The West Chester Gymnastics team competed last Saturday at the Brockport Invitational that is held at SUNY Brockport’s campus in New York.SUNY Brockport hosted West Chester along with Southern Connecticut State University, Wilson College and MIT.
There was more than a 30 point difference between the first place team and the last place team. West Chester finished third in the meet with a score of 177.650. Southern Connecticut State University and SUNY Brockport were in a league of their own.
SCSU won the invitational with a score of 187.275 which gave them the slightest edge over SUNY Brockport who scored a 187.225. Wilson finished the afternoon with a 165.800 while MIT finished in last with a 154.575.
West Chester is continuing to expect more out of their younger competitors. Freshmen Kaley LaFleur and Rachel Pearson have performed well and been essential assets to their team. Their veterans have also been strong competitors and motivators which supports their team chemistry, which has thus far been evident through their success.
LaFleur just missed the top three after finishing fourth in the all around competition with a score of 36.550. Alli Aquila, who is another all around competitor for West Chester, finished sixth, posting a score of 35.050.
LaFleur posted her highest score of the season on the vault with a 9.35, which placed her in fifth place at the invitation. She also finished in ninth place on the floor and twelfth on the uneven bars. LaFleur fell only slightly to the first place all around competitor, Rebecca Brady from SCSU, who scored a 37.150.
West Chester has continued to perform well on the floor routine, finishing the event with a 46.600. The score was their highest of the season. Freshman Rachel Pearson tied for fifth on the floor with a score of 9.5. The floor routine was West Chester’s saving grace in their past meet against SUNY Cortland, which pushed them to their win.
West Chester travels to Philadelphia on Wednesday as they face Penn. The Golden Rams have two home meets remaining on Feb. 20 against Rhode Island College at 11:30 a.m. and on Feb. 26 against Temple with Springfield at 6 p.m.
Amy Festa is a third-year student majoring in English with a minor in Journalism. She can be reached at AF649219@wcupa.edu.