Gymnastics: Panthers take 5th at EAGL Championship, send 4 to NCAA Regionals

Less than two points separated Pitt from an East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship this… Less than two points separated Pitt from an East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship this past weekend.

The Panthers finished fifth in the eight-team contest with a score of 194.40. North Carolina won the event with a score of 196.025, but Pitt will send four gymnasts to the NCAA Regional Championships next weekend.

After opening strong on the vault, the Panthers were in first place among the eight teams competing in the championships at the University of New Hampshire.

“The EAGLs were very hard to predict,” Head Coach Debbie Yohman said. “There were six teams that could have won.”

“Obviously our goal was to win, and it was a little disappointing,” Yohman said, “but I am very pleased with the girls’ effort and performance.”

Pitt received a first rotation bye and then opened on the vault. Four Panthers scored over 9.8 in the event: Dani Bryan, Alicia Talucci, Meaghan Biros and Shannon Vafiadou. Jen Liberato scored a 9.775, helping to put Pitt in first place with 49.10 points.

Pitt’s success on the vault was not surprising. It finished the regular season ranked first on the vault in the EAGL and No. 19 in the nation.

Pitt’s next event was the uneven bars, where it posted a team score of 48.55. Bryan led the way with a score of 9.775, followed by senior Jess Byich, who posted a 9.725, and Talucci with a 9.70. Liberato and senior Sarah Thompson rounded out the scores with a 9.70 and 9.60, respectively.

Despite the strong outing on the uneven bars, Pitt fell to fourth place.

“We’re very pleased with the performance,” Talucci said. “The scores could have been higher, but we did what we needed to do.”

Pitt scored its lowest point total of the competition in its third event, the balance beam, posting a score of 48.20.

Talucci posted a 9.825, which earned her a tie for third place overall. Junior Molly Moyer was awarded a 9.725 and Vafiadou a 9.625. Thompson, Biros and Lisa Taylor all posted a 9.50, to give Pitt 145.85 points heading into the last event, the floor exercise.

Bryan once again led the way for the Panthers, posting 9.75. Talucci and Vafiadou both posted a 9.725 and Liberato a 9.60. Moyer and Biros tied with 9.575 to put Pitt at 48.375 for the event and 194.40 overall.

Four of those individual performances were strong enough to qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships to be held at Penn State on April 10. Talucci qualified in the all-around with an overall score of 39.20, which put her in a tie for fifth at the EAGLs. This will be Talucci’s second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance.

Biros, the Co-EAGL Freshman of the Year, also qualified for the all-around with 38.175 points.

Bryan qualified in the vault with a score of 9.85, good enough for fourth place. This marks Bryan’s second Regional qualification.

Rounding out the qualifiers is Liberato, who qualified with a score of 9.700 on the uneven bars.

“I expect [Talucci] and [Bryan] to do very well because they have been there before,” Yohman said. “Meaghan and Jen should have good meets if they don’t get nervous. They should all compete well.”

“The season has been a struggle,” Liberato said. “Everyone came together and did their job, and we couldn’t have had better timing. We all did our job and had fun.”