Tribe Announces 2008 Competitive Schedule

10/26/07 4:45PM

WILLIAMSBURG - William and Mary women’s gymnastics head coach Mary Lewis released the Tribe’s 2008 competitive schedule on Friday, and the College will once again face a challenging slate featuring national-level programs and some of the top teams in the region.

Lewis welcomes back a number of talented performers in 2008, including All-ECAC senior captains Tricia Long and Stevie Waldman. Prior to the official start of the 2008 season, W&M will stage its annual Green and Gold Exhibition in the practice gym at William and Mary Hall on Thursday, December 7th.

“We are going to face some strong teams once again this year,” said Lewis, who is entering her 14th season at the College. “We will see some very good teams and a number of our ECAC rivals during the regular season.”

The Tribe will have a string of away events to start the season before competing at Kaplan Arena at William and Mary Hall for the first time in mid-March. But, highlighting the stretch run in March is the return of the ECAC Championship to Williamsburg. W&M will host the conference meet for the first time since 2002, when the Tribe won its second of three-straight ECAC tittles.

The 2008 schedule gets underway much like it has in recent years with the annual visit to the George Washington Invitational on Sunday afternoon, January 20th. The event will once again feature a highly competitive field, which will include 2007 NCAA Regional qualifiers North Carolina and Rutgers, as well as the host Colonials and ECAC-rivals Cornell and Temple.

After the opener, W&M will travel to Morgantown, West Virginia take on another elite field on Sunday, January 27th. NCAA Regional qualifier West Virginia will host the Tribe, in addition to NCAA Championship participant Oklahoma and George Washington.

Three away meets dot the schedule in February, as the Tribe will travel to the Liberty Classic (Feb. 2) at Temple for the first time, New Hampshire (Feb. 9) and the annual Sweetheart Invitational (Feb. 16) at N.C. State. The Liberty Classic field will include West Chester and Ursinis. New Hampshire is another Regional qualifier and the meet at Durham N.H. will also include ECAC rivals Penn and Yale, while the Sweetheart Invitational field will include the host Wolfpack, Regional qualifier Penn State and Kent State.

W&M travels to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina on March 1st, and the Tribe will make another trip to the Tar Heel state on March 9th to visit N.C. State with Bowling Green.

Though the schedule is heavy with competitions away from campus to start the season, Lewis is hopefully the grueling start will season the team for postseason success.

“As a team, we’ll need to come together quickly with so many meets on the road,” said Lewis. “But, I really think it gives us the opportunity to make a good impression at these competitive meets and be prepared for the conference championship and USAG Nationals.”

W&M finally opens its home schedule on Wednesday, March 12th, hosting a pair of ECAC opponents in Towson and Penn. A return trip to Towson (March 15) precedes a home meet with another conference foe, Rhode Island, on Friday, March 21st.

Towson, Penn, URI and the rest of the ECAC teams will once again descend upon the Colonial Capital on Saturday, March 29th, as W&M hosts the 22nd ECAC Championship at Kaplan Arena/William and Mary Hall.

The NCAA Southeast Regional follows on April 12th, and the Tribe will once again this season look to qualify for the USAG Collegiate Nationals, which take place April 17-19 at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana.