UCSD was represented by seventeen gymnasts at the UCLA March Madness Meet that took place on March 10th at Pauley Pavilion, competing against host UCLA, ASU, UC Davis, USC, UC Berkeley, SJSU, Brandeis, and UCSB, and clubs including Cambridge Community Gymnastics, 5280 Gymnastics, Silicon Valley Gymnastics Club, and NAIGC Alumni.

Competitors in the Women’s Developmental Level included Freshman Madison Adornetto, Sophomores Elaine Carlson and Bianca Buffara, Junior Alice Williams, and Seniors Nina Cheikh and Sierra Casper. Buffara competed her first meet of the season, performing routines on all events (Vault, Bars, Beam, and Floor), scoring a high of 8.8 out of 10.0 on beam. Williams earned yet another-season high on Beam scoring a 9.0. Casper earned a solid, season-high score of 9.4 on Vault, which contributed to an All-Around score of 35.5 and earned her a 5th place finish out of 24 competitors. Carlson scored a high of 9.5 on Vault, powering her to an All-Around score of 36.175 and a 4th place finish just in front of teammate Casper.

Women’s Level 7 included Freshman Mari Frazier, Sophomore Tristen Gamboa, Junior Clare Haworth, and Senior Kaela Wong. Haworth scored a huge 9.9 on Vault earning her a 1st place finish. She also shared the Floor title with teammate Gamboa with a score of 9.4. Haworth ended the meet finishing 1st out of 25 competitors in the All-Around with a score of 36.3. In the Women’s Level 8, UCSD was represented by Junior Allyson Osborn and Senior and Co-Captain Sophie Chamaa, who scored a season-high of 8.8 on Beam. Junior and Co-Captain Elaine Silverman rounded out the women’s team competing in the Women’s Level 9, and earning solid scores of 9.35, 9.4, and 9.375 on Vault, Bars, and Beam, respectively. This powered her to a season-high of 36.825 in the All-Around and a 1st place finish out of eight competitors. To cap it all off, UCSD took home 1st place in the Women’s Level 9.

On the men’s side, all four competitors competed in the NCAA Modified Level, the highest level of NAIGC. Junior Hakob Abajian earned scores of 10.3 and 11.0 on Floor and Vault, respectively, while Grad Student Philipp Arndt earned scores of 11.2 and 10.2 on the same events, respectively. Sophomore Jeremy Gutierrez scored a solid 12.2 and 11.35 on Floor and Vault, while Freshman Ryan Burgess also posted solid scores of 12.2 and 12.55 on the same events. Burgess also competed Beam in the Women’s Developmental Level, scoring a 9.675 to clinch 1st place on that event.

The Triton gymnasts did a solid job this past Sunday, and look to perfect their routines and take home gold at the NAIGC West Regionals, where they will compete against neighbor SDSU, UCLA, UC Davis, Cal, and host ASU at the end of March in Chandler, Arizona.