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Our National qualifiers

Congratulations are in order for co-captains Alli Christenson and Rachel Van Buren, who along with first year student Sonja Ellefson, have qualified to the NCGA National Championships as individuals. Alli and Sonja qualified as all-arounders and Rachel as an even specialist on both beam and floor exercise. The Nationals will be held at Rhode Island College on March 27th and 28th, with the team and all-around competition held on Friday night at 6:00 pm and the individual event finals on Saturday at 1:00 pm. For more information call the Rhode Island College athletic departmentt at 401/456-8007.

David Sebastian Ovalle

Eduardo and Kerry Ovalle are the proud new parents of their first son - David Sebastian. The baby boy was born on Tuesday 11/25 at 10:05 pm at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and measured 19 1/4 inches in length. Mom and baby came home right before Thanksgiving dinner and gave us all something extra special to be thankful for this year. David's big sister Jessica has welcomed her baby brother with open arms and is already taken a role in caring for him. Welcome to the world David Sebastian!

The 1996-1997 Season Wrap-Up

This past season was the most successful in MIT gymnastics history. It seemed that in nearly every meet, another record was being shattered. Every team record for event totals as well as meet total was broken this past year. As for individual records, three out of the five records were either tied or broken, with all records belonging to the roster team members.

First year competitor Lee Knight emerged as a star almost immediately. Knight was consistently excellent throughout the year, setting the school record on the uneven bars (9.55) in a February meet with UMass. In the final regular season meet of the year she shattered the all-around record held by teammate Sheila Rocchio by scoring 37.125. In the process she tied the Institute record held by Rocchio on the beam (9.3) leading the team to a win over a Division I opponent (Brown Univerisity) for the first time ever. Knight earned All-American recognition in the all-around at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships and finished second in the all-around at the ECAC Championships.

Rocchio also had a banner year. Named the team's most valuable performer at the conclusion of the season, Rocchio continued to garner awards for her performance. She was named the NCGA Co-Senior Athlete of the Year (which marks the third time that this prestigious award has been bestowed on an MIT senior) and along with fellow senior Tasi Chiarenza were named to the NCGA National All-Academic Team. Rocchio, for the second time in her career, was also named the Division III Gymnastics nominee for the coveted Honda Award.

In championship competition, the Engineers finished fourth at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships and seventh at the NCGA Championships. 1996-1997 marked only the second time that MIT had qualified as a team for the NCGA Championships.

The highlight of the season by far was a team trip to San Francisco for two meets with UC-Davis and Sacramento State. Performances at the meets were good but the FUN we had on the trip is what made it memorable. This year we hope to make a similar trip to Texas.

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