Gymnastics Remains Unbeaten By Dominating Competition At Temple Meet

Philadelphia, Pa.-The University of Bridgeport gymnastics team remained undefeated on the 2013 season, as the Purple Knights won the four-team Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational hosted by Temple University on Saturday afternoon.  UB won the quad meet with a team score of 193.975.  The host Owls took second place with a score of 189.825, and they were followed by West Chester University (184.875) and Ursinus College (193.075).  Bridgeport won three of the four events on the afternoon taking first in the vault (49.075), the bars (48.775) and the floor exercise (48.975).

Sophomore Sasha Tsikhanovich (Marysville, Ohio) continued her string of strong performances in the all-around competition so far this season by taking first place on Saturday with a total of 39.275 in the four events.  Sasha took first place on the beam (9.850), tied for first place in the floor exercise with teammate Monica Mesalles Sallares (Sr., Barcelona, Spain) with a score of 9.875, tied for second on the bars (9,800) and tied for sixth in the vault (9.750)

Monica Mesalles Sallares also took first place in the vault with a score of 9.900.

UB junior Lissette La Fex (Diamond Bar, Calif.) grabbed first place on the bars with a school record high score of 9.900.  Lissette also grabbed second place on the beam with a score of 9.725 and tied for fourth in the vault with a score of 9.775

The Purple Knights took the top six places on the vault on Saturday, as junior Melissa Doucette (Somersworth, N.H.) took second (9.825), junior Kamri Riles (Ellenwood, Georgia) was third (9.800) and senior Natalie Saimeri (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) tied for fourth (9.775) to go along with the strong performance by Mesalles Sallares, La Fex and Tsikhanovich.

Saimeri also turned in a career best 9.800 score on the bars to tie for second with Sasha Tsikhanovich, and Riles tied for fourth on the bars with a score of 9.650.

Melissa Doucette also took fourth in the floor exercise with a score of 9.825, and graduate student Lorraine Galow (Suwanee, Georgia) was solid on the beam taking fourth place with a score of 9.675.

The Bridgeport gymnastics team is back in action next Sunday, February 10 at Brown University, when the Purple Knights will face the host Bears along with Rhode Island College and Springfield College.  Action is slated to get underway next Sunday in Providence at 1:00 p.m.