Department of athletics, physical education and recreation

• MIT Home
• DAPER Home

Varsity Athletics

Feb. 9, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Reigning Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Gymnast of the Week Sophia Harrison was once again phenomenal on Saturday afternoon, winning the all-around competition with a score of 38.075 in a tri-meet hosted by MIT. The senior's efforts helped her team earn a season-high score of 183.225, but it wasn't enough to overcome visiting Southern Connecticut State University (187.575) or SUNY Brockport (185.950).

The Engineers fell to 4-8 with the losses, though only two of their eight defeats have come at the hands of Division III opponents.

Harrison, who set a personal-best mark of 38.100 in the all-around at Air Force just one week ago, nearly matched herself with her tally of 38.075. Prior to last week's career performance, the Laguna Hills, Calif., native had never broken the 38.000 barrier. Harrison earned team-high scores on the uneven bars (9.500) and the balance beam (9.500), good enough for third-place and fifth-place finishes overall, respectively. The co-captain also placed fourth on the floor exercise with a season-high 9.625 and fifth on the vault (9.450).

Julia Zimmerman was remarkable on the floor exercise, matching her best score of the season in the event with a 9.750, good enough for second-place overall. The score was just .025 points away from equaling the Institute record (9.775) shared by Sonja Ellefson and Zimmerman herself. The junior also finished fourth on the vault (9.475), helping her earn an all-around score of 36.575, placing her fifth.

Sophomore Katie Mingo also had a memorable day for the Engineers, setting new personal-bests on both the floor exercise (9.525) and the beam (9.250). She finished seventh and eighth in those events, respectively.

Also performing well for the Cardinal and Gray were Alison Barnard, who tied for seventh overall on the vault with a score of 9.375, and Sarah Trowbridge, who earned a 9.400 on the floor exercise to place 13th.

"Overall, the team had a great performance," said Assistant coach Eduardo Ovalle. "It was the squad's best of the year, by far."

MIT will look to build upon its momentum when it hosts another tri-meet next weekend. The event will feature teams from Rhode Island College and Boston University and is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16.