Led by a near-flawless routine on the uneven bars from Mei Li Costa ’22, the gymnastics team capped off the 2019 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships with six All-American honors and its first individual title since 2014.
Ten gymnasts from Brown qualified to compete as individuals in the preliminary sessions held Friday at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and four Bears placed high enough to advance to Sunday’s event finals. Alyssa Gardner ’21, Julia Green ’19 and Kate Nelson ’21 joined Costa in vying for a spot on the podium in the final day of competition.
After tying the school record for the second time this season with a 9.900 in prelims, Costa scored a 9.850 to capture a share of the uneven bars crown Sunday. Her event win marks only the second USAG National title in Brown’s history, after Diana Walters ’16 won the all-around in 2014.
Nelson earned a 9.775 on bars to advance from the preliminary sessions but suffered a fall in the finals, finishing with a 9.100 for 12th place. Both Nelson and Costa were recognized as First Team All-Americans on bars.
Gardner punched her ticket to the vault final by snagging the top spot in the second preliminary session with a career-high 9.825. She completed her sophomore season with a 9.7375 in finals to earn a fifth-place finish and First Team All-American honors.
Green tallied a 9.750 during prelims of vault to collect Second Team recognition for the third time in four years. She then concluded her collegiate career by receiving First Team All-American honors on balance beam, where she finished 14th with a 9.675.
Rose Domonoske ’21 gained Second Team recognition on beam after earning a ninth-place finish in prelims.
The six All-American laurels acquired at the 2019 USAG National Competition amounted to the most since 2016 when the Bears collected 11 All-American awards.
