By Mike Rose | Sports Editor
Kyra Figurelli, like many collegiate athletes in recent years, has had a career engulfed in chaos. When her class came on campus, the Brockport gymnastics program was fresh off a national title. Figurelli and her senior class never reached that pinnacle, but the success will still long be remembered.
Figurelli came to Brockport by way of Killingsworth, Connecticut. She is a nursing major, but she said she came to Brockport for one reason.
“Gymnastics…and a little bit of the nursing program, but mostly for gymnastics,” Figurelli said.
Even given this, Figurelli says she won’t return with her extra year of eligibility granted from the COVID-19 season.
“I do not think so. I wasn’t planning on doing any masters or anything so there is nothing really for me to stay and do. I think all our bodies (the seniors) have had enough. We gave it everything we had,” Figurelli said.
With this being the end for Figurelli, she will leave behind a decorated individual legacy at Brockport. She helped lead Brockport to two National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Regional titles and captured the national title and earned All-American status on the floor exercise in 2022. This past season Figurelli earned All-American status at nationals on the vault and tied the Brock- port program record with a 9.9250 on the floor on her Senior Night.
Figurelli says that moment on her Senior Night will be the moment that sticks with her most from her time at Brockport.
“My teammates were just so happy for me and the whole meet was about the seniors and having fun. It was the most fun routine I’ve ever done and I was so happy after. It was everything I could’ve asked for Senior Night,”Figurelli said.
Figurelli says that her performance on that night meant more to her than winning the national title the year prior.
“I was working so hard to get back up to that mark. I’d gotten a 9.9000 and then I went back down to like a 9.8000. So that 9.9250 and tying the school record just meant a lot because I was working re- ally hard, and I wanted to get up to that school record and see how high I could go on the floor,” Figurelli said.
Despite all the individual accolades for Figurelli, the success of her team as a whole and the bonds she’s made with her teammates, particularly the other seniors, will be what lasts a lifetime.
“Every month we do team bonding, team dinners,” Figurelli said. “Everyone on the team lives together, you live with the people in your class. So, my current roommates I’ve lived with since freshman year, so we see each other every day. I think gymnastics before college is such an individual sport. Once you come to college, the focus isn’t on how you do, it’s on the team. I truly believe that any of these girls would do anything for me. We’re just an actual family and I think that really portrays when we’re competing.”
Those friendships and the family environment that has been built in the Brockport gymnastics program will be as big a legacy Figurelli will leave as her accolades on the mat.
