Tribe Shines In Home Debut, Defeating Towson and Penn

Senior Stevie Waldman Cracks School's Top-10 All-Around Listing

03/12/08 10:30PM

WILLIAMSBURG - Competing in its long overdue first home meet, the William and Mary women’s gymnastics team appropriately put together its finest effort of the season Wednesday night, recording a season-high score of 192.700 to defeat ECAC rivals Towson and Penn at Kaplan Arena.

After starting the season with seven consecutive competitions on the road, the Tribe glimmered in the home spotlight Wednesday night, posting the highest team total for W&M since March 15, 2006. The Tribe also earned its first victory over Towson (192.325) since the 2004 season. Penn finished third with a final team score of 188.700.

Highlighting a lengthy list of individual accomplishments was the performance of senior Stevie Waldman (Downingtown, Pa.), who matched the eighth-best all-around score in school history with a career-high and first-place total of 38.775. Waldman also won individual event titles on bars (9.850) and beam (9.800).

Penn’s Marissa Rosen and Towson’s Alise McDonald shared the vault title with matching scores of 9.800, and Rosen and Towson’s Jackie Schweitzer tied for first place on floor with identical scores of 9.850.

After a solid start on vault, W&M went on to score season-high totals in the final three events: bars (48.525), beam (48.150) and floor (48.425). Waldman also led the Tribe on floor with a season-high 9.725 to place sixth. In total, 14 individual season or career-high scores were set by the Tribe on Wednesday night.

In the first rotation, the good start was keyed by another terrific vault from sophomore Jen Stack (Enfield, Conn.). After notching a career-high 9.675 on Sunday at N.C. State in the event, Stack led the Tribe Wednesday with a fifth-place score of 9.625. It was junior Lauren Jackson (Westwood, Mass.) and freshman Dina McNaughton (Stoneham, Mass.) though who jump-started the night for W&M, recording matching solid scores of 9.475 back-to-back to start the event.

Senior Tricia Long (Humble, Texas) started on a high note as well, following with a steady 9.525 to take sixth, before Stack put the line-up in high gear. Waldman began her evening with a decent 9.400 on vault, though the score didn’t count toward the team total when junior Becca Bacharach (Lancaster, Pa.) hit her vault in the anchor spot with a 9.500, which held up as the eighth-best mark.

W&M began to make its move in the second rotation behind the bars line-up, which recorded five of the top-nine individual scores in the event including Waldman’s first-place effort. Waldman’s winning score of 9.850 matched the seventh-highest score in school history.

Freshman Melissa Cream (West Windsor, N.J.) set the tone at the start by nailing her routine, leading off with a season and career-high 9.600. Stack also hit on bars for the second-straight meet, placing fourth with a career-best 9.750. Sophomore Ali Medeiros (Hudson, Ohio) bounced back from a tough outing at N.C. State to record a fifth-place score of 9.700. Long was steady on bars again as well, taking eighth with a 9.625.

In the third rotation, the Tribe showed that a special night could indeed be in-store by hitting the 48 plateau on beam for the second time this season. It was a particularly impressive effort by the line-up following a rough night at N.C. State on Sunday. Waldman was again the star, coming through from her anchor spot to match her season and career-high with the 9.800.

Cream also scored a season and career-high on beam, hitting her routine for a second-place score of 9.775. Sophomore Stephanie Bevan (Bridgewater, N.J.) gave the Tribe three of the top four spots with her season and career-best 9.700 to place fourth. Not to be outdone, Jackson also recorded a season and career-high with a seventh-place score of 9.675. Medeiros rounded out the team total with a 9.200.

With only floor remaining in the fourth rotation, the Tribe was set for a fantastic finish, considering the team had posted its top two scores of the season in its last two outings. The improvement continued, and the line-up came through once again with a solid, consistent effort by all. Although the Tribe didn’t place anyone in the top-five on floor, W&M still managed to score a season-high with the steady performance.

Waldman led the way with a season-high 9.725 to place sixth, and Long continued to shine in the event for the Tribe with a seventh-place finish of 9.700. In her last five outings, Long has recorded a score of 9.600 or higher on floor.

McNaughton was also big on floor, hitting her routine with a season and personal high 9.675 to earn a share of ninth place with Bacharach. The 9.675 on floor was also a season and career-high for Bacharach. It wasn’t the last for the line-up either, as Medeiros rounded out the team score in the event with a season and career-high 9.650.

Long finished with an all-around total of 37.850 to place sixth.

W&M is back in action this weekend, taking on the same Tiger team Saturday night at Towson.


Complete Results (HTML)
Complete Results (PDF)

Final Team Scores: William and Mary 192.700, Towson, 192.325, Penn 188.700

W&M Event Team Scores:
Vault: 47.600
Bars: 48.525*
Beam: 48.150*
Floor: 48.425*

*Season High

Top W&M Individuals:
Vault: Jen Stack (9.625, Fifth Place)
Bars: Stevie Waldman (9.850, First Place)
Beam: Stevie Waldman (9.800, First Place)
Floor: Stevie Waldman (9.725, Sixth Place)
All-Around: Stevie Waldman (38.775, First Place)