Editor’s Note and trigger Warning: The Head Coach of SCSU at the time, Gerald Nelson, has been alleged to have been discriminatory towards gymnasts within his program. 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 Troester.)
NEW HAVEN, Conn.- The Bridgeport Purple Knights were on the competition floor at Southern Connecticut’s Moore field house, just over 12 hours after wrapping up a meet in ice storm ravaged New Hampshire. For UB they had put up a season high that night, and now had to contend with one of the shortest possible breaks between meets a collegiate team will ever face. Southern Connecticut, their instate, and division 2 rivals awaited them in front of the home crowd. The Knights however had a large cheering section as well and so there was a great deal of fan support for both teams. In the end, The Owls of SoCo would pick up the win with a 184.675 to Bridgeport’s 183.85, though it was a close meet throughout with its highs and lows for both the Purple and Black and the Blue and White.
Bridgeport opened on what would prove to be their worst scoring event of the day, but Lorraine Galow continued to be a scoring leader in her freshman year by picking up a 9.35 on the event. Stephanie Morgan would run second on the event with a 9.225, and Leila Behbahani had a 9.05 (Though there are two scores listed for her in Troester.) Carissa Huggins picked up a 9.025 after leading off the event.
SoCo opened up on Vault, and this would prove to be the only event they trailed the Purple Knights on. After Sarah Holensworth, Nicole Fern, and Brittany Otto started things off, Erika Pysh snagged her co-team leading 9.3, Justine Basley picked up the second highest score with a 9.125, and Briana DiPinto tied Pysh with a 9.3 to wrap up the rotation.
On Vault, Bridgeport outscored SCSU with a 46.3 to the Owls 45.575. Mirando lead the team and the meet with a 9.5, and Galow was right behind her with a 9.375. Ravin Iasiello, Hannah Forti, and Niki Calderon all put up a solid scores towards the team total as well.
Southern was over on the Bars, and snagged a 46.275 to top UB on the event and create a lead for themselves. Sarah Darst lead the team and the meet with a 9.625, Justine Basley had a 9.475, Krystie Tomlinson and 9.175, and Sarah Holensworth a 9.075 to be the team’s top four scorers.
In rotation 3, the Purple Knights turned to Floor and had their top team score of the meet, also topping SCSU’s 47.5 with a 47.55 of their own. Stephanie Morgan’s 9.275, Shannon Cain’s 9.35, Breanna Collins 9.4, and Ravin Iasiello’s 9.45 laid the groundwork and then Galow and Mirando anchored the rotation with a 9.65 and 9.7 respectively.
SCSU was on the Beam and edged out UB on the event with a 45.325, but was opposite UB’s floor rotation. Erika Pysh won the event and led the Owls with a 9.625, Dana Goodknight and Taylor Murray picked up 9.15’s as well, though some falls had to be counted by the team.
Bridgeport would finish on Beam, and would score close to the Owls with a .50 separating them though SCSU was slightly ahead. Galow also lead the team on this event with a 9.6, with Mirando second with a 9.35, and Taylor Rut in her lone event of the competition picked up a solid 9.125.
Finally on Floor, Southern put together a 47.5. Michelle Guillerault, Nicole Fern, Justine Basley, and Briana DiPinto laid the ground work with a 9.55, 9.45, 9.325, and 9.525, respectively and Pysh anchored with a 9.675.
For Bridgeport, the score was lower than the past three meets, but still filled with plenty of solid scoring. For SCSU it represented their second highest score of the season.
