Gymnastics ready for big one

The time has come for the Penn gymnastics team to prove itself as a competitive member of the Ancient Eight.

The Quakers will have the shot in this weekend's Ivy Classic when they face Cornell, Yale and Brown in Providence, R.I., this Sunday at 1 p.m.

"The whole season has been leading up to this meet," Penn freshman Colleen McGue said."In practice we're always telling each other, 'Pretend like it's the Ivies.'"

Still winless in the Ivy League, the Red and Blue (0-3 Ivy) are hoping to pull out a surprising result against the other squads.

Penn's upset hopes are buoyed after last weekend's season high score of 188.75.

While the Quakers still placed fourth out of five schools, last weekend's result does offer promise for the Classics.

"I was very satisfied with our performance," said McGue. "Not necessarily in the placing, but we finally pulled our routines together."

The Quakers are using their recent success to help them build momentum for the Ivy Classic.

"Anything can happen," Red and Blue freshman Leah Moon said, "I think it's a possibility we could win if we just do the best we can."

In practice, the Quakers focused on repetition and pulling out routines under pressure, which has been a consistent problem for them this season.

"This week we did a lot of mental preparation," McGue said. "We have a lot of energy going into this event."

Last year Penn finished second to Yale at the Ivy Classic. They also took home the vaulting championship with a season-high score of 9.85.

With several strong freshmen joining the team this year and the leadership of senior co-captain Lauren Hittner, the Quakers are hoping to notch their first Ivy League win in the championships.

Before being injured last season, Hittner was ECAC All-Around champion in 2000.

"As a team we are the underdogs," said McGue. "And we're ready to go in there and show them what we're made of... it's the biggest meet of our season."

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