CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland women's gymnastics team celebrated Senior Day in style Saturday afternoon at Corey Gymnasium, earning a first-place finish with a 190.700 in a four-team meet. Cortland topped the field of Ithaca (188.000), Springfield (186.400) and Utica (186.200). The Red Dragons posted the best score on every exercise.
 
Cortland opened the meet with an impressive showing on vault, placing six gymnasts in the top half of competitors. Tayah Graham (Syracuse/Blaze Gymnastics) won the event with a career high 9.775, while senior Gianna Mirigliano (Springfield, PA Roth's CrossPoint Gymnastics) placed second with a career best 9.750. Olivia Chapman (Buffalo Stumpf's Gymnastics Center) finished fourth with a 9.700, and Kyleigh Brown (Tunkhannock, PA Endless Mountains Gymnastics) and Tessa Sutton (Fairport Rochester Gymnastics Academy) tied for fifth with matching 9.650 scores. That was a season high for Sutton.  Rory Allan (Dubai, United Arab Emirates Fly High Fitness, DXB) also tied for ninth with a 9.500 as Cortland totaled a 48.525, tied for the third-best vault score in program history.
 
On uneven bars, Kathryn McSweeney (East Brunswick, NJ NJ Premier Gymnastics) led Cortland with a second-place finish (9.550). Chapman placed third at 9.475, and Emily Baradic (Chandler, AZ Gold Medal Gymnastics) tied for fourth with a 9.450. Kiana Wong (Elk Grove, CA Dream Xtreme Gymnastics) tied for seventh with a 9.400, as the Red Dragons recorded a 46.950 team score.

Cortland tallied a 47.100 on balance beam, highlighted by Graham's tie for second (9.625). Sutton placed fourth with a 9.575, and Shyann Bootman (East Greenbush World Class Gymnastics Academy) finished sixth at 9.500. Mirigliano added an 11th-place finish with a 9.350.
 
The Red Dragons closed strong on floor exercise with a 48.125 team score and three top-four finishes. Bootman and Autumn Adkins (Aledo, TX Impact Athletics Training Center) tied for first with identical 9.725 scores, while McSweeney tied for fourth at 9.700 and Sutton placed seventh with a 9.650.
 
In the all-around, Utica's Grace Marra won the title with a 37.500, followed by teammate Alisya Dorman (37.200) and Springfield's Sage Kaplan (36.650).
 
Cortland honored its senior class of Mirigliano, Sutton, Rylee Fishkin (Manlius CNY Gym Centre) and Marisa Frascatore (Clay CNY Gym Centre) in a post-meet Senior Day ceremony.
 
Cortland returns to action next Sunday, March 1, for a meet in Providence, Rhode Island against Division I Brown University.

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Sulekha Modi Zaug:

Vault squad once again started off this meet on fire! With Olivia Chapman performing the very first 10.0 start value vault in Cortland's history, (under the current NCAA rules), she has helped to define our strength, depth, and difficulty within our skill sets. Scoring was also tighter today, but seemed consistent across the board. This was a difficult week with many on our team coming down with the flu so just trying to figure out who was healthy enough to compete a safe and full routine was the task of the day. I am so proud of the team stepping up once again showing their depth because even at not full strength today, we put on a good solid show. I'm excited to get back in the gym this week to continue to focus on what we need to do to work on clean execution so we can be the best we can be for regionals in two weeks!
 
Cortland 190.70, Ithaca 188.00, Springfield 186.40, Utica 186.20

(Top 4)
 
Vault: 1) Tayah Graham (CORT) 9.775, 2) Gianna Mirigliano (CORT) 9.75, 3) Grace Murray (ITH) 9.725, 4) Olivia Chapman (CORT) 9.70
 
Uneven Bars: 1) Camille Lindley (UTICA) 9.65, 2) Kathryn McSweeney (CORT) 9.55, 3) Olivia Chapman (CORT) 9.475, T4) Emily Baradic (CORT) 9.45, T4) Olivia Lane (CORT) 9.45
 
Balance Beam: 1) Scarlette Ayakawa (SPR) 9.675, T2) Tayah Graham (CORT) 9.625, T2) Emily Kobusky (ITH) 9.625, 4) Tessa Sutton (CORT) 9.575
 
Floor Exercise: T1) Shyann Bootman (CORT) 9.725, T1) Autumn Adkins (CORT) 9.725, T1) Grace Murray (ITH) 9.725, T4) Kathryn McSweeney (CORT) 9.70, T4) Grace Marra (UTICA) 9.70
 
All-Around: 1) Grace Marra (UTICA) 37.50, 2) Alisya Dorman (UTICA) 37.20, 3) Sage Kaplan (SPR) 36.65  (only three All-Around competitors)