William and Mary ended their final road trip of the regular season with a decisive 381.6-369.25 victory over Illinois-Chicago Mar. 10. The Tribe beat out the Flames to claim wins in five of the six events on the backs of standout individual performances that earned five gymnasts individual event titles.
Sophomore Cutter Fugett placed first on the floor with a score of 13.5 to start of the day, and the College capitalized on this strong beginning going into the next event, pommel horse. Once again Fugett dominated, scoring a season-high 13.0 that placed him among the top three scorers for the event. Joining Fugett on that list is freshman Christian Gulotta whose career-best 13.1 earned him second place in the event.
Heading into its next event, rings, the College turned up the intensity, sweeping the event with wins in all three top spots. Senior David Watkins took first place with 13.3 points, followed closely by senior Jacopo Gliozzi who earned 13.25. Third place was awarded to senior Peter Makey with a score of 13.0
Continuing on to the vault, sophomore Collin Lillie won the event with a 14.3, matching his career-high. Junior Tim O’Neill claimed second for the Tribe in that event as well.
Freshman Andrew Lyubovsky and sophomore Ian Creelman took first and second place respectively on parallel bars en route to a team-wide score of 62.2 in that event.
Finally, on the high bar the Tribe came out on top once again, posting the top two scorers, senior David Allen and Lyubovsky in first and second place respectively.
Overall, the College won the day on the strength of individual performances by the seniors, who continue to improve as the season winds to a close. This bodes well for Mar. 16, when the Tribe will return home to take on Army and Springfield in Kaplan Arena looking to close out the regular season with a win.