The gymnastics team took second place in its home finale Sunday at the Pizzitola Center. The Bears battled for first place the entire meet with Ivy League rival Yale, but ultimately were upended by the Bulldogs, 189.225 to 188.075. The University of Rhode Island finished third at 187.425, while Southern Connecticut State University brought up the rear with 183.525.
The competition was a farewell performance for Brown'ss six seniors - including Amber Smith '06, the team's top scorer for most of the season - and co-captains Mandi Baughman '06 and Sarah Cavett '06.
A first-year turned in Bruno's top performance of the day: Brittany Anderson '09 led the Bears with an all-around score of 37.425, just ahead of Smith at 36.825.
Anderson started her day with a fourth-place finish in the vault. Teammate Sarah Durning '08 tied for third in the event with a score of 9.525.
Cavett earned a mark of 9.650 on the bars to take third place and lead Brown to a team score of 47.2. Smith and Anderson followed with scores of 9.5 and 9.4, respectively. The overall bars score was the highest by the Bears this season.
"We have been working really hard to compete (on) bars like that as a group," Cavett said. "We went out there Sunday with determination to all hit our routines, and we all did it."
Bruno was hurt by an unexpectedly rough day on the beam. Baughman was the team's top scorer in the event with a mark of 9.475. Jessica Pestronk '08 was the next highest scorer with 9.250.
"We didn't quite come together on the beam, which is usually strong for us." Pestronk said. "Luckily we really hit the other events."
Floor exercise, the final event of the afternoon, proved the most successful for Brown, with Smith tallying a 9.625 to lead the team to a score of 47.575, Bruno's highest total score in the event all season. Jessica Pouchet '06 and Pestronk were right behind Smith with scores of 9.6 and 9.525, respectively.
Brown's combined team score of 188.075 was its highest of the year.
"We did so well this weekend," Smith said. "We are really starting to come together and we have done a great job building from each meet."
For the six seniors competing for the final time in the Pizzitola Center, the meet was a culmination of four years of hard work and fond memories.
"It was sad that this was our last home meet," Cavett said. "Gymnastics is a unique sport. We train almost 20 hours per week from when we're little girls to even be at the level to compete in college. Once our season is over, the seniors will never really do gymnastics again."
The team will return to practice this week to prepare for the ECAC Championships at URI Saturday.
