Women's Gymnastics To Compete at USAG Nationals / More from ECACs

Tribe Coming Off Strong Second-Place Showing at Conference Championship

03/28/06 7:00PM

WILLIAMSBURG - After its terrific second-place finish at the ECAC Championship on Saturday, the William and Mary women’s gymnastics team will next compete in the 2006 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships held at Cornell University April 13-15.

USA Gymnastics (USAG) is the sole national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in the United States. Both women’s and men’s collegiate gymnastics teams which are not fully funded, by NCAA scholarship standards, are eligible for the USAG Nationals. Women’s teams must be at, or below, 7.5 scholarships, and teams that have competed at USAGs in the past may compete with up to eight scholar-ships. The top eight teams, based on RQS scores, meeting those criteria qualify for nationals.

At last weekend’s ECAC Championship, W&M posted a team score of 190.350 to record its highest finish at the conference championship since winning the title in 2003.

Before the competition, the ECAC announced its postseason awards and, as usual, the College was well represented. Junior Christina Padilla (Sterling, Va.) became the fourth Tribe gymnast in the last five years named an ECAC Scholar Athlete of the Year, after the College’s streak of three-straight years with a scholar athlete award winner was snapped in 2005. Along with Padilla, seniors Brittany Gibbs (West Chester, Pa.) and Kate Magee (McLean, Va.), junior Jess Randall (West Hartford, Conn.), sopho-more Stevie Waldman (Downingtown, Pa.) and freshmen Sarah Jacobson (Brecksville, Ohio) and Megan Vincent (Newport News, Va.) were all named to the ECAC All-Academic Team, providing further credence to 11th-year head coach Mary Lewis’ ability to mix academic excellence with athletic success.

Inside the gym on Saturday afternoon, W&M was equally impressive in surpassing 190 for the third time this season. The effort sustained the Tribe’s late-season resurgence, as W&M averaged 189.920 over the final six meets. In total, the Tribe took home 11 all-conference designations, including an individual conference champion citation.

Gibbs won her second-career conference title, placing first on floor with a career-best score of 9.875. Gibbs, who is a first alternate on floor for the upcoming NCAA Southeast Regional, surpassed her pre-vious personal best of 9.825, set at the ECAC championship in 2004 when the senior also won the indi-vidual title on vault. With Gibbs’ first-place finish on floor Saturday, W&M has now had at least one in-dividual conference champion in nine consecutive seasons, although Gibbs’ floor title is the Tribe’s first in the event since Suzanne Chaves and Emily Skinner shared the title in 2002.

Joining Gibbs as First Team All-ECAC performers on Saturday were Waldman and Randall, both on bars, while Randall was also a second team finisher in the all-around (7th). Waldman placed third with a score of 9.775 in her first conference championship meet after missing last season’s competition with an injury, and Randall tied for sixth with a score of 9.725, highlighting a marvelous performance by the entire bars line-up. W&M recorded the highest team score in the event on the afternoon (48.375) to top Towson (48.100), which was the conference’s top-ranked team on bars entering the competition. It marked the second time this season W&M had scored higher than the Tigers on bars in head-to-head competition, after the Tribe posted a season-high bars score of 48.925 on March 15th en route to a season-best total of 193.000.

Freshman Monica Goldblatt (McLean, Va.) supported the performance on bars and put an exclamation point on a fantastic rookie season by tying for ninth place (9.650) to capture second team status. Junior Janelle Greene (Fairfax, Va.) also secured her first career all-conference nomination, giving W&M four bars performers in the top 12 with an 11th-place finish (9.625). Padilla rounded out the team score with a 9.600, just outside of the top 12.

Padilla, however, was not denied on vault, as the 2005 ECAC Vault Champion turned in a solid effort again this year, tying for eighth place (9.600) to take second team honors. But, Padilla was the Tribe’s lone all-conference qualifier in the event, snapping Lewis’ streak of three consecutive seasons with an ECAC vault winner, with Jaci Lynn’s first-place finish in 2003 proceeding Gibbs and Padilla.

Tricia Long (Humble, Texas) earned Second Team All-ECAC status in the all-around for the second time in as many years after finishing 11th with a solid score of 37.675, and the sophomore also received second team honors on floor with a season-high 9.625 to place 12th. Magee matched Long on floor in 12th place, as the senior claimed her first all-conference designation in her final ECAC event. Behind Gibbs, Long and Magee, the Tribe scored a season-high 48.225 on floor on Saturday. Randall, a first alternate all-arounder for the Southeast Regional, scored a 9.575, and senior Kristen Gaidish (Abington, Pa.) rounded out the team total with a 9.525. Even the Tribe’s sixth score was on point, as Jacobson turned in a 9.425 in her first conference championship.

Joining Waldman, Goldblatt, Greene and Magee as first-time all-conference appointees was junior Andrea Dochney (Westmont, N.J.), who was the Tribe’s lone top-12 finisher on beam in a tie for seventh place (9.550). Despite having only one all-conference qualifier, W&M still turned in a respectable total of 47.100, matching its fourth-best score on the season. Gaidish, an all-conference honoree on beam last season, was again her usual steady self with a 9.475, and Long, as she has done all season, led off with a smooth 9.400. Waldman scored a 9.375, and Magee and Randall each posted 9.300.

Randall completed the competition with a 9.375 on vault to bring her all-around score to 37.975, narrowly missing her second-straight first team distinction in the all-around with the seventh-place finish Saturday. Gibbs added a 9.550 on vault but was the only other Tribe gymnast to crack 9.3 in the event, as W&M tallied a total of 46.650 for the second-straight week, its lowest scores on vault all season.