Healthy gymnasts ready to take back Ivies

With a huge match coming up against the Pennsylvania Quakers, the women's gymnastics team enters its toughest stretch of the season. So far, though, this team has been close to flawless. With its 183.225-178.150 win over Vermont on Sat., Jan. 24, the women improved their record to an impressive 5-0 (1-0 Ivy).

Julia Tiernan/YH The gymnastics team hopes to flip its way to a championship

On Sat., Jan. 31, Penn, a team that promises to be the Bulldogs' toughest foe, comes to town. "We think we can win," Sarah Van Wart, ES '99, said. "If we do win, then we'll totally kill our next opponents, and then we'll destroy everyone else."

Kerri McNamara, ES '01, had similar thoughts. "We thought the Vermont match would be close, [and] we beat them by five. Right now we are the team to beat," she said. According to the gymnasts, the Quakers normally do clean routines, but McNamara noted that the Bulldogs will fare well. "We have the higher skill. We just have to hit. If we hit, we'll win."

With their impressive start, the Bulldogs have reason to be confident. Last season, they suffered many injuries, causing them to forfeit a portion of their Ancient Eight contests and withdraw from the ECACs. Yet the Elis, league champs in 1995 and 1996, are back in top form; they lost only one athlete to graduation and everyone is nearly healed.

"We are all working through the injuries, and right now we just look great," Betty Ky, TC '00, said. "Basically, I'm steadily improving. I'm beginning to do more stuff." Ky might as well be speaking for the entire squad. Second-year team captain Elise White, PC '98, Van Wart, and other teammates are getting back in shape after a rash of knee surgeries, sprained ankles, and other ailments. White is back on the beam and bars, but plans to strengthen her knee further before she returns to compete in the floor exercises and the vault.

Teammates are excited to see Ky back in action because, according to Van Wart, before the injury Ky "was top all-around and was absolutely amazing." Van Wart herself is anxious to compete again and plans for a strong comeback against the Quakers. "If I could do floor [at Pennsylvania]," she said, "I'd be a pretty happy girl."

With fewer and fewer falls at each meet, the Bulldogs are gaining momentum. "Really, if anything needs work, it's our confidence, and I guess sometimes some of us lose some rhythm on the beam," McNamara said. The weaknesses, however, are hard to find; the team, with a 61-4 record in the Ivy League since coach Barbara Tonnry arrived in 1973, has been one of Yale's most successful athletic programs. This should continue with the addition of Paul Scardina, the team's assistant coach, who was previously named Division III Coach of the Year. "He's probably the best thing that has happened to this program," White said. With Scardina and five strong freshmen, the tradition of success doesn't look like it's going to end anytime in the near future.

Meanwhile, the freshman trio of Katie Kleiner, DC '01, Nicole Hoffman, BR '01, and McNamara has already made significant contributions to team victories. Earlier in the year, against Brown, Hoffman placed first on the uneven bars while Kleiner won the balance beam and the all-around event. She's now 4-0 on the year.

Even with the strong rookie performances, the Elis agree that they are anchored by upperclassmen. "They're awesome," Van Wart said. "They never fall." The two seniors have already won two Ivy titles. Meghan Imrie, TC '98, and White have both won the Ivy crown on the uneven bars in past years and Stacey Johnson, TC '99, has also won the floor exercise.

The upperclassmen do not falter on the bars, nor do they falter as friends and role models for the younger members. "They help us out on schoolwork, problems, and whatever else we might need," Hoffman noted. Ky agreed. "They are always there when anyone needs anything."

Even with an Ivy title on the horizon, the team remains confident and loose. "The main part is to have fun," Hoffman said.

Well, if winning is fun, then the gymnasts are having a blast.

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