What could have been a very bad Valentine's Day turned into a victory for the UNH gymnastics team. On Saturday morning, the only all-around competitor for UNH, junior Helena Diodati, came down with the flu and had to miss the Fox Run Invitational. But the team rallied and beat out Air Force Academy, Yale University, and the University of Bridgeport.
"Everyone else stepped up and did the job, which I knew they could," said UNH head coach Gail Goodspeed. "We had some great performances from people stepping in."
In Diodati's spot, Daniele Reibold competed all-around, a first time for the freshman from Pennsylvania. Reibold placed second in all-around competition, scoring a 38.35.
Senior captain Justine Turner threw a new skill on floor for the first time. Turner did a full-in, meaning she does a full twist on one flip, then another. Goodspeed made the decision for Turner to throw the skill, the highest tumbling for the team, with the meet well in hand. Turner did step out but overall it was a successful first time competing the pass, scoring a 9.55.
The Katie Baldwin expression award, given to the UNH athlete who most exemplifies the spirit of performance and passion, was awarded to junior Diane Grey on Saturday. Grey bounced back after a less-than-stellar vault to score an important 9.9 on bars.
"Last week, bars was a disaster and we forget that," said Goodspeed. "We hit six out of six and they did a great job." She mentioned Grey in particular. While she did a "cover-up routine" - a routine designed in case she goes over a handstand on bars - Grey still scored a personal best with a 9.9. "And she stuck her dismount and that was the difference there," said Goodspeed.
Junior Keeley Smith also performed a new pass during floor exercise. Smith ended her high-energy performance with a double back, landing the pass for the first time in competition, scoring a 9.875, second overall in the meet.
Junior Taryn LaFountain had a very successful meet, getting on the podium's highest position for beam and floor exercise. LaFountain notched a 9.9 on floor and a 9.825 on beam.
As successful as the meet was, there are still areas for the Wildcats to work on. "We're not sticking the vaults," said Goodspeed. "We're not landing without movement yet. And that's really what we need to do to take the next step."
The team, currently ranked 31st in the nation, is on the road this weekend for back-to-back meets. Friday night the team goes to the University of Maryland. After the final routine, the team gets on a bus for the three-hour ride to University Park at Penn State University.
The weekend test will give the team an opportunity to improve immediately on routines. This weekend is not the first double duty for the team and history has shown it works in their favor.
"Usually, our second meet is often a better meet than the first one," said Goodspeed. "Because if you make a mistake, you can make up for it the second night and you don't have to wait a whole other week to make up for it. It's right there and its fresh in your mind."
Double meet or not, the team has a very clear goal in mind for the coming weeks.
"Our number one thing we have to do now is sticking dismounts," said Goodspeed. "We have to stick vaults, we have to stick all the dismounts off bars, and we need to get good, solid landings on all the passes. But its nice that we can start focusing on that instead of focusing on can we hit a routine. I think that we're at a point where we know we can hit sets and now it's a matter of perfecting them."
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