Tribe Women’s Gymnastics Rolls to Win Over James Madison

Tribe’s Waldman Captures Two Individual Events, Posts Career Best

03/14/07 11:10PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The College of William and Mary’s women’s gymnastics squad put a fitting finish on its regular season home schedule by posting a season-best team score of 190.00 and defeating James Madison (185.425) in dual meet action on Wednesday evening in Kaplan Arena.

The College’s impressive total was powered by strong showings by both the vault and floor corps, with each unit posting team season bests with scores of 48.30 and 47.10, respectively. The Tribe took three of the four team event totals and had an individual claim top honors on every event.

One of the many standout performances on the evening for the College was turned in by junior all-arounder Tricia Long (Humble, Texas), as she posted her season best four-event total (38.150) in taking top honors. Long also was the top finisher Wednesday night in the floor exercise with a career-high 9.700.

The evening was started by a solid showing on the vault, with senior team captain Christine Padilla (Sterling, Va.) leading the way with a meet best mark of 9.700. Sophomore Sarah Jacobson (Brecksville, Ohio) finished second overall, with a mark of 9.525.

Junior Stevie Waldman (Downingtown, Pa.) stole the spotlight on the uneven bars, as she flowed to a sparkling score of 9.875. Her routine was the highest scoring routine of the entire evening and equaled her career best effort, set two years ago in a meet against the Dukes. Freshman Alison Medeiros (Hudson, Ohio) also established her career best effort in the event, as her score of 9.775 placed her second overall. Padilla came in third with a solid mark of 9.725 and Long’s 9.650 routine really put the team score over the top for the College.

Waldman and freshman Stephanie Bevan (Bridgewater, N.J.) placed one-two on the balance beam, with scores of 9.650 and 9.600, respectively.

The College closed the evening on the floor exercise and Long put an exclamation point on her evening’s efforts by capturing the individual event honor by tumbling to a meet-best mark of 9.700. The mark stands as Long's season best and career-high.

The evening’s action stood as the College’s fourth event in 10 days, so this weekend will see the squad get some much needed rest. The Tribe won’t return to competition until Friday, March 23rd, when the team will travel to North Carolina for a quad-meet with UNC, Rhode Island and George Washington.

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