Garber garners honors as Pitt takes second in season opener

Jessica Garber isn’t wasting any time.

The Pitt junior earned East Atlantic Gymnastic League… Jessica Garber isn’t wasting any time.

The Pitt junior earned East Atlantic Gymnastic League Specialist of the Week honors for her performance last weekend. Garber helped the Panthers to a second-place finish at a tri-meet hosted in Michigan State’s Jenison Field House.

The Panthers fell to Michigan State, 193.550-190.825, but defeated Western Michigan by a score of 190.825-189.425 to start their season 1-1.

Garber scored 9.725 in both the balance beam and floor exercise, doing her part to contribute to the Panthers’ overall score of 190.825.

“Jess has a superb floor routine,” Pitt head coach Debbie Yohman said on PittsburghPanthers.com. “She’s upgraded her tumbling this year, and it’s also her second year working with this choreography.”

Her performance on the balance beam was perhaps even more impressive, as it was her first time competing in the event.

“On the balance beam, she has some of the team’s most difficult tumbling, and she just nailed it,” Yohman said of Garber’s fifth-place finish. “We were ecstatic, and I wish the EAGL could have been there because it was fun to watch!”

Captain Andrea Arlotta picked up where she left off last year. After a season in which she earned All-EAGL First Team honors for uneven bars, floor exercise and all-around, the junior kicked off the 2006 campaign by finishing first on the team in two of the four events.

As the only Panther in all-around competition, she placed second at the meet. She placed third overall on the uneven bars and tied for second on the balance beam. In that event, she finished just .025 points off of winner Jennifer Sturgis of Western Michigan, who scored a season- and career-high 9.825.

Michigan State followed the lead of two strong performances. Kristen Coleman won the all-around, finishing with a total of 38.500 points, beating Arlotta by .125. The junior, coming off of a 14th-place finish overall at the Big Ten championships last year, finished in the top two in three of the four events, taking first place on the uneven bars.

Joining Coleman at the top of the standings was Chayla Hill. Hill did not compete on the uneven bars, but made her presence felt everywhere else. She tallied the Spartans’ top score in her three events, winning both the floor exercise and vault. She also placed second on the balance beam.

Her score of 9.875 on the floor exercise led Michigan State’s strong finish in that event. The Spartans took three of the top four spots. They showed a similar dominance on the vault. Four of the top five places went to Michigan State. The only other competitor to crack the top five was Western Michigan’s Karen Harper, who placed third.

Sturgis led the Broncos in all-around competition. Her score of 38.325 placed her third overall, the top of their three all-around competitors. She was named Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week for her efforts.

Courtney Schmid led Western Michigan in her two events. She scored a 9.700 in the uneven bars and floor exercise.

Coach Yohman was encouraged by what she saw from her team.

“It was a very respectable start,” she told PittsburghPanthers.com. “Now we’re ready for next weekend.”

The Panthers host Rhode Island this Saturday night. The meet is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.