SportsBrief (2/12/02)

Gymnastics edges Ursinus for victory

As the Penn gymnastics team entered the gym Friday, the look on the faces of the Quakers evidenced that they were ready to fight for a win.

And in an intense final rotation, they fought hard.

Trailing by 1.325 with one event to go, the Quakers edged out Ursinus for a second place finish with 183.7.

Temple commanded the meet with a first-place score of 187.5 while the Bears finished last with 182.375.

"I thought it was a very positive meet," junior Courtney Morgan said. "Even though we didn't beat Temple, there was a lot of fight out there.

"Everyone fought for every event. There was so much energy out there -- it felt good. More than before, I think people started to know how to compete."

Rookie Leah Moon took second place on the uneven bars with a tough 9.425.

She then added a score of 9.375 to grab another second place finish on the beam.

Moon continued her performance on the floor, receiving a 9.525 that was good enough to place her fifth.

Right behind Moon on the beam was classmate Collen McGue at 9.325 to take third.

Freshman Laura Bouchelle, a steady competitor on the vault, did not fail to perform as she scored a 9.65 to take first place.

The sophomore class also made a solid contribution on the floor event, as Christy Green pulled a 9.575 to grab third place while Cassandra Pare threw a season high 9.3 to bolster the Quakers' average for the event.

-- Bess Lochocki W. Squash crushed by Ivy opponents Playing away from Philadelphia has proven to be a tough task for the young Penn women's squash team.

This weekend the Quakers (3-11) were confronted with away meets at both Harvard and Dartmouth. Penn fell 9-0, to the Crimson and, 6-3, to the Big Green.

Junior all-American Runa Reta provided the Quakers with their best chance at success against Harvard, winning her first two matches before dropping the next three in the best-of-five contest.

None of the other Quakers posed a threat to the Crimson.

A Sunday match with Dartmouth provided the Quakers with an opportunity to rebound from Saturday's debacle. The Red and Blue had been eyeing the match as the perfect opportunity to get a taste of success in Ivy League play.

Despite winning the first three matches of the contest, Penn lost the next six.

Reta, Dafna Wegner, and freshman Linda McNair all notched 3-0 wins for the Quakers at the top three spots.

But freshman Rohini Gupta's 3-2 loss at the No. 4 position was indicative of how the day was going to turn out for Penn.

"It was very disappointing," Gupta said. "The whole team had tough matches this weekend."

Even though Gupta's impressive performance was not quite enough for a victory, the Quakers were in favorable position heading into the second half of the match.

However, struggles at the bottom of the lineup proved to be Penn's downfall yet again.

-- Michael Bean

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