SUNY Brockport’s gymnastics team traveled to Ithaca to take on the Bombers in the Harriet Marranca Memorial Invitational Sunday and secured a 192.050-187.550 victory to continue strengthening their hold of the top spot in the Division III Northeast region. In addition, two new individual event records were set for the Golden Eagles on the day.
Brockport’s first rotation was on the bars where they put up a score of 47.600, compared to Ithaca’s 44.575. Brockport had all three top finishers for the event, led by fifth-year senior, Rachel Swick, who posted a 9.875. Swick’s score would set the first of the two Brockport program records on the day. Taylor Bushey and Lienna Kay followed Swick with scores of 9.700 and 9.600 respectively.
Brockport would then move on to the vault where they posted a 48.025. Ithaca followed that with a 47.650. Maren Eramo led the way with a top score of 9.750. Emma Grace Sargent placed second for the Golden Eagles, receiving a 9.675, while Ithaca’s Hana Miller and Natalie Steed tied for third in the event with a 9.625.
The Golden Eagles next took on the floor, an area where they had been beaten by a strong Ithaca group in the past. However, today Brockport secured a score of 48.100 narrowly beating out Ithaca’s mark of 48.025. While Grace Murray won the event for Ithaca with a 9.750 mark, the Golden Eagles had Laken Sooy and Kirsten Paultre tie with a 9.725, giving them the other top placements. Brockport head coach Rene Lyst credited the group for getting the job done against Ithaca’s strong floor unit.
“We just focused on our routines. Our goal was to be energetic and perform our routines,” Lyst said.
Brockport had a couple of different competitors than their usual floor unit but still was able to get the job done.
“It was nice to see we didn’t miss a beat,” Lyst said.
Brockport’s final rotation was the beam where they continued their strong season, posting a 48.325 to beat out Ithaca’s score of 47.100. Kay also placed in this event posting a score of 9.875, tying with Ithaca’s Emily Kobusky for first. Kay’s mark was also enough to put her name in the record books, eclipsing the previous record of 9.825. Maya Pecraro rounded out the placements for the Golden Eagles with a 9.700 mark.
Kay’s two placements continued a strong freshman year for her in the all-around. She credits her strong support system.
“I would say that the biggest contributor to my accomplishments is having such a supportive, loving family of girls and coaches that always have my back,” Kay said.“It’s just always comforting to know that this team has got me no matter what.”
A very strong meet for Brockport concluded with them beating their season scoring average of 190.805 and improving their record to 13-1 on the season. The win also secured a season sweep of Ithaca. Brockport has won 14 straight meets over Ithaca in total. In March, the Golden Eagles will make one more trip to Ithaca for the NCGA East Region Championships. Brockport only has three meets remaining before the championship, something that Lyst and her group are really looking forward to.
“This was a good meet for our confidence. We worked hard through every event and finished extremely strong on beam. We’re gaining more and more confidence.”
Brockport will continue to head down the stretch of the regular season, hosting Ursinus College and Springfield College for a tri-meet next Sunday, Feb. 25.
