In the face of such pressure, the varsity Cardinals won easily against Cupertino on April 12, 144-60, while JV captured a 168-163 victory.

Attitude is necessary for earning a high score in floor exercises, which combine music and different gymnastics moves and require strict adherence to rules. “Some of the points deducted were because we had some visible underwear,” senior co-captain Sophie Ng said. “The discipline is about presentation and looking good.” The girls must also be flexible when doing splits and rolls but remain composed and stiff after rising from the floor or ending a routine.

Before spring break, both the girls’ squads lost to the St. Francis Lady Lancers, with the varsity losing 153-180 and the junior varsity dropping a 163-168 match.

During their second meet the Cardinals showed plenty of excitement before and after the competition. They enthusiastically cheered on teammates who were competing in four simultaneous challenging events — floor exercise, vault, bars and balance beam. “St. Francis has a really good team,” said Ng, noting their strengths in the floor exercises and beam.

The loss to St. Francis was in part because head coach Jerilyn Jank has been absent after an unfortunate skiing accident last year. In her stead Lesley De-Dios, the team’s assistant coach, led the girls through their practices.

The St. Francis loss will not affect the team’s entrance into finals and, according to Ng, the loss to St. Francis only fired up Lowell. “It really built the motivation of our team and made us to work harder,” she said. The event highlighted areas needing improvement for success in finals and other future meets. “I feel we are improving and will do especially better in the bars event at upcoming finals compared to last year,” Ng said. “We are training the newcomers, who are doing very well in the event.”

The Cardinals’ next meet is at 4p.m. on April 27 at Lowell against Los Altos and Tracy West.