Trigger Warning: The Head Coach of Bridgeport at the time, Byron Knox, has been alleged to have been abusive towards gymnasts within his program.
By D.F. Pendrys
(Scores from eyewitness accounts, and Troester.)
When the five teams met at the Pizzitola Sports Center sitting on a hill above downtown Providence, there would be many highs, and lows, but among the successes should be considered that a crowd of so many people came out amidst very difficult snow conditions to see these athletes perform. The Brown parents, and fans were there in force, including a very vocal cheering section, certainly a rival for Yale in enthusiasm, but also present was a downright massive Bowling Green fan contingent, many clad in the bright orange of the Falcons. Bowling Green did have a few gymnasts from the area, but even so it was a very large visiting crowd.
Turning to the competition itself, Bowling Green would win the meet with a 191.475, though perhaps the biggest scoring news of the meet was Bridgeport’s 188.675. It was last week that Bridgeport put up a 185.675 which was one of the highest, if not the highest team score, in 3 years, but this week blew that out of the water. The Purple Knights have improved 11 points in less than one month as well. Coming in third was Brown with a 185.825, though only had five competitors on vault. MIT put up a 180.600, and West Chester came in with a 174.225.
For the home team Brown, the 185.825 is their highest score of the season, 2.8 points higher than the week before on the road in California. This included a score improvement on Vault, a major score jump on Bars of about 1.5, a stable Beam, and point improvement on Floor. Brown’s lineup only had 8 gymnasts in it, down from 10 the week before.
Though shorthanded on Vault, Brown still topped their score from a week ago. Jennifer Sobuta lead the team with a 9.575, freshmen Chelsey Binkley and Vicki Zanelli were right behind her with a 9.35 and 9.325 respectively. For Binkley this was a slight improvement from the week before. Sobuta and Zanelli both picked up large scoring increases from last week though. Stephanie Albert also had a stable scoring run from last week to this one, and Melissa Bowe while having a slight drop in score, still contribute to the teams Vault improvement.
On the Bars, Zanelli was the team scoring leader with a 9.55, a slight improvement over last week, and fellow freshman Vida Rivera improved on her road score to reach a 9.375. Sobuta was third on the team in scoring, but also boosted her score by nearly a point from a week ago. Chelsey Binkley had a score drop but still contributed to the overall scoring improvement, and Melissa Bowe and Hannah Goldstein improved their scores by numerous tenths over the past week.
On the Beam, Jennifer Sobuta led the team with her excellent 9.8. Albert was second on the team after boosting her score big time from last week. Binkley, Zanelli, and Rivera were also part of the scoring which remained stable over the past two weeks.
On Floor, Brown had an especially nice day. Binkley’s 9.65 was the team high, Sobuta had a 9.6, Whitney Diederich a 9.6, Albert a 9.575, Zanelli a 9.375, and Rivera a 9.35. This represented score improvements for the first five gymnasts (Rivera did not compete on the FX last week.)
In the All Around, Sobuta rebounded from a tough scoring day last week to pick up a 38.025. Zanelli improved her score to a 37.25, and Binkley remained with a relatively stable AA score with a 36.85.
For Bridgeport, the 188.675 was a big time score and was constructed of a slight increase in a vault score, 1.5 point increase on Bars, slight increase on Beam, and over a point of increase on Floor.
On the Vault, Ravin Iasiello had a 9.6 to post the team’s top score, and Lorraine Galow had a 9.45, Yvette Mirando a 9.325, Stephanie Morgan a 9.25, Hannah Forti had a 9.175 made up the five scores that counted towards the team score and these represented either stable scoring or increased scoring from the week before.
On the Bars, Bridgeport was on fire sticking landings left and right. Brandi Embrey had the team’s high score with a 9.65. Galow a 9.6, and Forti a 9.55 to round out the top three Purple Knight scorers. For Embrey and Glow these were improvements of about .3 points since the Yale tri meet, and Forti had a big score bump from the week before. Carissa Huggins’ 9.3, and Stephanie Morgan’s 9.2 also contributed to the team score.
Over on Beam, Galow led the team for a second straight week with a 9.675, and Mirando improved upon her score from a week before with a 9.55. Breanna Collins had a slight score improvement to get a 9.325 and finish third among Purple Knights. UB only had five competitors and Ravin Iasiello, and Stephanie Morgan rounded out the scoring .
The Floor Exercise would prove to be the best scoring event for Bridgeport with Galow’s 9.675, Mirando’s 9.65, Collins 9.475, Morgan’s 9.375, and Iasiello’s 9.375. This was also an event where the scores were either stable or improvements on the past week.
Only two gymnasts competed all around this week, with Galow picking up a 38.4, and Morgan a 36.625, both improvements over the meet at Yale last Sunday.
MIT picked up their top score of the season so far with their 180.6. The Engineers are sporting new uniforms this season as well to go with a new lineup mixing rookies and veterans. MIT improved their vault score by more than .5, and also earned a similar bump on Beam. A drop in Bars score, was covered by a 1.5 point improvement on the Floor.
On the Vault, Julia Zimmerman led the team with a 9.45, with Sophia Harrison picking up a 9.375. It was a relatively stable score the past two week for Harrison and Zimmerman improved from last week to next. Elizabeth Stavely scored a 9.15 and improved on her score significantly from the week before. Laura Kelly also picked up a higher score this week, Alison Barnard contributed her score as well to the team score after not competing last week.
Over on the Uneven Bars, Harrison had a 9.45 for the team’s top score, Zimmerman had a stable 9.3, and Kelly kept pace with her score last week or the team’s third highest score. Barnard improved from last week as well.
On the Beam, Zimmerman picked up a 9.4, a dramatic score bump from the past weekend, to lead the way. Harrison and Mingo’s scores were the second and third best on the team. Sarah Trowbridge picked up a scoring bump this week as well.
Zimmerman tumbled to a 9.75 on Floor, with Harrison picking up a 9.425. In addition to those top two scores, Mingo recovered from a low score last week with a 9.25. Barnard didn’t compete on the Floor last week, but this week had a 9.075. Kelly and Trowbridge also increased their scores.
In the All Around, Zimmerman approached the 38 mark with a 37.9, and Harrison had a 37.225. Kelly also improved her AA score from last week.
West Chester and Bowling Green coming soon.
