Gymnastics loses conference opener

In her first meet at the Fitzgerald Field House, gymnast Kaitlin Harrison gave Pitt fans… In her first meet at the Fitzgerald Field House, gymnast Kaitlin Harrison gave Pitt fans something to cheer about. The freshman finished second in the all-around competition Saturday evening but saw her team drop its first conference meet to West Virginia.

Pitt (0-3 overall, 0-1 Eastern American Gymnastics League) was unable to out-perform an older, more experienced West Virginia team (1-1, 1-0). The Panthers finished with 185.5 team points, while the Mountaineers racked up a strong 192.925 points, capturing their first win of the season.

Harrison, competing in all four events for the Panthers, led her team with 37.925 total points. Her strongest performance of the night came during the floor exercise — Pitt’s final event. Harrison came up big for her team and scored a 9.675 in what appeared to be a near flawless performance. Sophomore Andrea Arlotta captured third place in the all-around competition, finishing with 36.675 points.

Despite Pitt’s loss, head coach Debbie Yohman was pleased with the progress she saw her team make as they battled their conference rival.

“We performed as a team much better than we did last week,” Yohman said. “I saw a team out there on the floor tonight.”

In their opening meet at Penn State last week, a young Panther team dropped two tough losses to the Nittany Lions and opponent Illinois in the three-team meet. Competing in their home arena Saturday evening, the Panthers were able to relax and start to come together as a team, and also perform stronger as individual athletes.

“Last week was baptism by fire, and it was rough,” Yohman said, referring to the first match for this year’s freshmen. “I told [the freshmen] that they are a big class and have a lot to learn.”

Sophomore Robyn Marszalek and freshman Samantha DeBone both finished third in their respective events. Marszalek scored a 9.7 on the floor exercise, while DeBone scored a 9.65 on the balance beam. This was DeBone’s first collegiate meet. She did not compete in the Penn State-Illinois matchup the previous week.

Panther sophomore Jessica Garber improved her floor exercise routine, scoring 9.6 in the event.

Pitt will compete at home next week against New Hampshire as part of the “Beauty and the Beast” competition. The dual meet will feature the Panthers’ gymnastics and wrestling teams. Pitt wrestlers will face Rider as the Pitt gymnasts look for their first victory of 2005 at the Fitzgerald Field House. Competition begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday.