2008 Woodie Awards
Gymnastics place second in Ocean State Challenge
Kayla Panu
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: Sports
2/5/08 - After finding out that its sport will be cut next year in favor of women's lacrosse, the University of Rhode Island gymnastics team took second place at the Ocean State Challenge Sunday, with a score of 185.000.
"I was a little bit disappointed," head coach Chelle Kassabian said about her team's performance. "We had some falls that we were not expecting to have, but there were some good things."
The meet was held at Brown University where the Bears took first with a score of 186.200. Rhode Island College came in third with a score of 168.775.
Kassabian said the news that the team will be cut after the season devastated the ladies.
"It was a difficult meet but they did a good job to ready themselves," she said.
The Rams won the vault and the floor exercise. Coming in first on the vault was sophomore Ananda Fraser with her score of 9.700. Junior Lauren Wasilewski followed in second place with her score of 9.650.
Fraser took second in the floor exercise (9.550) while newcomer freshman Danielle Riportella won the event with her score of 9.575.
"We have five new people," Kassabian said. "They've all been able to contribute in some way."
Riportella also took second in the all-around with her total score of 37.175.
The Rams opened their season in New Hampshire on Jan. 11 losing 190.600 to 186.750. Riportella won the all-around with her score of 37.275 and Fraser won the floor exercise with her score of 9.700. Fraser also had the best score on the vault for URI (9.550).
Senior Erica Heaney came in fifth place on the uneven parallel bars with her team-best score of 9.625. On the balance beam, sophomore Danielle Lee scored a 9.525, which was the best for the Rams.
So from that meet, the Rams concentrated on improving their skills Kassabian said.
"We spent the last couple of weeks to upgrade routines."
The Rams will travel to Illinois State University on Friday to compete against the Redbirds at 7 p.m.
"We are looking for good competition and are excited to be going to a different part of the country," Kassabian said. "As always we want to count fewer falls. We want to try to do a little bit more, a little bit cleaner, and more precise in skills that we are doing."
Their overall goal for the season, Kassabian said, is to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships.
"The ultimate goal is for the team to qualify for the Regionals as well as individuals like we have been doing for the past nine years," she said.
"I was a little bit disappointed," head coach Chelle Kassabian said about her team's performance. "We had some falls that we were not expecting to have, but there were some good things."
The meet was held at Brown University where the Bears took first with a score of 186.200. Rhode Island College came in third with a score of 168.775.
Kassabian said the news that the team will be cut after the season devastated the ladies.
"It was a difficult meet but they did a good job to ready themselves," she said.
The Rams won the vault and the floor exercise. Coming in first on the vault was sophomore Ananda Fraser with her score of 9.700. Junior Lauren Wasilewski followed in second place with her score of 9.650.
Fraser took second in the floor exercise (9.550) while newcomer freshman Danielle Riportella won the event with her score of 9.575.
"We have five new people," Kassabian said. "They've all been able to contribute in some way."
Riportella also took second in the all-around with her total score of 37.175.
The Rams opened their season in New Hampshire on Jan. 11 losing 190.600 to 186.750. Riportella won the all-around with her score of 37.275 and Fraser won the floor exercise with her score of 9.700. Fraser also had the best score on the vault for URI (9.550).
Senior Erica Heaney came in fifth place on the uneven parallel bars with her team-best score of 9.625. On the balance beam, sophomore Danielle Lee scored a 9.525, which was the best for the Rams.
So from that meet, the Rams concentrated on improving their skills Kassabian said.
"We spent the last couple of weeks to upgrade routines."
The Rams will travel to Illinois State University on Friday to compete against the Redbirds at 7 p.m.
"We are looking for good competition and are excited to be going to a different part of the country," Kassabian said. "As always we want to count fewer falls. We want to try to do a little bit more, a little bit cleaner, and more precise in skills that we are doing."
Their overall goal for the season, Kassabian said, is to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships.
"The ultimate goal is for the team to qualify for the Regionals as well as individuals like we have been doing for the past nine years," she said.