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.) [Image Gallery]
PISCATAWAY, NJ- The expectation going in was that it was likely a top 25 team like West Virginia would pick up the victory, but collegiate gymnastics is never so simple as just the wins and losses. There is the score, and then there is what goes on other than just the point scale. Saturday’s night meet had plenty of everything. Mountaineers, Rams, Bears, and Knights clad in Scarlet and Purple, assembled for a memorable meet before a standing room only crowd in Livingston Gym.
West Virginia picked up the victory by posting a 193.925 with a long list of solid scores, but including highlights like Chelsi Tabor’s 9.775 on Vault, and Erica Watson’s 9.725. On the bars, Meghan Morris had a whopping 9.925, Naja Johnson a 9.775, Watson a 9.75, and Amy Bieski a 9.725. On the Beam, Morris led WVU with a 9.825, and Shelly Purkat and Kiersten Spoerke had 9.7s. Finally on Floor, Spoerke had a 9.825 to lead the Mountaineers, and Biekski and Morris had 9.8s. Morris also posted a 39.1 in the All Around. The visiting team had quite a few fans in the house for their victory.
For the University of Rhode Island, the march goes on, and a lot of their fans were in the house as well to support their Rams. A tie for second place would be the reward for their efforts. On Vault, the powerful Ananda Fraser propelled herself to a 9.775. Erica Heaney and Kara Machado picked up 9.525s, Danielle Riportella had a 9.475, and Lauren Wasilewski a 9.4. The Rams had their best event on Bars, built around Erica Heaney and Danielle Riportella’s 9.825s, Emily Rinaldo’s9.725 Ananda Fraser’s 9.575 and Jamie Reyell’s score. On the beam, Jordana Ginsburg led the way with a 9.725, Riportella had a 9.7, Casey Pereira, Alex Tirado, and Reyell added to the scoring effort s well. Finally on the Floor, Fraser picked up the top team score with a 9.7, Riportella had a 9.65, Danielle Lee flipped to a 9.575, Machado a 9.375, and Lindsay Diamond picked up the fifth counted score. Riportella had scored a 38.65 in the All Around through her four events.
The team URI tied, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, had a large home crowd, including a small army of alumni gymnasts, cheering them on throughout. Laura Sevarino scored a 38.45 in the All Around with routines consisting of a 9.8 on Vault, 9.4 on Bars, 9.65 on Beam, and 9.6 on Floor. Latara Northcutt picked up a 9.675 on both the Vault and Bars, and a 9.6 on the Beam. Stephanie Pannick led the team with a 9.725 on the Uneven Bars, and Nicole Rose was the team leader on the Floor with her 9.625, and she also picked up a 9.575 on the Vault that night. Alyssa Lewandowski had a 9.6 on the Floor, and Tiffany Schramm had the same score, only on the Beam. Elizabeth Bohnsack had a 9.475 to contribute to the team’s event score, Kiah Banfield put up a 9.425 on the Vault, Prishani Seebadri had a 9.575 on Beam and a 9.45 on Vault to and Leigh Heinbaugh had the team’s fourth highest beam score.
Division 2 University of Bridgeport with their 187.625 scored well too. Lorraine Galow picked up a co-team leading 9.7 on Floor, and also had a 9.55 on Vault, team leading 9.55 on bars, and a 9.3 on Beam. Yvette Mirando also had a 9.7 on Floor, and had a team leading 9.7 on Beam, in addition to a 9.375 on Vault. Ravin Iasiello had the team’s top score on Vault of 9.65 and also contributed to the team’s Beam score. Breanna Collins had UB’s third top Floor score with a 9.5, and contributed a 9.225 on the Beam. Leila Behbahani was the second among Purple Knights on Bars with a 9.45. Hannah Forti and Jamie DePaola, scored or topped 9.4 on the Vault as well. Forti also swung to a 9.3 on the Uneven Bars. Taylor Rut had the team’s second highest beam score with a 9.35. Stephanie Morgan and Katherine Reitz had 9.325 or above on the floor as well and Niki Calderon put up a 9.375 on Vault in addition to contributions from Shannon Cain, Brandi Embrey and Carissa Huggins.
Division 3 Ursinus has been having a good year as well, including victories against D1 teams in Pennsylvania. They picked up a solid 185.25. This was composed of a variety of scoring highlights. Briana Morrissey had a 9.725 on floor in addition to her team leading 9.325 on Beam, a 9.425 on Bars, and a 9.4 on Vault. Kira Oldham-Curtis also had a 9.725 and she and Morrissey shared the top score on that event. She also had the top Bars score of 9.625, and a 9.325 on Vault, as well as the team’s second highest Beam score. Olivia Oller scored a 9.525 on Floor and a 9.45 on Vault, as well as a 9.3 on Bars, Danielle Chmelewski had a 9.4 on bars, Keriann North a 9.325 on Vault, Erin Slaunwhite a 9.35 on Floor, and Kristen Keane a 9.2 on Vault too.
