Record start for Gymnastics

It was the kind of performance any gymnastics coach would have been proud to see midway through the season. It came, though, in the season opener. To the astonishment of Quakers coach Tom Kovic, the promising Penn gymnastics team -- competing in its first meet of the season Saturday in Hutchinson Gymnasium -- tied the team record for total points scored while hosting a solid Cornell squad. The Quakers (1-0 Ivy League) finished with an overall score of 191.250, matching the team points record set midway through last season against Temple. The Big Red (0-1) ended the day with a team score of 185.700. The Red and Blue also broke the team record on the uneven bars with a mark of 47.450. "This is by far the strongest start in the history of the program," said Kovic, who saw his team shatter its previous scoring record in a season opener by over four points. "It's just incredible -- it tells us how deep and how strong we are." And the measure of the depth and strength of the Penn squad's weekend performance may still be growing. According to Kovic, the Quakers may actually have broken the team scoring record on Saturday. The Penn coach said over the phone yesterday that there was a "minor mix-up" in the scoring of the vaulting competition over the weekend, and that Penn freshman Sarena Syma's score of 9.55 -- good for fourth place in the event -- was mistakenly left off of the score sheet and out of the points total. Kovic said that that an official score change should be announced today or tomorrow after all of the correct measures to alter the final meet score have been taken with the NCAA. If the new score stands, Penn will break its total points record with a new team score of 191.650. The thing that Kovic said excites him most about this record-breaking result is that his best squad wasn't even competing for the Quakers on Saturday. Missing a core group of veterans due to a combination of injuries and illness, Kovic had to call on four freshmen to compete in their first collegiate meet this weekend against a Cornell team that edged the Quakers by .535 points in last year's season opener. The rookies wound up delivering as if they were four-year veterans. Quakers freshmen Anna Wilson and Christy Green finished first and second in the vault with scores of 9.650 and 9.625, respectively. The pair of rookies flipped postions in the uneven bars, as Green took the top spot with a score of 9.700 and Wilson finished with 9.575 points. Penn freshman Tricia Chan took third in the bars with a 9.500 finish. Syma's performance was not overlooked in the balance beam and floor competitions as it was in the vault. Syma finished first on the beam with a score of 9.750, beating out Penn senior and co-captain Sarah Bruscia's bid for the top spot by .050. Syma also edged Wilson by .025 points to claim first place in the floor competition. Penn senior and co-captain Jenn Capasso won the all-around competition with a final score of 38.000. But Kovic's focus was not as much on individual performances as it was on the bright future of his team after the record-tying final score was announced on Saturday. "It's one of those things where the potential is just limitless," the 14-year coach said with an amazed look in his eyes. Gesturing to the group of victorious Penn gymnasts celebrating together on the mat, he added, "The exciting thing is that they realize it, too."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.