UAA gymnasts put on a show while taking 3rd straight win

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UAA sophomore Michaela Phillips competes on the beam during the Seawolves' 191.175 to 188.900 home victory over Brown at the Alaska Airlines Center on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019. (Bill Roth/ ADN)

The UAA gymnastics team rolled to a third straight victory Sunday at the Alaska Airlines Center, where even a few stumbles weren’t enough to mar what has been a fabulous start to the season.

For the third straight meet, the Seawolves broke the 191-point barrier — something the team has rarely done in January.

UAA beat Brown University 191.175 to 188.900 to move to 3-1 on the season. On Friday, the Seawolves triumphed 192.400 to 186.900 — their best January score in program history. It surpassed the 192.350 points they scored the week before in a win over Illinois State.

Sunday’s score came despite some falls that led to deductions.

“We had a couple falls early, which is usually hard to recover from, but our ladies did a nice job of keeping their focus and improving throughout the meet,” UAA coach Tanya Ho said. “Even with those falls, we were still able to top 191, which gives us confidence going forward.”

The effort was led by junior Sophia Hyderally, who won the balance beam (9.825) and floor exercise (9.850). Brown’s Mei Li Costa won the vault (9.675) and uneven parallel bars (9.850).

Hyderally led a 1-2-3-4-5 UAA finish in floor exercise and a 1-3-5 finish in beam. The Seawolves went 2-3-4-5 in bars and 2-3-4 in vault.

Furnishing second-place performances for UAA were Isabelle Fox in floor (9.8), Mackenzie Miller in bars (9.825) and Isabella Scalapino in vault (9.650).

Getting third-place finishes were Kaylin Mancari in beam (9.7), Kennedy Green in vault (9.625) and Hope Nelson in bars (9.775).

In Friday’s meet, Hyderally won the balance beam (9.850) and floor (9.775) and Fox posted a 38.275 in the all-around to lead the Seawolves.

“Our gymnasts are performing with a lot of poise, especially this early in the season,” Ho said in a press release from the school.

The Seawolves are off this week and will head to California for a pair of meets at the end of the month.