As the rain poured down outside Hutchinson Gymnasium, old Penn records tumbled inside. The Penn gymnastics team set a new program record with a total score of 192.4, beating out defending Ivy-champion Cornell (188.4) and local rival Ursinus (184.4). The Quakers also eclipsed the previous program mark on the bars with a total score of 48.775 and set new season bests in the vault and beam events with scores of 47.7 and 48.025, respectively. The eraser will also need to go to work on some individual records after Saturday's match. Sophomore Christina Anzalone scored a 9.9 on the bars, good enough for the second-best individual performance in Penn history. Sophomore Laura Bouchelle hit the fifth-best individual showing in team history in the vault with a 9.75 mark. "Every week I focus on fixing the minor details and perfecting my routine the best I can," Anzalone said. She also holds the third and seventh-best all-time scores in the bars, both of which came earlier this season. Penn led throughout the afternoon, getting excellent performances from top to bottom. "After the Towson Invitational got cancelled, we were kind of in a rut," freshman Jessica Fuerst said of the meet that was cancelled due to snow. "We really wanted to get psyched for the Ivy Classic, so we really concentrated on beating Cornell." Fuerst finished third in the uneven bars competition with a score of 9.725. Freshman Emily Petkun and sophomore Leah Moon finished second and fourth respectively in the all-around results with scores of 38.00 and 37.20. With scores such as these, it makes it very difficult to believe that Penn is a squad plagued by injuries. Among the injured is freshman Julie Kikla, who, despite a bruised heel, finished second in the bar event. "When you get a Julie Kikla and an Alexandra Chalat back in the lineup, just their presence today is motivation in itself," Penn coach Tom Kovic said. "Today we were probably at 95-percent full strength." This motivation was obviously more than enough to defeat the defending Ivy League champions. The Big Red brought twelve letterwinners and three All-Americans back from last year's squad. "The way this [competition] is set up, it takes a team to win," Fuerst said. "Everybody has to step it up and that's why we won today." The win improved the Red and Blue to 1-2 in the Ivy League and 9-4 overall, hopefully giving the Quakers the confidence it needs to overcome obstacles such as injury. "Gymnastics is a sport where injury is always a part of it," Kovic said. "But we're at the point now where we are so physically strong that we're able to combat any potential injuries." "Even if people are out, the team is really deep," Fuerst said. "So we have people that can come in and do just as well." Next weekend brings the Ivy Classic at the Palestra, a match the Quakers look to take for the first time since 2000. "I'd say the toughest competition is Yale," Anzalone said. "They're a huge rival and a very strong team, but if we hit like we did this week and keep perfecting our routines, we can definitely beat them." "The team for the championship part of the season is taking shape right now," Kovic said. "Mentally and emotionally they're riding a great tide right now, and they're really starting to hit their stride."
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