Terps too much for gymnastics

Pitt’s gymnastics team (7-3 overall, 3-2 in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League) traveled to… Pitt’s gymnastics team (7-3 overall, 3-2 in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League) traveled to Maryland last weekend to take on two league opponents.

Though Pitt had no trouble defeating both Maryland and Rutgers at home earlier this month, the Panthers could not overcome Maryland on Terrapins territory last Friday.

Head coach Debbie Yohman said that there were a couple of factors contributing to the loss to Maryland, a team Pitt beat two weeks ago.

“One, they had the home floor advantage and were more comfortable than us. Also, we came out flat in warm-ups and had problems on the beam. That very low score in beam really hurt us,” Yohman said.

Maryland won the competition with a score of 193.075. Pitt placed second with 191.150, closely followed by Rutgers at third place with 191.050.

Pitt finished in second place on the vault in team competition with a score of 48.125. Team captain Andrea Arlotta tied for second place, achieving her top vaulting score of the season with a 9.775 effort. Tying for fourth place were freshman teammates Anya Chayka and Victoria McGuigan-Carl with scores of 9.725, marking a season high for Chayka.

On the uneven bars, Pitt once again claimed second place with a score of 47.725. Individually, Arlotta tied for first in the bars at 9.725, improving her average on the event to 9.746. Pitt’s Samantha DeBone scored 9.675, coming in fourth place. In eighth place came Alix Croop, with a career high of 9.550.

Next came the balance beam event, in which Pitt placed third with their lowest score of the night at 46.575. DeBone delivered a quality performance to claim first place for the Panther squad for the second consecutive week, with a score of 9.725. Arlotta came in third with a 9.650, followed by McGuigan-Carl with a season-high score of 9.450 for 12th place.

With four top-five performances, the Panthers finished the meet by securing first place on the floor exercise with a season-high score of 48.725. Arlotta delivered a solid routine to tie her season-high score of 9.825 for the second-place title. Nicole Drane followed in third place, tying her career high with a 9.775. Jessica Garber and Robyn Marszalek tied for fifth place, both turning in scores of 9.725.

In all-around competition, Arlotta’s score of 38.975 earned her a fifth title for this season. In the past two competitions, she has placed in the top three on each event.

“Andrea has won the all-around in every meet except for the first one,” Yohman said. “That is a strong gymnast.”

Drane also competed in the all-around for the second time in her career with a score of 36.500.

At this point in the season, Yohman feels that the teams has improved a lot from last year.

“We are going better on vault and on bars as compared to last year. Floor is very strong,” she said. “We are going to be a heck of a squad if everyone can get on the same page on the same day.”

Pitt takes to the road again next weekend when the Panthers will be competing in the Cat Classic in Missouri.