Gymnastics team filled with talented freshmen

It has certainly been a year of change for the Pitt women’s gymnastics team. With a brand new… It has certainly been a year of change for the Pitt women’s gymnastics team. With a brand new training facility and a freshmen class that makes up almost half of the current team, change has treated these gymnasts well.

The Panthers are working toward a successful rebuilding year. Contributing to the continued improvement have been this year’s freshmen, who have performed well to help Pitt (3-4-0 overall, 1-2-0 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) earn its victories.

“It is unusual to have seven in a freshman class,” Yohman commented. “We usually bring in about three new girls a year.”

Why recruit so many for this season, then?

The Panthers graduated five gymnasts last spring, one being a fifth-year senior, losing a lot of experience on the mats. Yohman had to make up for this loss and went out to get the best freshmen she could find.

The addition of the Panthers’ new training facility in Trees Hall has provided the necessary tools to help the team grow, as well.

“The new training facility allows us to have more walk-ons,” Yohman said.

Freshman Kaitlin Harrison has made one of the biggest individual impacts. Coming to Pitt as a top recruit out of New England, Harrison had been competing in all four events — uneven bar, floor exercise, vault and balance beam — placing in the top 10 in at least one of the events in every meet this season. She started off strong in the season-opener against Penn State, leading Pitt with an all-around score of 37.95.

Harrison then took second place in the all-around competition in only her second collegiate meet a week later and has continued to grow as a college gymnast.

“Kaitlin has done an excellent job for us,” Yohman said.

But Harrison isn’t the only one making a good first impression.

Samantha DeBone, in her first collegiate meet, placed third on the balance beam and recently scored a career high on the uneven bars.

“Samantha is a good gymnast and a competitor,” Yohman remarked. “She is definitely making an impact on our team.”

Yohman plans to use DeBone as an all-around competitor — if not for this season, then for next year.

Nicole Drane, who signed with the team in November of 2003 with DeBone and Harrison, has also started to make her mark as a Panther. Competing in all four events, Yohman sees Drane as a strong all-around competitor who will definitely be improving the team in years to come.

Yohman also talked about one other freshman working hard to help the team reach the EAGL Championships: Brittney Baldwin has battled more than just the usual “pains” of being a freshman. Plagued with injuries both before and during the season, Baldwin hasn’t been able to perform in all four events for the Panthers as she and Yohman had hoped, but has made great progress on the uneven bars. She placed in the top 10 in Pitt’s first quad meet of the season with a career-high score in this event.

“Brittney has been a pleasant surprise for us,” Yohman said.

Speaking about the class as a whole, Yohman commented on the great attitudes of all of the freshmen and how easily the team has formed.

“The chemistry is great,” Yohman said. “These girls did not have a hard time fitting in because they were the majority!”

Majority or not, there was a lot for these freshmen to learn before the season and a lot to prepare for outside of the actual events. But Yohman and the veteran girls on the team made sure their new teammates would be ready.

“We spent a lot of time indoctrinating [the freshmen girls],” Yohman said. “We wanted them to know what to expect from a meet at Penn State and what it would feel like, as well as [to] prepare them for the traveling.”

While this year’s freshman class is truly unique in number, talent and personality, bringing new life to Pitt gymnastics, Yohman doesn’t foresee recruiting a class of girls quite as large any time soon.

“We won’t continue to look for the numbers of this year’s class,” Yohman said, “but we’re going to continue to look for the quality of athletes of this year’s class.”