ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cortland women's gymnastics team set a school record for both team score and balance beam score, and Samantha Meadows (Cypress, TX/Texas Connections Academy at Houston) broke the individual school record on balance beam, at the Empire State Collegiate Championship, hosted by Cornell University.
 
Cortland finished in fourth place with a score of 191.95, breaking the previous school mark of 191.65 set at last year's NCGA East Regional Championship. The two Division I schools at the meet, Cornell and Long Island University, earned the top two team spots - Cornell at 194.20 and LIU at 193.425, followed by Brockport (192.45), Cortland, Ithaca (190.25) and Utica (186.325).
 
Cortland's score was highlighted by a 48.75 on balance beam, eclipsing the school record of 48.625 set during the 2003-04 school year. The Red Dragons also finished with a season-best 47.95 on vault along with a 46.925 on uneven bars and a 48.325 on floor exercise.
 
On beam, two Cortland competitors briefly tied the school record of 9.825, which was held by seven people previously. Victoria Cave (Roanoke, VA/Hidden Valley) hit the mark first, followed by Tessa Sutton (Fairport/The Ogburn School). Their spot on top of the record book was short-lived, however, when Meadows came up as Cortland's last competitor in the event and set the new school mark with a 9.85.
 
Meadows won beam in a field of 36 competitors, while Cave and Sutton tied for second place. Rounding out the five scorers whose scores created the beam team record were Gianna Mirigliano (Springfield, PA) in a tie for 15th place with a season-high 9.675 and Rylee Fishkin (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) in a tie for 21st place with a career-high 9.575.
 
Sutton tied for fifth on vault with a career-best 9.70 and Cave tied for eighth on floor with a career-high 9.775. Autumn Adkins (Aledo, TX) also posted two top-eight finishes with a tie for sixth on bars (9.65) and a tie for eighth on floor (9.775), both with season-best efforts.
 
Kyleigh Brown (Tunkhannock, PA/Commonwealth Charter Academy) tied for 11th-place on vault with a season-best 9.625. Tayah Graham (Syracuse/Liverpool) finished 15th on vault (9.575) and Mirigliano, in addition to her tie for 15th on beam, tied for 16th place on vault (9.55). Kathryn McSweeney (East Brunswick, NJ) placed 18th on uneven bars (9.50).
 
Brockport's Kiara Hockman won vault (9.775) and floor exercise (9.90). Ithaca's Lauren Babineaux was the bars champion (9.775) and Cornell's Sydney Beers was the all-around champion (38.925).
 
Cortland will travel to Ithaca for a dual meet on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

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

I could not be more proud of the fight this team exhibited today after a rough first event and not giving up on any routines. We moved on to the best beam lineup this Cortland team has ever put together, fought for every landing on floor and we continued to up the difficulty on vault with 5 incredibly hard vaults once again showing the most difficulty in the entire competition. The scores reflected the talent this team has and today they showed incredible grit and fierce competition.

 
Cornell 194.20, LIU 193.425, Brockport 192.45, Cortland 191.95, Ithaca 190.25, Utica 186.325

(Top 4)
 
Vault: 1) Kiara Hockman (BROCK) 9.775, T2) Raphaelle Perreault (LIU) 9.75, T2) Kaira Cartwright (LIU) 9.75, 4) Dahlia Jhaveri (CORNELL) 9.725 (Top Cortland: T5) Tessa Sutton, 9.70)
 
Uneven Bars: 1) Lauren Babineaux (ITH) 9.775, 2) Morgen Shambo (CORNELL) 9.75, 3) Caroline Kliewer (LIU) 9.725, 4) Natalia Tehrani (CORNELL) 9.70 (Top Cortland: T6) Autumn Adkins, 9.65)
 
Balance Beam: 1) Samantha Meadows (CORT) 9.85, T2) Victoria Cave (CORT) 9.825, T2) Tessa Sutton (CORT) 9.825, T2) Kaira Cartwright (LIU) 9.825
 
Floor Exercise: 1) Kiara Hockman (BROCK) 9.90, 2) Avery Byun (CORNELL) 9.875, T3) Sydney Beers (CORNELL) 9.85, T3) Emma Brookins (BROCK) 9.85 (Top Cortland: T8) Autumn Adkins, 9.775 and T8) Victoria Cave, 9.775)
 
All-Around: 1) Sydney Beers (CORNELL) 38.925, 2) Avery Byun (CORNELL) 38.85, 3) Grace Marra (UTICA) 37.525, 4) Emmy Graff (UTICA) 37.475  (only four All-Around competitors)