The Penn gymnastics team knew that winning the Ivy Classic on March 9 depended on performing with the consistency that had been so elusive throughout the regular season. Although the Quakers (7-7, 4-2 Ivy League) put together a solid score of 181.300, they lacked the consistency necessary to challenge the balanced Yale performance as the Elis (6-6, 6-0) captured the Ivy title with a score of 184.725. It was a battle between Penn and Yale from the start -- neither Brown nor Cornell made any challenge for the title. Brown (2-15, 1-5) finished third with a score of 172.615 and home-team Cornell (2-11, 1-5) finished last with a 172.325. The Quakers opened the meet on the balance beam, a major problem source in the first half of the season. But over the last three meets leading up to the Ivy Classic, the team had drastically improved its scores by simply not falling off the beam as often. At the Ivy Classic, Penn junior captain Lori Taylor led off on the beam with a solid 8.900. But much of the rest of the team struggled. Only freshman Molly Sullivan scored above a 9.000, earning a 9.300. As a team, Penn earned a 44.200 on the beam, a full two points below Yale. The Quakers looked to the second rotation -- the floor routine -- to overcome the early deficit. The team reacted with a balanced performance, earning one of the best team scores of the season on the floor. Sullivan led the team on the way to a 46.750 combined score with a solid 9.500. Sophomore Kathleen Gunn was not far behind with a 9.425. Taylor also performed well on the way to scoring a 9.300. But at the halfway point of the meet, Yale still had a comfortable 93.05 to 90.95 lead. Penn would need to top its best performances of the year in each of the last two events to have any hope of catching up to the Elis. To do this, the Quakers needed to score in the 47-point range in both the vault and the uneven bars, events that have not been sources of particularly high scores in the regular season. Penn senior Shelly Waldman, performing in her last Ivy Classic, opened with an 8.825 that was immediately topped by freshman teammate Suzi Marin's 9.000. Sophomore Meredith Daly followed with a 9.050, while Gunn garnered a respectable 9.075. But it was Sullivan again who came through with the team's top score, a 9.275. Going into the uneven bars, the Quakers were trailing 138.90 to 136.25, a deficit that demanded a near-perfect performance in one of Penn's weakest events. And although the Quakers registered their second-highest score of the season at 45.100, there wouldn't be any miracles at the Ivy Classic. In the end, the consistency of the Yale squad stood out as the primary difference between the champion Elis and the Quakers. Yale defeated Penn in every event, both on the individual level and as a team. But not one of the first place finishes that Yale earned was higher than those that Penn reached at some point throughout the season. "Yale did a terrific job," Kovic said. "They were nearly flawless. They deserved to win on Saturday." The meet was not without highlights for Penn. Sullivan formally announced to the Ivy League that she is a dominating force by winning the all-around title. Although Sullivan did not win one individual event, she earned just enough points to defeat Yale gymnast Anna Mitescu, 37.225 to 37.025. Sullivan is only the fifth Penn gymnast to win the all-around and only the second Quakers freshman to do so. Sullivan's teammate Carin Kaplan finished fourth in the overall, and Kathleen Gunn finished sixth.
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