Balance Beam All-Americans Emma Schulz (tied for 3rd) and Bailey Gildemeyer (tied for 8th)
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – Cortland freshman Emma Schulz (Poughquag/Arlington), junior Rachel Filipski (Lancaster) and senior Bailey Gildemeyer (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) earned All-America honors during the individual event finals at the 2018 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships, hosted by Springfield College.
Schulz tied for third place out of 21 competitors on balance beam with a 9.75. Filipski finished eighth of 20 on vault with a 9.65 for her second All-America honor in three years. Gildemeyer tied for eighth place on beam with a 9.675. The top eight finishers in each event are All-Americans. This is a change from previous years when the top 12 earned that recognition.
Schulz and Gildemeyer each barely missed out on earning a second All-America award. Schulz tied for ninth place on floor exercise with a 9.775 and Gildemeyer tied for ninth on vault with a 9.625.
Filipski tied for 13th on floor (9.725) and senior McKenna Passalacqua (Whitesboro) was 14th on beam (9.575). Sophomore Sidney McConnell (Winchester, CA/Vista Murrieta) placed 19th on uneven bars (9.075), junior Lily Szafranski (Williamsville/Williamsville South) finished 19th on vault (8.85), and sophomore Ashley Scarantino (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) was 21st on bars (8.75).
The individual national champions were: Dani Barmore (Wisconsin-La Crosse) on vault (9.825); Baylee Tkaczuk (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) on bars (9.85); Sam Weyker (Wisconsin-La Crosse) on beam (9.825); and Tali Twomey (Springfield) on floor (9.90).
In addition, Cortland seniors Gildemeyer and Arianna Turso (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) were recognized as NCGA Senior All-Americans in Academics award winners at the meet. The awards go to seniors with at least a 3.0 overall grade point average who appear on the team's NCGA squad list for the current year. The winners must be in their final year of athletic eligibility as well as seniors academically.
