Tribe Women's Gymnastics Sneaks by James Madison in an ECAC Meet

Senior Gibbs Takes Three Individual Titles, Sophomore Long Wins Second-Straight All-Around

02/03/06 10:00PM

Harrisonburg, VA - Senior tri-captain Brittany Gibbs (West Chester, Pa.) captured three individual titles, and sophomore Tricia Long (Humble, Texas) won her second all-around title in as many meets to lead William and Mary to a narrow, 184.875-183.900, victory over state and ECAC-rival James Madison Friday night at Godwin Hall.

In the Tribe’s first dual meet victory of the season, Gibbs continued the spectacular start to her senior campaign, placing first on vault and bars, while sharing top honors on floor, an event she also shared the individual title in last weekend against George Washington. Gibbs now has four individual event wins to her credit, including two in the floor exercise, where she hasn’t finished any lower than fourth through four competitions this season.

Long compiled an all-around score of 37.225, a little off the season-high standard of 37.950 she set last weekend in an all-around victory against George Washington, but still good enough to take top honors this evening.

Gibbs’ winning score of 9.700 on bars highlighted an outstanding team performance in the event for the Tribe, as W&M swept the top-five positions en route to a season-high score of 47.725 on bars. Juniors Jess Randall (West Hartford, Conn.) and Janelle Greene (Fairfax, Va.) each tied for second on bars with marks of 9.550, a season-high for both gymnasts. Junior Christina Padilla (Sterling, Va.) continued her recent resurgence with a strong 9.475 in fourth, and Long completed the sweep of the top-five with a 9.450.

The Tribe was also particularly impressive on vault against the Dukes, as W&M recorded the three top scores in the event and five of the top-six overall. Gibbs again set the standard with a season-best 9.700, while Padilla once again showed she is rounding into her conference championship form of last season on vault, scoring a 9.575 to place second. Randall, who finished third in the all-around with a total score of 36.825, completed the Tribe’s trifecta on vault in third with a solid 9.425. Senior tri-captain Kristen Gaidish (Abbington, Pa.) was fifth, notching a 9.400, while Long took sixth with a respectable 9.325.

JMU was able to make up a lot of ground in the other two events this evening, as the Tribe scored a 46.100 on floor and survived a season-low 43.625 on beam. The Dukes countered with scores of 45.850 on beam and 47.650 on floor, but it wasn’t quite enough. Gibbs’ score of 9.725 matched JMU’s Nicole Simmons for top honors, but it was W&M’s only place in the top-five of the floor exercise. Senior Kate Magee (McLean, Va.) tied for sixth with a solid 9.375, but no other member of the Tribe scored better than a 9.050.

On beam, W&M had to count multiple falls against the team tally with the lone bright spot being Long’s second-place mark of 9.400. Gaidish scored a 9.175, which was good enough to place fifth but was the team’s only other score above 9.000.

With the victory, the Tribe improves its dual meet record to 1-2 on the year, and overall, W&M is now 4-4, including a perfect 4-0 mark against ECAC teams. The College returns to action next Friday night, competing in the annual Hearts Invitational at N.C. State University against an ultra-competitive field that includes the host-Wolfpack, Auburn and Pittsburgh.

Complete Results (HTML)

Final Score: W&M 184.875, JMU 183.900

William and Mary Team Scoring
Vault: 47.425
Bars: 47.725
Beam: 43.625
Floor: 46.100
Total: 184.875

Top W&M Individuals
Vault: Bittany Gibbs (9.700)
Bars: Brittany Gibbs (9.700)
Beam: Tricia Long (9.400)
Floor: Brittany Gibbs (9.725)
All-Around: Tricia Long (37.225)