Tribe Women Place Second at Towson Tri-Meet

Padilla, Dochney and Medeiros Earn Individual Titles

03/02/07 11:30PM

Towson, Md. - William and Mary women’s gymnastics continued to shows signs it is close to finding its stride at the right time, compiling a total score of 187.25 to place second in an ECAC tri-meet at Towson Friday night. The host Tigers used a season-high 194.550 to capture the team title, while James Madison placed third (186.825).

Keyed by three individual first-place finishes, the Tribe set season-highs in two different events and demonstrated once again the squad is coming together in time for the crucial stretch run to the ECAC Championship. Highlighting the evening’s action was senior Christina Padilla (Sterling, Va.) who won the individual title on bars, and classmate Andrea Dochney (Westmont, N.J.) and freshman Ali Medeiros (Hudson, Ohio) who each shared the individual title on beam.

Padilla was brilliant on bars, nailing her routine for a career-high 9.825 to snag her second individual title of the season. The senior’s score matched the ninth-best mark in school history. Padilla, a USAG All-American, also captured the vault title in a dual meet win over JMU on Feb. 2.

Dochney and Medeiros were equally dazzling on beam, taking home their first individual titles of the season. Dochney matched her career-high score in the event with a 9.775, while Medeiros bolstered her outstanding rookie campaign with her first-career event title.

Stevie Waldman (Downingtown, Pa.) was also a big bright spot for the Tribe, as she continues to regain her dominant form. The junior came just shy of matching Padilla on bars with another one her impressive routines, finishing second with a season-best 9.800. She also boosted the beam total with a season-high 9.475 and recorded the team’s second-best mark on floor with a 9.425.

Classmate Tricia Long (Humble, Texas) joined the party on bars with a career-high 9.725 to finish sixth, but despite the trio’s heroics the team still had to count two falls in the event.

But, on beam, the Tribe enjoyed its biggest improvement of the season with a team score of 47.750 behind Dochney and Medeiros. Sophomore Becca Bacharach (Lancaster, Pa.) helped the cause with a terrific routine to notch a 9.675 and tie for fifth place, followed by Waldman.

W&M also put together a season-high team score on vault with tally of 47.550, led by sophomore Sarah Jacobson (Brecksville, Ohio), who placed with fifth with a season and career-high 9.575. Padilla and Bacharach tied for eighth with scores of 9.550, and Long was just behind with a mark of 9.500. Medeiros rounded out the team total with a solid 9.375.

The one event where the Tribe continued to struggle, however, was floor, where Long’s score of 9.475 led the way. The junior’s seventh-place finish brought her all-around tally to 37.425, which placed third out of five all-arounders.

W&M returns to action on Wednesday evening, hosting Towson at 7 p.m. The program will honor its four seniors, Padilla, Dochney, Janelle Greene and Jess Randall, before the competition. The event will also be a “Fight Cancer Night”, as the W&M will have information and collect donations to help fight cancer

Complete Results