Women's Gymnastics Finishes Sixth at ECAC Championships

Brittany Gibbs wins vault title for Tribe

03/20/04 11:38AM

PHILADELPHIA, PA - William and Mary’s women’s gymnastics squad started the day off well and finished with a flourish, but it wasn’t enough, as the Tribe’s run of three-consecutive Eastern College Athletic Conference championships came to an end with a sixth place finish at this year’s conference title meet at the University of Pennsylvania. The host Penn squad won the team title with a score of 193.65, while W&M finished sixth with a team score of 189.875.

W&M led off on the balance beam and performed a strong set, scoring a 48.400 as a team. Junior Jaci Lynn (Copley, OH), the defending league champion on vault, scored a solid 9.675 to start things off. Sophomore Annie Carroll (Virginia Beach, VA) was next with a 9.550. Junior Jess Patterson (Westfield, NJ) then hit her vault for a 9.650. She was followed by freshman Christina Padilla (Sterling, VA), who came through with a 9.725. Senior co-captain Suzanne Chaves (Danvers, MA) then scored a 9.550, setting up sophomore Brittany Gibbs (West Chester, PA). Following in Lynn’s footsteps from last year, Gibbs scored a 9.800. The score held up, and Gibbs later claimed the ECAC title on vault, while Padilla placed second. W&M’s vault score was tops among all teams in the meet.

The Tribe moved to the uneven bars, where a team score of 46.225 was highlighted by a pair of strong performances. Gibbs scored a 9.825 and finished second in the competition on bars. Chaves also hit her routine, scoring a 9.775 in the process.

The next even was the balance beam, and Chaves started things off right with a 9.525. Sophomore Kristen Gaidish (Abington, PA) was next and performed a good routine for a score of 9.700. Junior Emma Cross (Ashland, VA) also did well on beam, scoring a 9.725 as the Tribe scored 46.300 as a team.

While the team title may have been out of reach at that point, W&M did not suffer a letdown on the fourth and final event, the floor exercise. In fact, the Tribe turned in one of its more impressive performances on the event in school history, scoring a 48.950. Patterson led things off with a solid 9.525 mark. Gaidish was next and was awarded a 9.575 by the judges. Gibbs then turned things up a notch with a 9.825, setting up the trio of senior Jamie Weinfeldt (Roselle Park, NJ), Chaves and Gibbs to close things out. All three gymnasts performed beautiful routines, each scoring a 9.850 and tying for fourth in the meet on the floor exercise.

Two gymnasts performed in the all-around competition for W&M, and each placed in the top six. Gibbs scored a 37.600 for sixth place in the league, while Chaves, in the final meet of her career, notched a 38.700 to place sec-ond in the all-around competition.

The team portion of the season is now complete for the Tribe, and W&M will find out early next week if any gymnasts will qualify for the NCAA Southeast Regional meet at North Carolina State on April 3.