Men’s gymnastics team off to great start By Gary SkipperAfter a semester of hard work and preparation the Men’s gymnastics team has started their competition season and so far the first two competitions have been excellent. The guys had their first meet two weeks ago at Springfield and posted an all around score that was over five points better than the same meet the year before. Last week was the very exciting Parent’s Alumni meet versus MIT. The bleachers were full as the arena echoed with exciting performances and enthusiastic support from the crowd. The men scored a sound 173.7 to defeat the stoic MIT team who posted a 161. The crowd got their fill of impressive strength movies and acrobatic skills as Sophomore Ellie Sollins led the way with the meet’s top score on vault and an entry into UVM’s all time records on Pommel Horse with a score of 8.3, which puts him into fourth place. Sophomore Matt Bond kept the momentum going with a personal best in the All around and on the floor which was highlighted by his sky-high double back somersault that nearly left him a with a nosebleed and scathed toes. Senior Andy Schaus had a great meet with high scores on parallel bars and floor. The freshman gymnasts also did a great job as Ian Anderson swung on pommel horse like a madman to earn 5th place in the freshman all time top ten. Newcomer to the sport Matt Christiano had a great score on vault contributing to the team score for the first time and impressing everyone tremendously considering that he just started gymnastics a few months ago. The meet was a tremendous amount of fun and you could really feel the excitement as fans, friends, and family shouted for the talented athletes and waved their cat paws in triumph. The UVM men’s team looks forward to improving their skills and competing vigorously in the remainder of competitions this season.