WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College gymnastics team came back from Sunday's dual meet at West Chester with a well-deserved token of marked improvement from its season opener, adding three full points to last week's total with a strong overall performance.
The Bears made massive strides on both the uneven bars and balance beam to accrue a 183.125 in the first of three duals scheduled with the Golden Ram, who scored 188.875. Senior co-captain Lindsay Rush became the first individual winner for Ursinus this season, grabbing a first-place finish on the vault.
Rush's fellow co-captain, junior Eleanor LaFountain, was the Bears' premier performer on the floor and compiled a robust 37.1750 in her second career all-around competition.
Ursinus improved its bars score from 41.350 to 43.175, its vault score from 46.150 to 46.375, and its beam tally from 45.525 to 46.750.
Rush put up the Bears' top score on the vault for the second consecutive meet, but this time she found an individual victory to go with it. With a 9.425, she finished just clear of the Golden Rams' Jessica Meakim (9.375) and a collection of her own teammates.
Freshman Emma Brown tied for third with a 9.325, while fellow rookie Emma Gable finished in a tie for sixth with a strong 9.300 in her collegiate debut. LaFountain matched Gable with a 9.300, easily surpassing her mark of 8.975 in last week's season opener. First-year Gabrielle Pitt tallied a 9.025 in her own debut.
The return of Gable paid major dividends on the bars, where Ursinus tallied a 43.175 to hurdle last week's effort by nearly two full points. Gable was the Bears' pace-setter, notching a 9.325 and placing fourth overall. Sophomore Hailey DiCicco bounced back from a fall a week ago with an impressive 9.275 to take sixth. LaFountain scored an 8.775, almost a half-point higher than her first performance on the bars.
Once again, Ursinus was terrific on the floor, its third rotation of the afternoon. LaFountain continued to act as standard-bearer with a third-place 9.675, another stellar routine for the returning All-American. Freshman Kaylin Knapsack netted an even 9.500 to tie for sixth outdo her debut exercise by three-tenths of a point. Senior Matisen O'Brien received a 9.300 to tie for eighth and was followed closely by junior Skylar Haas (9.200) and sophomore Autumn Snape (9.150).
The Bears also showed major improvement on the balance beam, elevating from a 45.525 to a 46.750. Snape was on point with the second-best beam score of her career, garnering a 9.550 to land in fourth place. Haas' 9.475 was good for sixth, and LaFountain earned a strong 9.425 to finish seventh. Knapsack and O'Brien tied for eighth at 9.150.
The gymnastics team aims for another leap next Sunday, when the Bears head to Temple in a quad meet that also features Penn and Ithaca.