The gymnastics team triumphed over Springfield College Sunday, capping off a stretch of home meet victories dating back to late January. The Bears tallied a final score of 194.325, setting season highs on both vault and floor with a school record-tying 9.925 from Julia Bedell ’25 on floor.
“Where we’re at is perfect,” said Head Coach Brittany Harris. “We really just wanted to celebrate every routine, every moment (and) every stick and just use that momentum to help carry us through the meet.”
The Bears started on vault, notching two 9.725 scores from Lauren Kramer ’24 and Angela Xing ’24 as well as a 9.775 from Umi El Mammann ’26. The Bears capped off the rotation with a 9.800 from Abby Contello ’23 and a 9.825 from Bedell, contributing to their season-high total of 48.850 in the event.
“We really got out there and we were confident,” Contello said.
After a stumbling start on bars, the Bears bounced back with clean release skills and stuck dismounts for a team score of 48.000. Lauren McKeown ’24 and Ella Poley ’23 posted back-to-back 9.750s, and Contello took first on the event with a 9.775, nailing her double layout dismount.
Up next on beam, the Bears also endured a rocky start with a fall early in the lineup, but quickly bounced back with a 9.700 from Herald Staff Writer Maya Davis ’25, and a 9.725 from Liza Marcus ’26. Xing competed last, scoring a 9.825 to wrap up the team’s rotation of powerful acro series and stuck dismounts.
With a total of 145.375 leading into floor, the team’s energy was high. Kramer nailed her double back to post a 9.825, and Davis snagged a 9.850 in her floor routine to an instrumental version of “So This Is Love” from "Cinderella."
In the final competing slot of the meet, Bedell took the floor to an instrumental version of Demi Lovato’s “Confident,” performing a new skill for the first time — a full-in, or a full-twisting double back. The routine earned her a 9.925, tying the school’s record on floor.
“It’s crazy, it still hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Bedell said. “I'm excited (to see) where I can take this floor routine and maybe even potentially score higher.”
“We’ve been slowly building up to adding that full-in into that first pass of her routine,” Harris said. “She did some great ones during practice during the week, and I knew when she was going that it would click … so it was super exciting to watch her.”
“The team is building in a really great direction, so I'm really excited to see what the rest of the season has to hold,” Bedell said.
With a 194.325 Sunday, the Bears earned their second-highest score this season after last weekend’s win against Southern Connecticut State University, with a score of 194.775. After awards, Brown honored its five seniors, sharing personal highlights and emphasizing the class’s resilience throughout their seasons affected by COVID-19.
“We just really wanted to … celebrate the seniors (and) everything they’ve accomplished over the years,” Harris said. At the meet, all of Brown’s gymnasts also wore a yellow ribbon in her hair in support of Handstand Walk for Kids, an organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research.
Taking place midway through the season, Sunday’s meet was a “progress, not perfection meet,” Harris added. “We don't want to peak too soon … That way when we start hitting championship season, with the Ivies coming up, we'll start hitting those marks where we want to.”
Brown gym will look to carry their energy and build on their scores at the Long Island University Quad Meet in Brookville, New York on Monday and at the Ivy Classic the following weekend at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Haley Sandlow is a section editor covering science and research as well as admissions and financial aid. She is a junior from Chicago, Illinois, studying English and French.
