Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Women's Gymnastics Opens Season at Penn State
1.5.17 | Women's Gymnastics
PHILADELPHIA – After capping off its first season under a brand new head coach in a renovated practice facility with the highest ECAC Championship score in program history, Temple women's gymnastics is set to kick off its 2017 season. Under the direction of second-year head coach Umme Salim-Beasley, 18 Owls will take to the floor looking to travel up the national rankings and continue the success of 2016 with more preparation and confidence.
"We have a team that already knows what our expectations are," said Salim-Beasley. "They already know the framework of what we do as a staff so they are more prepared knowing where we are heading."
The team is welcoming a large group of newcomers to the roster while returning a strong group of upperclassmen including 2016 ECAC co-champion on floor, Briana Odom. The senior captain is coming off her most successful season as an all-around gymnast, posting the program's second-highest all-around score at the ECAC Championships with a 39.05. Odom, along with co-captain Breahna Wiczkowski and 10 other returning letterwinners, will lead a pack of six strong freshmen.
The returning group enters the season after collecting six total conference medals from four gymnasts at the ECAC Championships. Junior Sahara Gipson earned a silver on vault, an event where she averaged a 9.667 as the steady anchor. Gipson also competed as an all-around gymnast, posting a season-high of 38.675. Classmate Alexa Phillip helped the Owls to a top-three sweep on floor with a second place finish at Conference Championships. She also posted the highest scores on all three events she competed in at the Owls' last preseason intrasquad with a 9.8 on bars, 9.775 on beam and 9.725 on floor.
Fifth-year senior Reagan Oliveri and sophomore India Anderson also look to make an impact with their returns. Oliveri, who battled back from an Achilles tear in 2015 to earn ECAC Coaches' Choice Gymnast of the Week honors for the week of February 9 last season, will look to add quality experience on every event in her final season. Anderson earned her first ECAC honor just before the Conference Championships last year being named Rookie of the Week after posting top scores of 9.8 on floor and 9.7 on vault.
Overall, the 2016 team posted 14 individual event scores of 9.8 or above, improving from nine total in 2015.
The group of newcomers includes 2015 Maryland Most Outstanding Gymnast, Daisy Todd (Hill's), and two-time J.O. Nationals qualifier, Whitney King (Capital). The pair is also joined by Jaylene Everett (Spirit) and Kerra Masella (Premer), both of whom posted strong showings as seniors including two all-around titles from Everett and a NJSIAA National Team selecton for Masella. Yasmin Eubanks (Fairland) is the final true freshman of the group, hailing from Mitchellville, Md. Morgan Fridey (Prestige) rounds out the class of newcomers, transferring from Ball State University, the 2016 MAC runner-ups.
In regards to her complete roster, Salim-Beasley noted, "I think there has been a good balance as far as upper and underclassmen. I have to say that the underclassmen were the ones that pushed and paced the team because they were ready to go right from the beginning. They came in really eager."
The quick pace of preseason is one thing Salim-Beasley is seeing as a huge strength for her 2017 squad. "As far as their progression as a team, we are much farther along than we were last year in terms of meet preparedness," she said. "The numbers we're doing in terms of routines are much higher than they were last year so we're hoping that the consistency in competition will be there earlier on because they are more prepared."
The success in physical routines has also come with an increase in mental work for the Owls following a year where inconsistency may have had a stake in not reaching the teams' full scoring potential. "We've done a lot in terms of mental preparation and visualization," said Salim-Beasley. "We've been working with a sports psychologist to get them in a better mental place so that they are confident in what they are doing. I think that building confidence is something we are keying into to be able to have them ready for competition."
All the preparation is leading to a full and competitive schedule for the Owls, which opens up at a Penn State quad meet that includes BYU and Bowling Green, all of whom qualified for NCAA regionals in 2016. The team will take a long road trip to Knoxville, Tenn. following the season-opener to compete in the Ozone Classic featuring Illinois State, Centenary and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. A dual meet against Ursinus will mark the first of three home meets for Temple on January 22 before closing out the month at a West Virginia quad meet on the 29th.
The Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational will be the second of three home meets on February 4 and will be followed by six road trips through the remainder of February and March. Those meets include top teams such as Towson, UNH, Pitt and Maryland as well as ECAC opponents Cornell, William & Mary and Penn. The Owls close out their regular season with a final home quad meet on March 12 and travel to Brown University for the 2017 ECAC Championships on March 17.
The 2017 schedule looks to up the competition level for the Owls. As Salim-Beasley noted, "We put more competitive teams on the schedule for a reason. We tend to compete up to the level of our competition so when we have tougher competition they tend to compete a little bit better. I think they're ready for that push to be able to compete against some of the best teams in the country and it's a good place for us to be able to showcase the progress we've made."
With strong momentum and notable progress already working in the Owls' favor, Temple women's gymnastics is set for a successful 2017 season. "This team really wants to be good and increase our standing within the country as far as rankings are concerned," Salim-Beasley noted. "I think they are going to do that. They are determined and they want to be successful. They are prepared so I think it's going to be an exciting year."
"We have a team that already knows what our expectations are," said Salim-Beasley. "They already know the framework of what we do as a staff so they are more prepared knowing where we are heading."
The team is welcoming a large group of newcomers to the roster while returning a strong group of upperclassmen including 2016 ECAC co-champion on floor, Briana Odom. The senior captain is coming off her most successful season as an all-around gymnast, posting the program's second-highest all-around score at the ECAC Championships with a 39.05. Odom, along with co-captain Breahna Wiczkowski and 10 other returning letterwinners, will lead a pack of six strong freshmen.
The returning group enters the season after collecting six total conference medals from four gymnasts at the ECAC Championships. Junior Sahara Gipson earned a silver on vault, an event where she averaged a 9.667 as the steady anchor. Gipson also competed as an all-around gymnast, posting a season-high of 38.675. Classmate Alexa Phillip helped the Owls to a top-three sweep on floor with a second place finish at Conference Championships. She also posted the highest scores on all three events she competed in at the Owls' last preseason intrasquad with a 9.8 on bars, 9.775 on beam and 9.725 on floor.
Fifth-year senior Reagan Oliveri and sophomore India Anderson also look to make an impact with their returns. Oliveri, who battled back from an Achilles tear in 2015 to earn ECAC Coaches' Choice Gymnast of the Week honors for the week of February 9 last season, will look to add quality experience on every event in her final season. Anderson earned her first ECAC honor just before the Conference Championships last year being named Rookie of the Week after posting top scores of 9.8 on floor and 9.7 on vault.
Overall, the 2016 team posted 14 individual event scores of 9.8 or above, improving from nine total in 2015.
The group of newcomers includes 2015 Maryland Most Outstanding Gymnast, Daisy Todd (Hill's), and two-time J.O. Nationals qualifier, Whitney King (Capital). The pair is also joined by Jaylene Everett (Spirit) and Kerra Masella (Premer), both of whom posted strong showings as seniors including two all-around titles from Everett and a NJSIAA National Team selecton for Masella. Yasmin Eubanks (Fairland) is the final true freshman of the group, hailing from Mitchellville, Md. Morgan Fridey (Prestige) rounds out the class of newcomers, transferring from Ball State University, the 2016 MAC runner-ups.
In regards to her complete roster, Salim-Beasley noted, "I think there has been a good balance as far as upper and underclassmen. I have to say that the underclassmen were the ones that pushed and paced the team because they were ready to go right from the beginning. They came in really eager."
The quick pace of preseason is one thing Salim-Beasley is seeing as a huge strength for her 2017 squad. "As far as their progression as a team, we are much farther along than we were last year in terms of meet preparedness," she said. "The numbers we're doing in terms of routines are much higher than they were last year so we're hoping that the consistency in competition will be there earlier on because they are more prepared."
The success in physical routines has also come with an increase in mental work for the Owls following a year where inconsistency may have had a stake in not reaching the teams' full scoring potential. "We've done a lot in terms of mental preparation and visualization," said Salim-Beasley. "We've been working with a sports psychologist to get them in a better mental place so that they are confident in what they are doing. I think that building confidence is something we are keying into to be able to have them ready for competition."
All the preparation is leading to a full and competitive schedule for the Owls, which opens up at a Penn State quad meet that includes BYU and Bowling Green, all of whom qualified for NCAA regionals in 2016. The team will take a long road trip to Knoxville, Tenn. following the season-opener to compete in the Ozone Classic featuring Illinois State, Centenary and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. A dual meet against Ursinus will mark the first of three home meets for Temple on January 22 before closing out the month at a West Virginia quad meet on the 29th.
The Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational will be the second of three home meets on February 4 and will be followed by six road trips through the remainder of February and March. Those meets include top teams such as Towson, UNH, Pitt and Maryland as well as ECAC opponents Cornell, William & Mary and Penn. The Owls close out their regular season with a final home quad meet on March 12 and travel to Brown University for the 2017 ECAC Championships on March 17.
The 2017 schedule looks to up the competition level for the Owls. As Salim-Beasley noted, "We put more competitive teams on the schedule for a reason. We tend to compete up to the level of our competition so when we have tougher competition they tend to compete a little bit better. I think they're ready for that push to be able to compete against some of the best teams in the country and it's a good place for us to be able to showcase the progress we've made."
With strong momentum and notable progress already working in the Owls' favor, Temple women's gymnastics is set for a successful 2017 season. "This team really wants to be good and increase our standing within the country as far as rankings are concerned," Salim-Beasley noted. "I think they are going to do that. They are determined and they want to be successful. They are prepared so I think it's going to be an exciting year."
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VT, FX, BM
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