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 report and Troester)
The Bridgeport Purple Knights wrapped up their regular season at the Pizzitola Center with a 189.25 win over the Division 1 Ivy League Brown Bears, who picked up a 184.325. For Bridgeport this is a season high score and a great way to wrap up a season prior to the ECAC D2 championships two week from now. Brown has been missing a lot of their lineup throughout the season, and Jennifer Sobuta was not in the lineup this week, but Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt returned for the first time in nearly two months. Brown will be back in competition next Friday when SCSU and URI visit.
For UB, the team started out on Bars with a solid set of scores, and were led by Lorraine Galow’s 9.5, Brandi Embrey and Hannah Forti’s 9.45, Leila Behbahani’s 9.425, Stephanie Morgan’s 9.375, and Teri Musall’s a 9.25.
In rotation 2 the Purple Knights turned to vault and found more success. Ravin Iasiello’s 9.675 was top among the purple and black, with Yvette Mirando and Galow putting up a 9.5, Forti had a 9.325, and Niki Calderon had a 9.325 of her own. Jamie DePaola also scored a 9.1
In the third rotation, the Knights headed to the floor. Mirando’s 9.65 led the team, Galow had a 9.55, Kat Reitz a 9.425, Breanna Collins a 9.4, Morgan a 9.3, and Iasiello had 9.2.
Finally in Rotation 4, Galow’s 9.65 was first among UB gymnasts, with Mirando having a 9.6, Collins a 9.575, Taylor Rut scored a 9.575 as well, and Iasiello’s 9.0 rounded out the counted scores.
Brown opened on Vault with only five gymnasts, in the lineup. Chelsea Binkley and Vicki Zanelli had 9.3s, Stephanie Albert and Sarah Durning had 9.15’s and Melissa Bowe sprung to a 9.0.
In Rotation 2, Binkley had the top Bears score on Bars with her 9.425. Vida River scored a 9.375, Hannah Goldstein a 9.3, Zanelli a 9.075, and Albert had the fifth counted score.
Rotation 3 took place on the Balance Beam. Albert put up a 9.55, and Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt in her return had a 9.45, as did Rivera. Melissa Bowe’s 9.05 was fourth among Brown, and Binkley had the fifth counted score.
Finally on Rotation 4, Binkley’s 9.55 was the top score for the bears. Whitney Diederich flipped to a 9.375 in her specialty, Goldstein had a 9.25, Albert a 9.175, and Zanelli finished up the counted scores with a 9.15.
