Purple Knights Dominate Brown And Rhode Island College In Sunday Gymnastics Action

Providence, R.I.-The University of Bridgeport gymnastics team wrapped up a busy weekend of action on Sunday afternoon competing in a tri-meet hosted by Brown University.  The Purple Knights dominated the action on Sunday by taking at least the first two places in all four events, and junior Monica Mesalles Sallares (Barcelona, Spain) captured the all-around competition for the second straight meet.  After winning Friday night's all-around at the University of Maryland, Monica won Sunday's all-around with a score of 38.375 in the four events.  UB took first place as team on Sunday with a score of 191.800.  The host Bears were second with a total of 187.425 and Rhode Island College was third with a score of 169.250.

On her way to winning the all-around, Mesalles Sallares took first place in the vault (9.875) and in the floor exercise (9.800), plus she tied for first on the balance beam with senior Emily Repko (Gilbertsville, PA) with an impressive score of 9.900 which sets a school record in that event.  On the bars, she took tenth with a score of 8.800.

As she did on Friday night at Maryland, sophomore Emily Turik (Crystal Lake, IL) took first place on the bars.  Turik captured Sunday's event with a score of 9.725 leading a sweep by UB of the first three places in the event as sophomore Lissette La Fex (Diamond Bar, CA) took second place (9.700) and freshman Sasha Tsikhanovich (Marysville, OH) was third (9.525).  La Fex also finished in third on the beam behind Monica Mesalles Sallares and Emily Repko with a score of 9.800.

Repko helped Bridgeport take the first three spots in floor exercise as she took second behind Mesalles Sallares with a score of 9.775, and senior Jessica Watts (Marietta, GA) tied for third with a score of 9.750.

On the vault, UB took the first five spots with Monica Mesalles Sallares in first, junior Natalie Saimeri (E. Longmeadow, MA) was second (9.775), sophomore Zahra Stamps (Phoenix, AZ) and freshman Caitlin Perry (N. Kingston, RI) tied for third place (9.700) plus sophomore Kamri Riles (Ellenwood, GA) took fifth place with a score of 9.600.

Next up for the Purple Knights is a trip to Gainesville, Florida for a Friday night (January 27th) meet hosted by Division I powerhouse, the University of Florida, which will also include the University of Arkansas and the University of Maryland.