Jan. 21, 2002

PITTSBURGH-Even though the Pittsburgh gymnastics team ended up with fewer points than East Atlantic Gymnastics League rivals West Virginia and Rutgers, the Panthers improved their team score by almost three points.

Pittsburgh had better scores on all four events than in the season opener on Jan. 12 against Rhode Island. Nationally ranked and defending EAGL champion West Virginia won the meet with 195.2 points, followed by Rutgers with 191.95 and Pittsburgh with 190.95.

Sophomore Marcy Blitz (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) had her second consecutive career-high meet with a 9.75 on vault and a 9.7 on the uneven parallel bars. Her vault score tied her fourth best in the meet behind West Virginia's Dinorh Boyd, TeShawne Jackson and Kari Williams.

Other top scores on the vault included Nathalie Sulpher (Ottawa, Canada/Franco-Quest) with a 9.7 and sophomore Alyse Zeffiro (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) earned a 9.675. All six Panther vault scores were above 9.5 for the second consecutive meet.

The Panthers also got a season high from Raya Mullin (Runnemede, N.J./Triton) on the bars with a 9.8 from the judges. Mullin was tied for fourth on that apparatus with WVU's Jessica Rohm, behind Kristen Macrie, Christen Simpson and Boyd of the Mountaineers. Blitz had the second best score for the Panthers, followed by Sulpher with a 9.55.

Boyd had first place on the balance beam with a score of 9.825 and Rutgers' Katie Russo had a 9.775, which placed her second. Pittsburgh's Rebecca Singleton (Poland, Ohio/Boardman) earned a 9.75 from the judges which was good enough for a third-place finish. Diandra O'Connor (Owasso, Okla./Owasso) tied for sixth on the event with a 9.675 and senior co-captain Colleen Crisi (Woodhaven, Mich./Carlson) was third on the Panthers with a score of 9.575.

The Panthers' two all-arounders, O'Connor and Heather Launse (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), had the top scores on the floor exercise for Pittsburgh, as both earned a 9.775 to tie for fifth place on the event behind four Mountaineers. Mullin had a 9.7 on her first floor routine of the year and junior Lisa Yarosh (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) followed with a 9.625.

O'Connor finished with 38.075 all-around points, which placed her sixth in the meet and Launse finished 10th with 37.025 points.

The Panthers (1-2, 0-2 EAGL) will return home to face Penn State on Sun., Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. The meet will be held at Fitzgerald Field House.