TOWSON, Md. - The Yale gymnastics team finished fourth Friday night in a meet at Towson with Michigan State and Rutgers. The Bulldogs' team score was 191.875, which is their sencond highest team score of 2015. Michigan State won with a 196.275, while Rutgers was second with a 194.850 and Towson was third with a 193.750.
Yale had two of the top three in all-around competition, as Morgan Traina was second with a 38.800 and Joyce Li was third with a 38.400.
Camilla Opperman had Yale's best performance of the day, tying for fourth place on the floor exercise with a 9.825. Li was next on the floor leaderboard for the Bulldogs with a score of 9.750, tying her career high. Traina also had a big performance on floor, scoring 9.725 for a new season best. Anella Anderson tied for 19th on the apparatus with a score of 9.675. Katherine Lucas and Brittney Sooksengdao also competed on floor for the Bulldogs, scoring 9.625 and 9.575, respectively. Yale's score of 48.600 on floor was also a season-best team performance.
On beam, Traina led the Bulldogs with a score of 9.700, which tied her for 12th. Li and Anderson tied for 18th on the balance beam with scores of 9.550. Anna Merkuryev was closely followed her teammates on the leaderboard, finishing 20th (9.400). Tatiana Winkelman and Sooksengdao rounded out the competition order for Yale, scoring 9.000 and 8.800.
The uneven bars proved to be a close field, with only 0.100 separating places one through eighteen. The first Yale gymnast to appear in the standings was Traina with a score of 9.725, earning her a tie for 16th. She was followed by teammates Winkelman (9.675), Merkuryev (9.625), Li (9.600), Allison Bushman (9.575) and Anderson (7.550).
Merkuryev earned the best score on vault of any Bulldog (9.675) to tie for tenth. Traina followed with a 14th-place finish and a score of 9.650. Opperman also competed on the vault, placing 16th (9.600). Anderson, Li and Lucas rounded out the lineup for the Bulldogs scoring 9.450, 9.500 and 9.350, respectively.
The Bulldogs will return to the competition floor on Mar. 8 as they take on George Washington and Western Michigna.
Report filed by Rachel Wofford '17, Yale Sports Publicity
