Gymnastics gets first win

As the Pitt gymnastics team was finishing up its last event Friday, head coach Debbie Yohman… As the Pitt gymnastics team was finishing up its last event Friday, head coach Debbie Yohman was already smiling with the knowledge that her team had its first win.

In the annual “Think Pink” meet for breast cancer awareness at the Fitzgerald Field House, the Panthers (1-5, 1-1 EAGL) beat Rutgers (6-4), 192.3 to 189.075.

As Pitt assistant coach Mike Rowe noted, the team finally started to step up to its potential and score consistently, which will come in handy when it faces No. 3 Florida this weekend.

“We feel really good,” he said, speaking for Yohman, who was sick. “It was a great improvement for the girls. We’re finally starting to hit on the events we’ve been waiting for.”

One of those events was the vault, the kick-off event for the Panthers.

“We had a great, great vault,” Rowe said. “Floor and vault were our best events. We started good and finished good.”

Pitt claimed first and second place with freshman Molly Moyer earning a career-high 9.8 followed by Shannon Vafiadou with a career-high 9.75.

Vafiadou, also a freshman, scored a nine or better on all her events, competing in the all-around competition and counting just one fall in the four events. She earned second place in the all-around with a career-high 37.875.

Shannon McConnell also scored well on the vault with a 9.7, earning her a tie for fourth place. Nailing that event combined with her 9.8 finish on the floor gave her the newly invented Hammer Award from her teammates.

The Panthers won the vault, 48.4 to 47.65, a season-high score, and moved onto the uneven parallel bars.

The team had a shaky start with a fall from Vafiadou, but turned around quickly when Dani Bryan’s confident routine ended with her signature smile and a 9.675, earning her third place.

Junior Alix Croop came in first on the bars with a 9.8 followed by Sam DeBone with a 9.775 and Bryan and Kaitlin Harrison tying for third place.

“We only did five bar routines and unfortunately counted one fall,” Rowe said, “but it was still an improvement. “We’ve been counting two.”

The team won the event, 47.925, a season-high, to Rutgers’ 46.6.

Croop’s performance on the bars, as well as the floor and beam, earned her the Panther of the Week award from her teammates.

Her 9.6 score from the beam was a career-high and good for a tie for third place, and her 9.825 on the floor earned her second place.

Also scoring high on the beam was Anya Chayka, who earned first place with her sure movements and flawless side dismount off the beam.

Her 9.725 was a season high.

The Panthers ended on the floor, their highest scoring event of the night.

Beginning the final winning lineup was Mallory Brewer, whose strong passes and energetic dancing earned her a 9.725 and a fourth place finish in the event.

Vafiadou also showed some strong passes, as did McConnell, who scored third with a 9.8.

Croop’s impressively high flips and confident smile after her passes made the event look easy as she earned her second place finish.

Moyer’s routine to an up-tempo version of the “Pink Panther” began as she tipped a fake hat, continued with flawless passes and ended with a first-place win of 9.85, a career high.

“Molly did great once again,” Rowe said. “We saw some individual improvements. They had a good team score, and that’s hopefully going to help our average.”

The team ended the floor competition with a season-high 48.825, beating Rutgers who had a 47.

“We hit the floor really nice,” Rowe said. “It ended us on a really positive note. And the win was nice, too.”