Penn gymnastics notches third-place finish at the Ivy Classic

An Ivy Classic championship remains out of reach for Penn gymnastics.

Penn hoped to win the Ivy Classic for the first time since 2015 on Sunday as the Quakers welcomed Yale, Cornell, and Brown to the Palestra. Penn ended the afternoon in third place with a score of 193.100, two points behind Yale, which took home the trophy with a score of 195.100. 

Freshman Libby Garfoot started off the afternoon on the uneven bars with a new career high of 9.750. However, with a couple of falls in the gymnasts’ routines, the Red and Blue were only able to receive a score of 47.900, putting them in third place at the end of the first rotation. The Quakers looked to put that rough start behind them as they moved on to the next rotation. 

“We try to make each routine individual, and no matter what happens the routine before, you just have to pick yourself up and focus on what you do in practice,” senior Caroline Moore said. 

Last weekend, freshman Lauren Joost set her career high on the balance beam with a score of 9.750, and she was able to match that score on Sunday. Moore ended the rotation strong, tying her career high with a score of 9.875. Her performance allowed her to share a three-way tie for first place on the balance beam. With other strong performances from freshman Natalie Yang and senior Nicole Swirbalus, who received a 9.850 and 9.825, respectively, the Quakers had their highest team score of the day with a 49.000. 

On the floor exercise, sophomore Jordyn Mannino led the way with a score of 9.800, and freshman Sydney Kraez was right behind her with a score of 9.725. At the end of the third rotation, the Red and Blue had a score of 145.525, just 0.450 behind Yale for first place. 

To end the afternoon, the Quakers moved on to the vault where they hoped to finish strong. Swirbalus and freshman Ava Caravela led the Quakers with scores of 9.775 and 9.750, respectively. However, the Red and Blue were unable to stick two of their landings and ended with a score of 47.575, their lowest of the meet.

“Today wasn’t our best showing necessarily, but we all know that we are capable of so much,” Joost said. “We’re just going to take it back into the gym and really train harder and smarter and come back next meet and continue to improve.”

With Sunday's competition being the last home meet of the season, it was also the last time the seniors were able to compete at the Palestra. 

“It’s definitely sad," Moore said. "It’s just so cool being able to compete in Philadelphia, in the Palestra, with the home crowd. There really is nothing like it.” 

Although the Quakers were unable to come away with the trophy, they will look to put this meet behind them and prepare for next weekend when they travel to face Southeast Missouri and Lindenwood.