Within the past month, the UVM club gymnastics team hosted their annual Groovy UV Classic in which both the men’s and women’s teams competed for the gold.
The classic hosted four other teams for the women: the University of Rhode Island, Boston University, Cambridge Community of Gymnastics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The Classic went really well and it was clear that every team was enjoying themselves, said women’s team president Erika Parry. “We have improved so much as a team and it definitely showed this weekend. I am proud of our performance and looking forward to our national competition.”
The women were first to the vault where sophomore Megan Kurmin tallied the highest record vault score in the club’s history. Next up for the women’s team was the bars portion of the meet where sophomore Audrey Jones’ score followed up after Kurmin and earned the team’s highest bar score in her set.
Next up on beam, sophomore Danza Rodrigues was able to stick her routine as she too broke into the Catamount record books, scoring the highest score on this event.
The final event for the women was the floor exercise where both Rodrigues and junior Leighmann Ellis performed almost flawless routines taking home both first and second place spots.
Vermont had two all-around competitors: Ellis and teammate senior Emily Hoogestegar. In the women’s team competition, the Catamounts placed second overall.
Men’s teams from all around New England congregated in Burlington as well to compete against Vermont’s men’s teams. The Catamounts faced off against teams from the University of Southern Maine, Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Sophomore Brian Varga swept the podium coming in first in five of his six total events. Varga also claimed a first place spot in the all-around.
Team member Austin Merril competed in the first gymnastics meet of his career here at Vermont.
As a team the Vermont men came in second, falling to Southern Maine by a close three points.
“We are very proud of all our competitors, Varga said. “We hope to keep up the success at Nationals in two weeks.”
The team’s next competition will be Nationals, held this month in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
