CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Cortland women's gymnastics team opened its 2024-25 season with a third-place finish in a tightly contested five-team meet hosted by the Red Dragons at Corey Gymnasium. Cortland finished first or tied for first in three of the four individual events on the afternoon.
 
Ursinus won the team title with a score of 186.825, barely edging both Utica (186.65) and Cortland (186.40). Rhode Island College finished fourth (183.525) and Springfield was fifth (180.225).
 
Kyleigh Brown (Tunkhannock, PA/Commonwealth Charter) won the vault title with a 9.60, Samantha Meadows (Cypress, TX/Texas Connections Academy) won balance beam with a 9.75 and Autumn Adkins (Aledo, TX) tied for first on uneven bars with a 9.525. Adkins also tied for 11th on floor exercise with a 9.575.
 
Kathryn McSweeney placed fourth on bars (9.40) and Tayah Graham (Syracuse/Liverpool) tied for fifth on vault (9.50) and tied for 11th on beam (9.30). Alexa Rose Pahila (Greenville, SC/St. Joseph's Catholic) finished in sixth place on bars (9.35).
 
Other Red Dragons to earn finishes in the top half of their events included Ava Miranov (Morgantown, WV/University) with a tie for ninth on vault (9.475), Gabrielle Nadler (Potomac, MD/Richard Montgomery) with a tie for ninth on floor (9.625), Anna Lee Dobson (Hueytown, AL/Valley Creek Academy) in 14th place on beam (9.125), Taylor Goldstein (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills West) in 15th place on bars (8.775) and Gianna Mirigliano (Springfield, PA) in a tie for 15th place on vault (9.425).
 
Cortland will compete in a dual meet next Saturday at Brockport at 2 p.m. Brockport finished first and Cortland placed second at last year's NCGA East Regional.

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

The first meet out is always tough as the gymnasts have to navigate the pressure as well as their difficult skills, especially newcomers. All teams had mistakes, we were not perfect, but we have a long season to get there and meet all of our team goals. The margin for team winners between 1st and 3rd was so small so we know we are in the right spot for now.

We had some incredible highlights including our three event winners! The team also started a full two points higher than last seasons opener with the same team plus 2 freshmen. That's extremely encouraging for our scoring potential! Only up from here!

 
 Ursinus 186.825, Utica 186.65, Cortland 186.40, Rhode Island College 183.525, Springfield 180.225

(Top 6)
 
Vault: 1) Kyleigh Brown (CORT) 9.60, 2) Aaliyah Krause (RIC) 9.575, 3) Payton Greene (RIC) 9.55, 4) Erin Roe (URS) 9.525, T5) Tayah Graham (CORT) 9.50, T5) Michaela Duffy (URS) 9.50, T5) Grace Marra (UTICA) 9.50, T5) Ivy Jimenez (RIC) 9.50
 
Uneven Bars: T1) Autumn Adkins (CORT) 9.525, T1) Emmy Graff (UTICA) 9.525, 3) Alyssa Langston (UTICA) 9.425, 4) Kathryn McSweeney (CORT) 9.40, 5) Ayako Maeda (SPR) 9.375, 6) Alexa Rose Pahila (CORT) 9.35
 
Balance Beam: 1) Samantha Meadows (CORT) 9.75, 2) Olivia Keyes (RIC) 9.625, 3) Grace Marra (UTICA) 9.575, 4) Emmy Graff (UTICA) 9.55, 5) Erin Roe (URS) 9.525, T6) Abigail Walters (UTICA) 9.40, T6) Aaliyah Krause (RIC) 9.40
 
Floor Exercise: T1) Megan Matteucci (URS) 9.80, T1) Grace Marra (UTI) 9.80, T1) Olivia Keyes (RIC) 9.80, 4) Emma Tucker (RIC) 9.70, T5) Sidney Schreiber (URS) 9.675, T5) Emmy Graff (UTICA) 9.675  (Top Cortland: T9) Gabrielle Nadler, 9.625)
 
All-Around: 1) Emmy Graff (UTICA) 38.10, 2) Grace Marra (UTICA) 37.675, 3) Erin Roe (URS) 37.625, 4) Aaliyah Krause (RIC) 37.05, 5) Megan Matteucci (URS) 36.80, 6) Sage Kaplan (SPR) 36.65