Feb. 1, 2008

The Temple women's gymnastics team (1-7) will host the annual Liberty Classic on Saturday, February 2nd at McGonigle Hall at 1:00pm. The Classic marks the first of two home meets for the Owls, as they look to raise the performance level from their three previous meets this season. In his second year as head coach, Aaron Murphy see's that the team has come on a bit slow for the start of the season, but is confident his women will rise to the challenge as the season progresses.

"It's always tough to start the season with three competitions on the road. Our first meet featured five other teams which gave it a post-season feel, which, at the start of the season, can be very nerve-racking. Every team out there loves to perform in front of their home crowd and on their own equipment," said Murphy.

Coach Murphy's line-ups have stayed rather consistent thus far, with several new faces, and some not-so-new faces that are competing on certain events for the first time in their collegiate careers.

One of those new faces is freshman sensation Katie Canning. Hailing from the powerful Brestyan's Gym in Massachusetts, Canning has made a huge impact on several events this season, including two second place finishes on the uneven bars (9.675) and balance beam (9.725) against Rutgers this past Wednesday. Normally a vault specialist, senior Desireé Meredith has stepped up her game during her final year with an appearance in the all-around during the Rutgers competition. After spending the summer working out on her own, Meredith has added difficulty and polish to all of her routines, most notably on balance beam and the uneven bars.

Gymnastics fans who cannot attend the meet live will have the chance to view a live-streaming of the event at http://all-access.cstv.com/cstv/player/player.html?code=tem