HAMDEN, Connecticut – Quinnipiac acrobatics & tumbling defeated Fairmont State, 277.760-273.795, in the Bobcats final home game of the season at TD Bank Sports Center. With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 4-2 overall and 4-2 in the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) while Fairmont State drops to 1-5 overall and in NCATA competition.
For the Bobcats, Jenna Capristo (Wolcott, Connecticut) led Quinnipiac to a win in all seven of the heats in which she competed in for a 7-0 record for the day. Capristo was part of the Compulsory Pyramid heat that posted a 9.90, the Pyramid Open heat that posted a 9.90 and the Toss Open heat that produced a 9.95.
The Bobcats also produced a 10.00 in the Compulsory Toss heat with a team comprised of Melani Mancini (Waterbury, Connecticut), Allee Tallman (Farmington, New York), Siobhan Robinson (Palm Harbor, Florida), Noelle Brasier (Simi Valley, California) and Nicole Chamberlain (Richmond, Rhode Island).
Other top performers for the Bobcats included Kelsey Rule (Kendall Park, New Jersey) who was 5-1 in the six heats she competed; Alyssa O'Connor (Smithtown, New York) was also 5-1 while Samantha Gormley (Howell, New Jersey) was 4-0. Tallman was 7-4 in the 11 heats she competed in while Jenna Adams (Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey) was 7-2 in nine heats. Allie Williams (Poughkeepsie, New York) was 4-2 and Brasier was 6-4 in 10 heats. Freshman Brianna Gerndt (Sparta, New Jersey) posted a 4-1 record for the day.
Quinnipiac started the day off strong with wins in the first two events – the Compulsory (38.30-38.05) and Acro (28.90-28.80). The Bobcats split two of the four heats in the Compulsory event, winning the Pyramid, 9.90-9.70, and the Toss heat, 10.00 – 9.75. In the Acro Event, the Bobcats won two of the three heats,capturing the 5 Element, 9.50-9.40, and the 7 Element, 9.50-9.40.
Fairmont responded with a win the Pyramid event, with wins in the Inversion (9.75-9.60) and the Synchronized (9.90-7.25). The Bobcats took the Open heat, 9.90-9.85. Heading into halftime, Quinnipiac trailed Fairmont, 96.35-93.95.
Coming out of halftime, Quinnipiac won the Toss Event, 29.25-27.65, to trim Fairmont's lead to 124.00-123.20. The Bobcats swept all three meets, posting scores of 9.90 in the 2 Element, 9.50 in the Synchronized and 9.95 in the Open. Trailing by less than a point, the Bobcats took the lead with a win in the Tumbling event, 55-550-52.725. The Bobcats won five of the six heats including the Duo Pass (9.45), Aerial Pass (9.12), 6 Element (9.75) and the Open Pass (9.88). Quinnipiac then entered the Team event with a 178-750-176.725 lead. The Bobcats held on with a 99.01-97.07 win in the Team event.
Quinnipiac will compete in its final meet of the regular season at Gannon on Saturday, Apr. 8 at 6 p.m. The Bobcats will then travel to Azusa, California to compete in the 2017 NCATA Championships on Apr. 27-29 at Azusa Pacific University.
