Ohio State slips by Pitt

As of late, the women’s gymnastics team has come to realize how costly one mistake can be…. As of late, the women’s gymnastics team has come to realize how costly one mistake can be.

Pitt (3-5 overall, 1-2 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) fell on Saturday at St. John Arena to No. 23 Ohio State by a margin of 3.675 points, 195.225-191-550.

The loss came a week after the Panthers placed second in their first quad meet of the season, losing only to Rutgers, which claimed victory by a margin of .250 points.

Head coach Debbie Yohman said that the falls and small technical errors were the only things that hurt them on Saturday.

“We are working hard to get the whole team at the same level,” Yohman said.

Creating more deja vu was sophomore Andrea Arlotta, who, for the third weekend in a row, set a new career-high score in overall competition. This weekend, she topped her 38.875 that she posted at the quad meet by .050 with a score of 38.925. Prior to that, she scored a 38.600 in a win against New Hampshire on Jan. 29.

“She’s into the details of gymnastics, the finesse stage,” Yohman said.

Arlotta, with her recent career-high posting, was just 1.75 points shy of cracking the top 10 overall scores ever recorded by a Pitt gymnast.

She could have broken the record, but during the floor exercise, she took one step out of bounds. The penalty occurred during Arlotta’s first pass when landing a double layout

Her foot out of bounds did not matter for the Panthers, though, as Ohio State’s Kaley Walek claimed the all-around title with a score of 39.000. The freshman gymnast’s performance helped the Buckeyes to their highest point total of the season.

Freshman Kaitlin Harrison and sophomore Robyn Marszalek both placed third in the overall competition with matching scores of 38.125.

Ohio State placed first in every competition with a 49.175 in both the floor exercise and the vault, a 48.750 on the beam and 48.125 on the bars. Walek, despite claiming the best overall score placed first only in one event — the vault, where she notched a 9.900.

Placing first on the uneven bars was Ohio State senior Liz Meaney, who posted a score 9.800. Panther freshman Samatha DeBone placed third in the event with a score of 9.725 points.

Arlotta and Harrison both contributed on the bars with 9.700 and 9.675 points, landing them in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the event.

Yohman was satisfied with her team’s performance on the uneven bars.

“The bar routines were basically flawless,” she said.

Virtually flawless for Ohio State was junior Brittany Brown, who took first on the beam (9.825) and in the floor exercise (9.875).

Pitt freshman Nicole Drane also set a career-high score Saturday with a 9.775 in the floor exercise.

Yohman said that, while the team is young and is facing some injury problems, the team is hardworking.

Pitt will next face Maryland Saturday at 7 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field House.