This post was written by Hatchet reporter Joshua Soloman.
Little wins added up to a big victory, as the GW gymnastics team returned home for the fifth annual Pink Meet, squaring off against Eastern Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) rival North Carolina and William & Mary.
The Colonials won their first meet back at the Smith Center since their opener, claiming a score of 194.675 to the Tar Heels’ 193.275 and the Tribe’s 191.925.
Much of GW’s title came off the strength of junior standout Betsy Zander. Her focus and energy earned Zander her first all-around meet title while sporting a career best 39.025, breaking the 39.000 benchmark for the first time.
“She is one of the most coachable athletes I have ever had,” head coach Margie Foster- Cunningham said. “Whatever I tell that kid to do, she does it.”
Vault was capitalized by sophomore Elena Corcoran who tied for first with a personal best score 9.825. Zander posted a third place score of 9.775.
The uneven parallel bars were highlighted by Zander who took home second with a personal best of 9.775, while fellow junior Kiera Kenney finished third with a 9.750. GW’s success in the competition was born of the team’s mentality, Zander said, one that made the Colonials determined to work together toward a common goal.
“It’s all about the little wins for us, and so each event we took it an event at a time, a skill at a time and that’s what really gets us through,” Zander said.
Senior Kayla Carto, coming off an injury, scored a personal best of 9.875 to earn first place honors in balance beam with a performance that many of her teammates described as the best of the evening for the Colonials. Senior captain Stephanie Stoicovy said it was one of the “prettiest routines I’ve ever seen her do” and explained it as near flawless. Zander tied for second with a personal best of 9.800.
Foster-Cunningham and her fellow coaches huddled the team before entering their last event of the night, floor exercise.
“We told them that you have to stay calm and that you have to attack. So the ‘calm-attack’ was the words that we were using with the athletes and it works for them,” Foster-Cunningham said.
The ‘calm-attack’ worked for Stoicovy, whose punctuating act on floor that won her first place with a score of 9.850. It also earned her a spot on the all-around podium for the fifth meet in a row, as she tallied a total of 38.675 to claim third place.
Foster-Cunningham knows that GW’s ultimate season goals of scoring a team 195.000 and qualifying for NCAA regionals are possible with the right improvements and motivation.
“We want to be at 195.000,” Foster-Cunningham said. “We even changed the locker room code to 1-9-5-0-0. Everyday they go into the locker room they have to push it.”
