Panthers claw past Scarlet Knights

The Panther gymnastics team gained a Saturday-night spurt from Andrea Arlotta.

The junior… The Panther gymnastics team gained a Saturday-night spurt from Andrea Arlotta.

The junior star controlled the tempo throughout the competition, even wooing the audience with a stutter step to Lloyd Banks’ “Lean Back” before somersaulting forward to perfection in the floor competition. Arlotta’s third straight all-around victory this season was the ignition for Pitt in edging Rutgers, 191.950-190.625, to improve the Panthers’ record to 3-2, giving them their first win in the East Atlantic Gymnastic League in the process.

Pitt’s point total was a season high so far, but head coach Debbie Yohman knows the journey is far from finished.

“We’re getting better, little by little. We’re taking baby steps. Anybody watching will still see the mistakes we have, but they’re fewer, they’re smaller and we’re taking care of the things we need to little by little,” Yohman said.

The Panthers were not only coming off a 191.15 to 193.8 loss to New Hampshire last weekend, but an altered practice regimen as a flight delay resulted in the team not returning to Oakland until the late afternoon on Monday. Because of this, Yohman was forced to give them a limited amount of practice for the week.

Still, Panther gymnasts finished in the top three for all competition events in all but five places on Saturday. Aside from Arlotta taking first in the vault, bars and floor with scores of 9.675, 9.8 and 9.55, respectively, freshman Anya Chayka was the top finisher on the balance beam at a career-high 9.65 clip.

“[Arlotta] just wrapped up every event,” Yohman said. “That’s her season-high all-around score, too, and she’s also getting better and better. We didn’t count a fall tonight on any event that was a goal. [Andrea] got rid of the big wobbles in her feet, that was a goal. So many things that we did, individual goals at least, were great results for the team.”

Victoria McGuigan-Carl finished second in the vault at 9.5 and Chayka also finished third with a score of 9.25. April Pearson and Samantha DeBone followed Arlotta in the top three for bars, turning out a 9.7 and 9.675 (tying DeBone’s season-high), respectively.

Jessica Garber finished second in the floor competition at 9.725 and Nicole Drane was third in all-around competition with a 38.050 score, second to Arlotta’s season-high 38.00.

The highest finish for a Scarlet Knight was second, posted by Casey Santangelo with a 9.625 in the balance, and Beth Fittery in the all-around competition at Fittery also tied for third with Lauren Sisler in the floor at 9.675.

With the victory, Pitt now gets a bit of a break. The Panthers are off until Saturday when they will host Ohio State, SUNY Brockport and Maryland. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.