No. 3 Florida comes to Pitt, dominates

The Pitt gymnastics team was coming off its first win of the season but couldn’t manage to… The Pitt gymnastics team was coming off its first win of the season but couldn’t manage to defeat the No. 3 team in the country.

The Florida Gators (5-1) won, 196.85 to 190.825, at the Fitzgerald Field House Sunday afternoon with only two scores at less than a 9.7. Pitt (1-6) saw only four above.

“We have a good opportunity here, we’re healthy again,” Pitt coach Debbie Yohman said.

“But our kids have to want to put in the effort.”

Of the four scores higher than 9.7, freshman Molly Moyer had two, sophomore Dani Bryan had one and junior Alix Croop notched a 9.75 and an even 9.7.

The floor remained the team’s best event of the night. The Panthers trailed the Gators just 49.25 to 48.375.

“We had a nice start on the vault, a nice finish on floor,” Yohman said. “We’ve got a heck of a beam squad, but we’ve got to hit 7-for-7 every day.”

The Panthers counted one fall on beam and three on the uneven parallel bars. Croop managed a sixth place finish on bars with a 9.7, and the highest Panther score came from both three-time All-EAGL beam champions Samantha DeBone and Sarah Thompson. The girls each earned a 9.675.

On bars freshman Shannon Vafiadou followed Croop with a career-high 9.5. The Panthers’ final bar score was 46.6 and final beam score was 47.7.

“I will change the beam squad every single week if I have to get a hit,” Yohman said.

“The fact that they’re No. 3 in the nation has no bearing on our bars or beam scores. They didn’t make us fall.”

Other than Anya Chayka’s accidental hop off the beam, there were no major mishaps on the event.

Each Panther had her own background music for the beam routine she completed in between the petite Gators’ seemingly flawless routines.

One after another the Florida gymnasts bounced across the floor as the silvery letters down the gymnasts’ sleeves spelling out Gators glittered with each pass.

When the Panthers reached the floor, the score to beat was a 9.9. Moyer, who’s been placing first in the event consistently, had a step after her first pass but a smile, nevertheless, for the rest of her routine as she completed her second two passes successfully.

She finished in a tie for fifth place with Croop with a 9.75.

Mallory Brewer kicked off the event with a 9.625 and ninth place. Coming in eighth place was Shannon McConnell with a 9.65.

Bryan also competed in the event for the first time since the team’s second meet – she had been out because of a foot injury. She suffered a fall on her first pass but recovered in her second two to earn a 9.075.

“She’s almost ready,” Yohman said. “Right now we need to keep her healthy for vault.”

A pair of Panthers placed well on the vault – Moyer and Bryan tied with a 9.75 for fifth place. Bryan was last year’s EAGL champion on the event, and the team ended with a score of 48.15.

Vafiadou competed in all four events, scoring a career-high 37.9 in the all-around.

She placed second to Florida’s Corey Hartung, who earned a 38.675.

“Shannon has been doing a very nice job,” Yohman said. “She hit on all four events today, that’s what we’re looking for.”

“I was so happy I hit bars, I’ve been struggling with that, so I was really excited about it,” Vafiadou said. “The first time I did all-around was a surprise, I wasn’t supposed to do it but Jessi [Byich] got hurt, so I said I’d do beam.

“Then Sarah [Thompson] got hurt, so I did bars.”

Despite the surprise, Vafiadou said competing all-around as a freshman has been very exciting.

Florida’s Hartung and her teammate Rebekah Zaiser are natives of the Pittsburgh suburbs and were excited to be home for a day – Hartung is from Irwin, Pa., and Zaiser is from Mars, Pa.

“Usually when we go to an away meet we only have a couple fans, so to have over 100 just for us … it was definitely the most fun away meet,” Zaiser said. “It gave the team so much energy.”

The Panthers face their next challenge at Ohio State at 7 p.m. Saturday.