Brockport, NY - The SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles gymnastics team are heading to Ithaca on Sunday, January 12th to open up their 2025 campaign. The meet will kick off at 2pm. The Golden Eagles will host Cortland on Saturday, January 18th in the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium at 2pm for their home opener.
 
Last Season as a Team: Brockport went on to claim their fourth straight NCGA (National Collegiate Gymnastics Association) East Region Championships last year with a 192.100, making it six of the last seven regional championship titles. The team ended up finishing 4th at the NCGA National Championships, scoring a 193.075. During the regular season, Brockport only had one loss on the season, finishing 16-1, with its only blemish being a second place finish to West Chester University during the West Chester Quad. The team won the first annual Empire State Collegiate Championships, taking down two division one programs in the victory. On senior day, the Golden Eagles set a program record, scoring a 194.325 in their victory over Utica. Brockport finished the season with the top SAS (Season Average Score) in Division 3 with a 193.2875, ranking first on Balance Beam (48.7813), Floor (48.9199), and All-Around (193.2875).
 
Individual Results from Last Season: Current 5th year Maren Eramo was able to bring home some hardware for Brockport, as her vault at nationals earned a 9.825, and a national title on the event (alongside Mia Lucero of UW-Oshkosh who also scored a 9.825). Freshman Kiara Hockman finished at fifth on the event. Senior Taylor Bushey finished fifth on the uneven bars at nationals with senior Emma Grace Sargent finishing eighth, and senior Kirsten Paultre finishing 7th on the floor. All five of the aforementioned gymnasts earned All-American honors. At the regional championships, Eramo finished second on the vault with Sargent and freshman Lieanna Kay finished sixth and eighth respectively. Fifth year Rachel Swick won the Regional title on the uneven bars, scoring a 9.875, with five of the six Brockport athletes finishing in the top 10 scores on the event. On the floor, Paultre finished second in the region. During the regular season, Brockport had gymnasts ranked in the top five of every event.
 
Coach Lyst: Dr. René Lyst was hired to take over the team from John Feeney over the summer of 2021. Going into her first season, the team hadn't seen competition in over a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That season she led the team to a second place finish at the NCGA National Championships, along with a NCGA East Region title and 15-0 regular season record. Overall, Lyst has a 46-4 regular season in her three seasons with the team, with three regional championship titles, and multiple individual national titles. 
 
Filling Out the Roster: Brockport is returning a total of 16 gymnasts, after having five graduate last season. Defending vault champion Maren Eramo returns to the team along with Marina DelVecchio for their fifth season. Five rising seniors are also returning (Miranda LaRobardiere, Maya Pecoraro, Laken Sooy, Olivia Stinnette and Aladiana Tosado), two juniors (Cali Czarcinski and Gracie Weaver) and seven sophomores (Grace Briles, Kiara Hockman, Lienna Kay, Julia Klucinec, Eliana Wannall, Claire Wood, and Sarah Zupanek). Brockport's incoming freshman class is likely to be involved quickly, as nine gymnasts are on the roster going into opening day (Emma Brookins, Shannon Gibbs, Kayla Gleason, Emma Langdon, Olivia Melo, Charlotte Raymond, Jamarie Saravia, Alexis Schulman and Amelia York)
 
Season Schedule: The Golden Eagles open their campaign against the Ithaca Bombers on January 12th. After that Brockport will be returning home for two start meets, taking on SUNY Cortland on the 18th, and Rhode Island College on the 26th. Brockport then heads on the road for three meets, going to West Chester University on February 1st, Long Island Universty on February 9th (Empire State Collegiate Championship), and then heading to Ithaca for the Harriet Marranca Memorial Invitational on February 16th. After that the Golden Eagles finish the regular season at home with meets against Utica on February 21st and Cornell on February 28th. SUNY Brockport will be hosting the NCGA East Region Championships on March 8th at 1pm. Team and individual qualifiers will head to Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota on March 22nd.

Previewing the Season Opener Against Ithaca: The Bombers found themselves on the wrong end of a new postseason format last season, missing out on the East Region automatic bids to the National Championships by .70 points to Cortland. Although Ithaca didn't qualify as a team, the Bombers had seven gymnasts qualify as individuals, all of which return. Ithaca only graduated one gymnast, and added a transfer to the team along with three freshman so they are set up well to compete like the team Brockport has seen for the last few years. Brockport has won 14 straight against the Ithaca, and a younger Golden Eagles team that has experience will be looking to continue that run against the older Ithaca team that will be starting the year hoping to return to nationals.