Feb. 1, 2008

PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh gymnastics team hosted Rutgers tonight at Fitzgerald Field House for its annual Think Pink meet to raise awareness for breast cancer. The competition also marked Pitt's first home-conference meet of the season. The Panthers posted numerous season and career highs en route to sweeping all four event crowns and registering their first victory of the season by a score of 192.300-189.075.

Pitt began the night on the vault and posted its highest team score of the season with a 48.400. All five Panther scores were season highs, with the three scores from the freshmen also counting as career highs. Molly Moyer (Telford, Pa./Homeschooled) posted one of those three career-highs, a 9.800, and captured the event title. Shannon Vafiadou (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) recorded a 9.750 to take second place, just behind her teammate. Vafiadou was Pitt's only all-around competitor, taking second with a career-best 37.875.

The bars produced another season best for the Panthers as they totaled 47.925 points, bettering their mark of 47.850 at the tri-meet with Penn State and Kent State. Pitt swept the event with the help of Alix Croop's 9.800. Croop (Allentown, Pa./Bridgeway Academy) was followed closely by Samantha DeBone (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield), who turned in a 9.775 for second, and Dani Bryan (Germantown, Md./Northwest), who claimed third with a 9.675.

In their third rotation, the Panthers took to the beam and came away with 47.150 points. Anya Chayka (Germantown, Md./Richard Montgomery) turned in a season-high score of 9.725 to lead all beamers. Croop registered a career-high 9.600 on the beam to claim a tie for third, while Vafiadou placed fifth with a 9.500.

Pitt finished the night by posting another season high of 48.825 and sweeping the floor awards. Moyer tied her career-high with a score of 9.850 and earned her second event crown of the night. Croop and Shannon McConnell (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny) rounded out the top three with marks of 9.825 and 9.800, respectively.

The Panthers will return to action on Sunday, Feb. 10, when they welcome the No. 3-ranked Florida Gators to Fitzgerald Field House at 1 p.m.

For complete results from tonight's meet, please visit the link below:

Pitt vs. Rutgers Results