Jan, 11, 2004
Jan. 11, 2004 - Burnham Pavillion time warped last night as the 2003-2004 varsity gymnastics team competed against retired gymnasts from the classes of '03, '01, '00, and even 1973! While the current team members were judged according to the international code of points, the alumni not only started from a 10.0, but also they received an extra 0.2 for "originality" and were allowed to judge themselves.
As the home team, the alumni started out on floor exercise, where Kevin Chow performed to the Superman Theme while dressed in a red cape. Needless to say, he scored a perfect 10.0. The '04 Cardinal made a respectable showing on floor as well, especially Dan Gill, who opened his routine with a beautiful full twisting double layout and scored at 9.1. As the meet progressed, the alumni continued to extend their lead with a string of perfect scores.
With comedian Justin Berkman (class of '02) announcing, the meet was truly a hilarious event. Although it's only a practice meet for the varsity, the team was still in good form. Ambert Young, a junior, and the six freshman are all new members to a fairly small squad. However, they all contribute unique and interesting gymnastics. Ambert is a great pommel horse swinger, while Peter Derman and Alex Schorsch are incredibley strong on the still rings. Each of these underclassmen perform several international level strength combinations. In addition to the class of 2007's strength, Dylan Carney has a long, elegant horizontal bar swing, and Brice Rolston is an accomplished all-arounder, which is very rare for first year college gymnasts. Even though it is very early in the season, this team should be confident as they travel to the Whitfield Invitational at the University of Michigan for their first official competition on Saturday, January 17th.
The next time the varsity men will be performing in Burnham Pavillion will be on Saturday, February 14th at 7 pm for the Cardinal Open.