The gymnastics team faced stout competition when it traveled to the University of New Hampshire for a three-team meet with UNH and Centenary College this weekend. The Wildcats bested the Bears by a wide margin, 195.575 to 191.600, but Bruno topped Centenary’s 188.600 to finish in second place.
“We still have many things we need to improve upon,” Rebecca Freedman ’14 said of the team’s effort. “We had good performances on bars, beam and vault, but some uncharacteristic mistakes on floor that really cost us.”
UNH ran away with the team competition, as its gymnasts took the top three spots in all four events. The only non-Wildcats to place in the top five of any events were Freedman with fifth place in vault and Caroline Morant ’17 with fourth in beam.
The individual all-around was a much closer competition. Meghan Pflieger was the only UNH gymnast to compete in the all-around and took the crown with 38.775. But Morant finished right on Pflieger’s heels with a final score of 38.700. Michelle Shnayder ’14 rounded out the top three with 38.100.
“I’m happy … competing and placing at all in the all-around — it was very exciting,” Morant said of her runner-up finish.
Bruno showed team depth, with seven different gymnasts finishing in the top 10 of their events. Morant led the way with one of her best showings of the season.
“The past couple of meets I’ve been faltering, but I feel like I finally pulled it together in all of the categories at UNH,” she said.
While the formidable Wildcat team kept the Bears off the podium for much of the day, Bruno also turned in six personal records.
Morant’s impressive day featured her career record in the all-around and a 9.775 on floor, Bruno’s best individual event score.
Classmate Jorden Mitchell ’17 called her own effort at UNH the “best meet of the season,” after she earned a career mark of 9.675 for her floor routine.
Bruno’s top team performance came on the balance beam, where the Bears’ 48.200 was their highest event total. In addition to Morant’s fourth-place finish, three team members set personal records. Danielle Hoffman ’15 reached a new high with a 9.675, ranking her sixth for the meet. Corey Holman ’16 posted a career-high 9.600 — tying for 10th with Mitchell — closely followed by Renee Edelman ’17 in 13th, whose 9.575 set her own career mark.
Mitchell called all the personal records the “high point” of the match, adding that the team is building confidence as the season wears on.
Bruno hosts its biggest meet thus far next weekend when Penn, Cornell and Yale come to College Hill for the Ivy League Classic. The Bears took the crown last season, making them the only Brown varsity team to win an Ivy title. Bruno will be in contention again this season to defend its championship.
Freedman will be competing in her fourth and final Ivy meet.
“I’m not sure I can fully explain how excited I am for the Ivy Classic,” Freedman said. “It’s even more exciting that we get to host Ivies. We have a ton of people coming to support the program, and I wouldn’t mind another Ivy Championship ring either.”
-With additional reporting by Jessica Zambrano
ADVERTISEMENT
