In an already historic season for the Owls, they delivered another record-breaking performance in the team’s first dual meet and home opener on Sunday.
The Owls posted the second-highest overall team score in program history in their victory against local opponent Ursinus College at McGonigle Hall. Their winning score of 193.375 is also a new season-high.
“We focused on just being positive and aggressive and going after our routines, attacking them as much as we possibly can,” second-year coach Umme Salim-Beasley said.
After the vault team set a new program record at the Ozone Classic on Jan. 14 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the squad delivered again in Sunday’s opening event. Temple swept the top three spots and finished with a team score of 48.3. Junior all-around Sahara Gipson placed first overall in the event with a score of 9.775.
The bar lineup followed, where freshman Daisy Todd earned her first event title with a score of 9.775. The Owls posted a team score of 48.225 and nearly matched their season-high. Salim-Beasley said the team’s scenarios in practice are helping its routines.
“We give them distraction routines so that they can key in on what’s really important when they are doing their routine, and that’s something they have really grasped a hold of this year,” she said.
The balance beam lineup set a new season-high with a score of 48.35. Sophomore all-around Breahna Wiczkowski scored a 9.775 in the event, tied for first with Ursinus senior Jillian Casarella. Todd delivered another stellar performance on the day and finished second overall with a score of 9.75.
Todd also finished first in the all-around with a score of 38.8, the seventh-highest individual all-around score in program history.
The floor routine was Temple’s final event of the day. the Owls posted a score of 48.5, led by a strong performance from senior captain Briana Odom, who earned her career-high with a score of 9.85. Junior all-around Alexa Phillip, who struggled during the bars routine, rallied to finish second overall in the floor routine with a score of 9.75.
The team will now get ready to travel to West Virginia University for a quad-meet next Sunday that also features Towson University and the University of Denver.
“We’re going to look at the routines we did in this meet, we’re going to critique them, and we’re going to continue to keep pushing on,” Salim-Beasley said.
Ben Blaustein can be reached at benjamin.blaustein@temple.edu
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