Instead of the beach or Europe, Penn gymnastics traveled to Williamsburg, Va. over spring break to compete at William and Mary — earning a victory at its last road meet of the season. The Red and Blue then returned home to the Palestra on Friday for a meet against West Virginia before the end of the break, which resulted in a loss but a new program record from junior gymnast Skyelar Kerico.
“It’s nice to see our hard work pay off, and I know our season’s coming to an end, but we can still see our efforts even though it’s coming to an end,” freshman gymnast Manama Fofana said.
At home, the crowd was a healthy mix of red, blue, and yellow, with many Mountaineer families challenging the home crowd’s chants of “UPG! Go Penn fight!” with their “Let’s go Mountaineers!”
Vault
At William and Mary, the Quakers once again demonstrated their reliability by keeping the scores tight. Junior gymnast Marissa Lassiter earned two 9.800s in a row, with Fofana earning a score of 9.850 and sophomore Jordan Barrow just behind at 9.825. In all, the team total was 48.950.
At the Palestra against West Virginia, the undoubted highlight of the rotation was the return of Kerico’s Yurchenko 1.5. After downgrading to only a full twist the past few meets, she pulled off a beautiful vault — earning her a new career best and program record for an individual vault score with a 9.925.
Bars
Penn’s bars team had a stronger performance at William and Mary than at home. There, impressive performances from Barrow and Kerico, who both earned a 9.800, contributed to the team total of 48.800.
However, at the Palestra, Kerico had an uncharacteristic fall. Barrow proved that eight is her lucky number with a 9.825 against West Virginia. Also flaunting an outstanding score was sophomore Sophia Paris, who earned a 9.800. The team received a 48.700, just behind its score from the previous meet.
Beam
At William and Mary, freshman Mimi Fletcher and Kerico rallied their high-scoring momentum to pull off a 9.875 and 9.800, respectively. Proving that her return to the lineup at Towson wasn’t a one-hit wonder, Fofana contributed a 9.850 to the impressive team score of 48.950, the highest of the meet.
Some athletes show their accomplishment on their face, and junior Alisha Werlen is one of them. When Werlen sticks a flight series, the audience knows it’s good news from her expression. This proved to be true against West Virginia when she earned a 9.800, tying her season and career best. Fletcher also earned a 9.800, while Kerico redeemed herself after falling on the previous event with a solid routine of 9.825. The Red and Blue managed to earn the exact same score at home as they did in Virginia, a 48.950.
Floor
The bars team score at William and Mary matched that of the floor: 48.800. The nostalgic routines in the lineup were the top scorers: Fofana with a Michael Jackson mashup earned a 9.800, and Kerico with a mix featuring “Dancing Queen” had the highest-scoring routine with a 9.825.
Personality shined on floor at home. Lassiter, with her iconic spunky routine, kicked off the rotation with a 9.800, followed by Fofana, moonwalking her way to a 9.850. The event’s anchor, senior Zara Gazdak, also earned a 9.800, with all-around superstar Kerico receiving the highest score of the event, 9.875. With a team score of 49.050, this was the only event at home where Penn scored over 49 as a team, leading to a 195.625 overall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to beat the Mountaineers, but it was a win for the Quakers nonetheless, as it was their second-highest season score.
Additionally, both team scores will count towards the team’s national qualifying score, which is used to determine regional championship qualification. Currently, Penn is ranked No. 47, and only the top 36 teams attend the regional championships. But it is important to note that this past weekend’s scores have not been factored into those rankings, and only 0.340 points separate the Quakers from No. 36.
Going into what could be the last meet of the season, emotions are high on all accounts.
“The thing that is the most significant to me is the team in general,” Fofana said. “Seeing my seniors compete, I think that’s the most valuable thing to me. … Even tonight, it was hard.”
But the job isn’t done yet.
“We’re just focusing on the finest details because we know if we were just to go out there and compete right now, we’d be able to do it, but it’s thinking about all the small details and corrections we do in practice and just replicating our environment that we have when we compete in the gym,” Fofana said.
The Quakers will host and battle for their fourth consecutive title at the Gymnastics East Conference Championships at the Palestra on Saturday.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate
