Gymnastics to take on Yale

The key to making mistakes is to learn from them, and that is what the young Penn gymnastics team hopes to do when it travels to New Haven, Conn., to meet Yale Saturday. After a dismal performance at the George Washington Invitational last weekend, the team went through a week of vigorous practice in order to prepare for their Ivy League rivals. "It is going to be an exciting meet," sophomore Kathleen Gunn said. "Yale is very competitive." Penn's squad enters the meet with a 1-0 record in the Ivy League and a 3-3 record overall. Yale is also 1-0 in the Ivy and 2-1 overall. The teams will face each other at 1 p.m. Saturday, weather permitting. The forecast calls for snow, and the team has already been stranded en route to Ithaca, N.Y. once this year. Penn coach Tom Kovic said he hoped to see specific improvements in the bar and beam events. He knows Yale has a strong team and respects their talent. Yet Kovic has his sights set to "hit" every event. Learning from the experience at George Washington, the Quakers know that to hit, they must minimize their errors. Junior captain Lori Taylor admitted that last weekend was tough, but the team has a positive attitude for the upcoming competition. As one of the few upperclasssmen on the team, she already knows how fierce Saturday's meet will be, and looks forward to watching many of her novice teammates perform against the Elis for the first time. To win, the Quakers must perform consistently and reduce the flaws in their routines. A number of gymnasts believe that major improvements on the bar and beam are needed. Only two Quakers, Kathleen Dunn and Molly Sullivan, will compete in all four events -- the bars, beam, floor and vault. The event to watch will be the even bars. Yale is known to have a very balanced team and is particularly strong on the bars. Being one of the weaker events for Penn, the gymnasts must perform near flawlessly.

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