March 10, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio-Sophomores Marcy Blitz and Diandra O'Connor led the Pittsburgh gymnastics team to a 194.05-point performance at a tri-meet at Ohio State. The Panthers finished second ahead of the host Buckeyes (193.200), who were ranked above Pittsburgh heading into this weekend's competition.
Kent State took first place in the meet with 194.325 points, giving the Panthers one win and one loss for an overall record of 8-10 in the 2002 season. The Panthers' point total was the second highest of the season and eighth highest in school history.
Blitz (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) competed for the first time as an all-arounder and tied with O'Connor (Owasso, Okla./Owasso) for first place with 39.0 points. The amount tied O'Connor's career high in the all-around, set earlier this season. Blitz also recorded a career high on the balance beam with a 9.8, her first beam performance of the season, and tied a career high with a score of 9.75 on the uneven bars.
She finished in third place on the beam for the meet and had fifth-place finishes in the other three events. O'Connor was tied for third on the vault, fourth on the floor exercise and fifth on the balance beam.
The Panthers continued their strong vaulting led by junior Nathalie Sulpher (Ottawa, Canada/Franco-Quest) with the second-highest score in school history. Sulpher received a 9.825 from the judges, 0.025 shy of the school record she set on February 9 against Rutgers, James Madison and Wilson College. She and teammate Alyse Zeffiro (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) are the only two Panther gymnasts to record scores of 9.8 or above twice in their careers.
Sulpher tied for second in the event, a tenth of a point behind the Buckeyes' Jill Tucker, who scored a 9.925. The Panthers scored 48.55 points as a team on the vault, just two tenths of a point away from the team record set earlier this season.
Blitz and O'Connor led the way on bars for the Panthers with identical 9.75 scores. The top three bars routines were performed by Ohio State - Mary Beth Doerr (9.85), Shelly Harris (9.825) and Stephanie Buerkel (9.8).
Zeffiro had two fifth-place finishes (vault and beam) and a fourth-place finish (floor exercise) to add to the Panthers' overall score. Her 9.725 on the balance beam was 0.075 points behind teammates Blitz and
Heather Launse (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) with scores of 9.8 from the judges. For Launse, the 9.8 tied a career high achieved twice before in her career.
Launse also came close to her career high on the floor exercise, scoring 9.85 points to tie for second in the event. Zeffiro and O'Connor followed Launse with identical 9.8 scores, while Blitz and Raya Mullin (Runnemede, N.J./Triton) each received 9.775 points to tie for fifth on the apparatus.
Pittsburgh (8-10, 1-4 East Atlantic Gymnastics League) will close out the regular season with a home meet against Bowling Green on Saturday, March 16. The meet is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Trees Hall.
