Rhode Island Edges Tribe For ECAC Dual-Meet Victory

W&M Tops 190 Mark In Third-Straight Competition

03/21/08 10:00PM

WILLIAMSBURG - The William and Mary women’s gymnastics team put together another strong performance at home, scoring a 191.00, but it wasn’t quite enough Friday night at Kaplan Arena, as ECAC-rival Rhode Island edged the Tribe with a final team score of 192.000.

Junior Jen Stack (Enfield, Conn.) once again starred for the Tribe, scoring a season and career-high 9.700 on vault to tie for first place in the event. Stack also continued to shine on bars, again scoring a season and career-best 9.800 to place second in the event.

Senior Tricia Long (Humble, Texas) and freshman Dina McNaughton (Stoneham, Mass.) also stood out Friday night, as the pair shared the individual title on floor with identical scores of 9.800. McNaughton established a personal record with the score, while Long matched her career-high as well, set in the Tribe’s last competition at Towson.

Long also recorded the top all-around score on the night with a total of 38.275. Senior Stevie Waldman (Downingtown, Pa.) placed second on bars with a dominant 9.825 and was also the second-place all-arounder with a total of 37.575.

The Tribe got off to a terrific start in the first rotation, compiling a season-high event total of 48.075 on the strength of Stack’s performance. Junior Lauren Jackson (Westwood, Mass.) set the tone from the start, gaining some eye-catching height off the vault to lead off the competition with a career-best 9.575. Feeding off the great start, McNaughton followed with her own season-high, matching Jackson with a 9.575, which put the duo in a tie for second place. Long was third and turned in her usual solid effort on vault, beginning her night with a steady 9.525. Waldman was up next and also impressive on vault Friday night, scoring a 9.650 to earn a third-place finish. Stack followed with her standout vault, and Becca Bacharach (Lancaster, Pa.) also stepped up in her anchor spot and hit on vault with a 9.525 to complete the Tribe’s outstanding run on vault.

W&M looked to keep the momentum building on bars in the second rotation, placing three in the top-four, but the Tribe also had to count a fall. In fact, after the first two in the line-up went on bars, the Tribe knew it would be counting at least one fall. Fortunately, the final four stepped up to the challenge and delivered a solid team score anyway. Long was third in the line-up and started the comeback with a 9.550, which earned a tie for seventh place. Needing three more high scores, the trio of Stack, Ali Medeiros (Hudson, Ohio) and Waldman followed and each wound up inside the top-four. Stack came behind Long and delivered another clutch performance on bars, before Medeiros stepped up and matched her season-high of 9.725 to place fourth. Finally, in her signature event and in her final regular-season performance at home, Waldman delivered yet another brilliant bars routine, scoring a 9.825 to place second.

But while the Tribe was off to a strong start in the first two rotations, the Rams were also putting together a fine outing to keep pace. Erica Heaney won the individual title on bars to highlight the Rams’ strong score of 48.175 in the first rotation, and Amanda Fraser matched Stack for the title on vault as URI totaled 48.075 in the second rotation to hold a narrow 96.250-95.925 lead through two sets.

The third rotation was the turning point in the meet though, as the Rams continued their hot start and scored a 48.300 on floor behind Fraser, while the Tribe counted two falls on beam. Danielle Lee added a 9.725, Jamie Reyell scored a 9.600 on floor to help URI pull away.

Long led off beam for the Tribe and delivered another solid 9.400 to place seventh. Freshman Melissa Cream (West Windsor, N.J.) followed, and it looked like the line-up was on-point again after the rookie notched a 9.575. But, sophomore Stephanie Bevan (Bridgewater, N.J.) was the only other competitor to stay on the beam for the Tribe, scoring a 9.575 to match Cream and put them in a tie for fifth place. At that point after three rotations, URI enjoyed a full two-point advantage, 144.550-142.550.

W&M regrouped though, and the Tribe wouldn’t go down without a fight, as the floor contingent responded with a season-high tying total of 48.450 in the final rotation. Bacharach led off the event and scored a solid 9.575, and Bevan followed with a matching 9.575 to keep the rally building. It was McNaughton though in the third spot that ignited the home crowd, delivering a flawless routine to score a career-high and win her first individual title. Waldman bounced back from a tough go on beam to score a 9.700 and place fifth on floor, before Long turned in a clutch performance in the anchor spot, matching her career-high to tie for first with McNaughton. Medeiros also had a strong floor score with a 9.550, though it didn’t count towards the team total.

URI struggled in its final rotation on beam, leaving the door open for the Tribe by counting a fall. But, behind Lee’s first-place score of 9.750 and Jordana Ginsburg’s second-place finish (9.725), the Rams had just enough to pull out the victory.

W&M also had a number of encouraging exhibition routines Friday night, including one by junior Monica Goldblatt (McLean, Va.) on bars. Goldbatt, who has been out of action with an injury since her freshman season of 2006, performed on bars and scored a solid 9.450 in her return. Junior Sarah Jacobson (Brecksville, Ohio) scored a 9.650 on an exhibition vault, and freshman Carla Bercaw (Montgomery Village, Md.) notched a 9.450 on her exhibition vault. On floor, Cream scored a 9.725 in her exhibition routine, while Jacobson posted a 9.600 in her floor exhibition.

Tonight’s meet concluded the regular season for the Tribe, but W&M will return to action next weekend when it hosts the 2008 ECAC Championship at Kaplan Arean/W&M Hall. For championship and ticket information visit www.tribeathletics.com/ecac.html.

Complete Results (HTML)

Complete Results (PDF)

Final Score: Rhode Island 192.000, W&M 191.000

Top W&M Scores:
Vault: Jen Stack 9.750
Bars: Stevie Waldman 9.825
Beam: Melissa Cream, Stephanie Bevan 9.575
Floor: Tricia Long, Dina McNaughton 9.800
All-Around: Tricia Long 38.250