the gap left by the injured Alison Barnard and Sophia Harrison. Beam was MIT's top event, earning the highest team score of 45.800. Trowbridge (9.225) and Hershcovitch (9.125) notched great marks, while Zimmerman's top score helped push the squad's tally over the top. The Engineers (1-12) will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 17, when they will host Rhode Island College in the duPont Gymnasium. |
