Gymnastics: Panthers post season-best score in loss to No. 12 Penn State

On a night intended to honor the senior members of the Pitt gymnastics team, a rookie Panther… On a night intended to honor the senior members of the Pitt gymnastics team, a rookie Panther led the squad to its best overall performance of the season in Sunday night’s home meet against Penn State.

Freshman Haley Bodenheimer boasted a career-best all-around score of 39.325 as she finished second only to Penn State’s Sharaya Musser, nationally ranked No. 2 in the all-around competition. Musser barely edged out Bodenheimer by .075 with her score of 39.400.

Bodenheimer has had an outstanding first-year campaign and has been recognized for her efforts. Last week, Bodenheimer was named Rookie of the Week by the East Atlantic Gymnastics League for the third time this season.

For Bodenheimer, the honor is one that shows she is working toward her ultimate goals.

“As an incoming freshman, I wanted to contribute to Pitt gymnastics and make the team better,” Bodenheimer said. “By being named Rookie of the Week, others must feel that I am achieving this goal.”

As a team, the Panthers also performed at their best. Pitt posted a 195.075 score, which trumped its previous season-high of 194.750 from the team’s previous meet, a victory at George Washington. Despite the record-setting numbers, the Panthers were unable to best the No. 12 Nittany Lions, who earned a team score of 196.425 in their win. Still, Pitt head coach Debbie Yohman was pleased with her team’s performance.

“The girls really competed today. They just went after it,” Yohman said. “When we made a mistake, we put it aside and we moved on — and we did that from event to event. We wanted it to be our high score … and we went out there and did it.”

As part of the meet at the Fitzgerald Field House, the Panther team recognized four senior members, Kelsey Ainsworth, Alicia Talucci, Lisa Taylor and Amy Varela, and their contributions to Pitt gymnastics, including high scores in that night’s contest against Penn State. Yohman was not surprised with the efforts of her seniors on their special night.

“We always do well on Senior Night, and this was no exception,” Yohman said of her veteran squad members. “The seniors and this team don’t let anyone fall off. They bring their best, and it is really showing at every meet, every event.”

Talucci agreed with her coach and noted that senior leadership has had an impact on the team all season, inspiring confidence in the entire squad.

“Our senior class has rallied everyone toward the same goals of competing and winning an EAGL Championship,” Talucci said. “We believe that we are good and our senior class has made the rest of the team believe it, too.”

Talucci proved that sentiment as she won the balance beam event with a score of 9.825. She then added to her Senior Night memories with two more podium performances, earning second-place finishes on the vault and in the floor exercise, where she earned a career-high 9.900 score.

Fellow senior Taylor was also able to set a new personal record as she scored 9.800 in the balance beam, tying teammate Bodenheimer for second place in the event, behind Talucci. The Panthers finished the beam event with a team total score of 48.825, their highest of the season.

The Panther team will finish its regular season on the road as its members travel for a meet at Ball State Thursday before returning to the Fitzgerald Field House, the site of the 2011-2012 EAGL Championships, on March 24.

For Talucci, the EAGL Championships will be another chance to go out and compete at a high level, as she believes the team has done all year.

“Our goals and expectations for championships are the same as they have been all season,” Talucci said. “If we do our job and hit our routines, we will be in the hunt.”