March 9, 2008
Pitt vs. No. 14 Denver/Texas Woman's Results
PITTSBURGH -
The Pitt gymnastics team fell to two tough opponents Saturday evening in Denver, Colo. The Panthers placed third with a score of 191.675, while No. 14 Denver capture the meet title with an impressive 195.950 and Texas Woman's University came in second with a 194.050.
The Panthers suffered a big blow to their lineup before the meet, as Dani Bryan (Germantown, Md./Northwest), the EAGL's reigning vault champion, tore her Achilles while warming up for the floor exercise. Bryan's absence limited Pitt to only five competitors on vault and floor.
Alix Croop (Allentown, Pa./Bridgeway Academy) posted team-highs on both bars and floor. A 9.750 on bars placed her in a three-way tie for seventh and her mark of 9.800 on floor earned a spot in the top-five. Both scores helped Pitt (1-11, 1-3) rack up season-bests in each event.
Freshmen Mallory Brewer (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Catholic Central) and Molly Moyer (Telford, Pa./Home Schooled) also helped the Panthers' cause on floor with scores of 9.775 and 9.725, respectively.
Croop's team-high bar routine was supplemented by Sarah Thompson's (Shokan, N.Y./Onteora) 9.700, which placed her tenth.
Anya Chayka (Germantown, Md./Richard Montgomery) led Pitt on vault with a score of 9.700 and claimed ninth overall. Senior Samantha DeBone (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) put up a fourth-place mark of 9.825 to tie three other competitors on the beam. DeBone was followed by Shannon Vafiadou, the team's only all-around competitor for the seventh straight meet, who posted a 9.725 en route to a 38.350 in the four events.
The Panthers will be back in action next weekend when they travel to the University of Maryland to take on the Terrapins, Michigan and Temple. They will finish the 2008 regular season with a home quad-meet against North Carolina, Cornell and another matchup with Temple on March 22. Next weekend's action from College Park, Md., will begin on Saturday, March, 15, at 4 p.m.
