Saturday, April 6, William and Mary traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship, hosted by Springfield. The No. 3-ranked Tribe faced off against No. 1 Navy, No. 2 Army, No. 4 Springfield and No. 5 Illinois-Chicago. The College was ranked 15th nationally going into the meet and had recently placed third at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championship. The Tribe had a strong reputation to uphold, being both two-time winners of the ECAC Championship in the past five years, and runners-up last year.
On floor exercises, sophomore Cutter Fugett scored an impressive 14.0, tying him with the Black Knights’ Erik Del Cid for fourth place. Sophomore Collin Lillie tied for 11th with Midshipmen Ben Provost at 13.7. Freshman Andrew Lyubovsky tied for 20th with teammate junior Tim O’Neill, both of them scoring 13.05. In the 24th and 25th spots, freshman Kevin Portofee earned a 12.7 and junior Nate Winneg earned a 12.45.
Next up on the pommel horse, the College got into the top three with senior Jacopo Gliozzi’s 13.9, landing him third place. Freshman Christian Marsh came in ninth with a 12.95. Fugett and Spencer Schrandt both finished in 11th place with a 12.8, tying Cole Casanova from Army and Jack Vollo of Springfield. Freshman Christian Gulotta landed in 17th place, tying Black Knight Brandon Shively with a 12.45. In the 23rd and 27th spots were Winneg and Portofee respectively, with an 11.55 and an 11.5.
On the rings, senior David Watkins tied for first place with Army’s Elliott Herman and Navy’s Josh Williams, all of them scoring a strong 13.85. Gliozzi continued his impressive performance by earning fifth place on the rings with a 13.3. Tribe senior Peter Makey came in ninth with an even 13.0. Tribe freshman Christian Marsh tied with Jake Carlson of Navy at a 12.8, placing them both in 14th place. Winneg came in 23rd with a 12.25, and Portofee came in 25th with a 11.6.
The Tribe once again placed in the top three with the vault, as O’Neill earned a decisive 14.15 to land in third place. Other members of the Tribe who competed on the vault included sophomore Collin Lillie, who placed in fifth with a 14.05, tying him with Springfield’s John Murphy and Noah Candocia. Senior Jack Hasenkopf earned a 13.85 to place him in ninth, and Lyubovsky’s 13.65 landed him in 14th. Rounding out the vault for the Tribe were Portofee at 24th with a 13.15, and Winneg at 25th with a 13.1.
The parallel bars proved to be a tougher time for the College in this competitive event. Fugett’s 12.5 was the highest for the Tribe in this event, landing him in 11th place. In 16th place was Schrandt, who received a 12.2 for his performance on the bars. In 19th and 20th place were sophomores Ian Creelman and Lyubovsky, respectively, who earned a 12.0 and 11.9. Finally, Winneg’s 11.6 placed him in the 23rd spot, and Kevin Portofee’s 11.25 placed him in 24th.
On the horizontal bar, senior David Allen redeemed the Tribe with an impressive second place finish, tying with Midshipman Cash Buske, both of them scoring a 13.25. Also in this event were Lyubovsky and Creelman, who scored a 12.7 and 12.5, respectively, to land them in the 12th and 13th positions. In 15th place was Kevin Portofee with a 12.4, and 20th place was held by Nate Winneg who scored a 12.05. Winneg and Portofee’s all-around performances placed Winneg at seventh with a cumulative 73.0, and Portofee at ninth with a 72.6.
Six members of the Tribe earned All-ECAC honors at the meet, including Fugett for the floor, senior David Allen for the high bar, O’Neill for the vault, Gliozzi for both the pommel horse and rings, sophomore Collin Lillie for the vault and Watkins for the rings. Gliozzi was also awarded Co-Senior Gymnast of the Year with Army’s Cole Casanova.
For the ECAC Championship, the Midshipmen finished in first place with a decisive 401.15, followed by the Black Knights at 390.65, the College at 388.55, the Pride at 383.15 and the Flames at 373.65. Next up, the Tribe will travel to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, which will be held April 19 in Champaign, Illinois.
