Monica Mesalles Sallares And Sasha Tsikhanovich Earn ECAC Weekly Division II Gymnastics Awards

Centerville, Mass.-Two members of the University of Bridgeport women's gymnastics team have earned weekly ECAC Division II awards for their outstanding performances for the Purple Knights in last Saturday night in the team's record-setting win at the University of New Hampshire Invitational.  For the third week in a row and the fourth time this season, junior Monica Mesalles Sallares (Barcelona, Spain) has been selected as the ECAC Division II Gymnast of the Week, and for the second time in 2012, freshman Sasha Tsikhanovich (Marysville, Ohio) has been named the ECAC Division II Rookie of the Week. 

Mesalles Sallares broke two school records with a pair of first-place finishes in the vault and all-around to help Bridgeport defeat Division I programs New Hampshire, Maryland and Brown in Durham, N.H., on Saturday. She broke her own benchmark in the all-around with a total of 39.45, helping the Purple Knights shatter a team record for single-meet points (196.35).  She won the vault with a 9.925 score and tied for first in the floor exercise at 9.9.

Tsikhanovich contributed to Bridgeport breaking the school record for points in a single meet (196.35) as the Purple Knights won the NCAA Division I-dominated New Hampshire Invitational by topping No. 29-ranked and host UNH, No. 32 Maryland and Brown.  Tsikhanovich tied for first on the beam with a career-and school-record-tying 9.990.  Sasha also took sixth place on the bars with a career-high 9.825 and tied for fifth on the floor with a career-best 9.85.

This week, the UB gymnastics team will be busy as the Purple Knights host Brown and Southern Connecticut State University on Hubbell Gym at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, and on Sunday, March 11, Bridgeport is in action at the University of Maryland.