2009 Season Preview
Jan 05 | Women's Gymnastics
An experienced core of competitors and a healthy return of some of the program’s top performers has the coaching staff excited for a promising 2009 season. The Scarlet Knights have already benefited from a newly-renovated gymnasium which they have trained in during the pre-season, unlike last year’s squad which had to travel to a private gym during construction.
A core of 15 letterwinners returns this winter making for an experienced lineup in 2009. With six freshmen seeing action last season, the program returns a strong group that has been tested. RU will have more depth this season in all four events.
"This season we, as a coaching staff, are really excited to begin our season," said Chrystal Chollet-Norton. "We are looking forward to training all year in our new facility. We have a new strength and conditioning program that is excellent and the experience we will have on this team will be excellent. Our sophomore class all saw a lot of competitive time last year so they will add to the experience of our junior and senior classes. The incoming freshman class is a very strong class with a lot of USA level 10 competitive experience which will help make a smooth transition to college gymnastics. We have had a great pre-season and are looking forward to a great 2009 season."
All-Around
Junior All-EAGL honoree Laura Sevarino is back and healthy from an injury that sidelined her for half of last season. Latara Northcutt filled in for Sevarino last season and had some of her best performances in the final two meets of the year. She will be expected to contribute again this season.
"Laura's consistency and high level skills on each event will once again help the team on all four events," said Chollet-Norton. "Latara will once again be our go-to-girl on uneven bars and beam. Her outstanding difficulty in several events will be a major force in leading the team to a possible school record in these events."
Vault
The Scarlet Knights’ vault team welcomes everybody back from 2008. Led by senior Latara Northcutt, RU will have strong depth with veterans Laura Sevarino, Alyssa Lewandowski, Maddie Zwiebel, Nicole Rose and Kiah Banfield. Newcomers Danae Johnson and Kerry Silverman could also contribute in the vault.
"The coaching staff is really excited about our vault team this season," said Chollet-Norton. "The team is returning all members of the 2008 vault squad which will be led by Latara. The vaulting squad will have five vaults with a start value of a 9.9 and possibly two or three with a start value of 10. With our increase in difficulty on vaulting we can expect to see this event as one of our top scoring events this season."
Bars
Despite the loss of one of the team’s top scorers in 2008 in Stephanie Pannick, the group includes a strong core of returners in Latara Northcutt, Kristy Behr, Jessica Haddaway, Ellese Gold and Laura Sevarino. Erica Gerlach, who missed all of last season due to injury, is expected to make an impact on the bars. Sophomore Kiah Banfield and freshmen Malanie Brother and Nicole Schwartz will also contribute to the bars team.
Coming back from a season ending injury is Prishani Seebadri. She is progressing at a great pace and is expected to be back in the bars line-up.
"We will miss Stephanie Pannick, but we do have some top performers back that should make this a strong event for us. The addition of Erica Gerlach will add additional depth to the team. The team will need to make bars a consistent 49 event total for us,” said Chollet-Norton.
Beam
With more depth in this event, the Scarlet Knights look to be very competitive with a strong line-up each meet. Senior leaders Alison Hartwig, Latara Northcutt and Jessica Haddaway are all experienced in this event and will look to perform excellent routines in 2009. Junior Laura Sevarino and sophomores Leigh Heinbaugh and Maddie Zwiebel will also contribute here.
"The team will look to once again reach our full potential on beam," said Chollet-Norton. “"We have more depth in this position with many returning letterwinners. We could also see some competitive time out of several newcomers. Sharing the senior leadership on the balance beam with Latara will be Alison Hartwig. Alison's, strong flight series and her meet experience for the past three seasons will help with the consistency in this event."
Floor Exercise
Junior Laura Sevarino will be one of the leaders on the floor along with junior Alyssa Lewandowski, and sophomores Maddie Zwiebel, Nicole Rose and Kiah Banfield. Look for seniors Latara Northcutt, Alison Hartwig, Jessica Haddaway and Kristy Behr to contribute in this event as well. Newcomers who will also see competitive time will be Nicole Schwartz and Danae Johnson.
"Our floor exercise team will be very strong," said Chollet-Norton. "We are returning all of the major competitors from last season and have several incoming freshmen who will have an impact on our floor team from the very start of the season."
