Bobby Martinez – Sports Writer
NEW HAVEN — With numerous hours of sweat and practice day in and day out, Owls gymnastics team have worked really hard during the off season and is ready for the upcoming season said senior Deni Morgan.
“We all came back looking really strong,” said Morgan. “You can tell the girls worked hard over the summer and conditioned and made sure they had all their skill good before coming back in September.”
Last season the Owls opened up against with a sweep of both Springfield College and Rhode Island College. Sophomore Nicole Pruchnik secured a first place victory in both floor exercise with a 9.8 and the vault with a 9.65. The Owls finished the day with a final score of 187. 95 resulting in first place.
Head coach Jerry Nelson said heading into this season, the team’s expectations are high on winning a lot of competitions.
“We’re expecting to have a really good season,” said Nelson. “We have a strong group of athletes led by seven returning athletes that competed at the national championships last year. We have seven of those eight athletes coming back and that creates a strong base for us. We also brought in three solid freshman and we have four seniors that know how to get the job done. We’re looking forward to a great season.”
Senior, Brianna Ecklof said she hopes her team can continue where her team left off last season after setting a team record of overall scoring with 191.450 in the ECAC Championships.
“We definitely want to start off we’re we finished last year,” said Ecklof. “We broke two records our last two meets so we want to do it again. And our freshmen are going to be definite big aspects to our team.”
During the off season, Nelson said looking back at last season heading into this season, the same strategy for every competition will be the same.
“Nothing different,” said Nelson. “Were actually right now at the point where we starting our routines almost every day and to really maximize our start value and minimize our mistakes. Were just working hard to get ready right now so nothing too different.”
Besides all their accomplishments and hard work during each competition, the Owls last season were recognized by the athletics department for their community service work the team put in last year. Nelson said he hopes that his team can win the award again this year and also win a championship.
“My captains have a diversify role in the gym itself, workouts and our training,” said Nelson. “But also leading in our community service efforts were trying to win the community service title again after winning it last year. There working hard on making sure they lead in terms of grades also so there leading us all around.”
Morgan said serving in the community is a major goal for her team and they look at the opportunity of serving the community just as great as their practices and competitions.
“We find community service very important,” said Morgan, “and is almost as important as our practices because giving back to the community is a great thing.”
The Owls begin their quest for a championship on Jan. 11 at home against the University of Bridgeport at 1 p.m. Nelson said he hopes his team can be consistent throughout the season and do well on every routine possible.
“I think last year we could’ve started to be solid on all of our routines earlier in the season,” said Nelson. “We finished with a really strong season and track record of almost of our last three competitions. But we had a little trouble of getting together earlier so this year I’m hoping we can be strong right out of the gate.”
