Greenwood, SC - The Coker University Acrobatics and Tumbling Team defeated Belmont Abbey to claim their spot in the Conference Carolinas Championship on Saturday. (April 15).
Beginning with the Compulsory Event, Coker started trailing just behind with 036.225 points to Belmont Abbey's 036.550. Amber Garcia, Lelia Brozowski, Hannah Helms, and Paula Urquidi proved to be masters in the Acro Heat of Compulsory as they performed each movement with ease and precision. Pyramid Heat of Compulsory scored 9.700 individual points for the Cobras while Toss Heat registered 9.500 points. Continuing into the Acro Event of the meet, Coker collected 9.950 points in Heat 1 (5 Element). The Cobras brought in 18.275 points in the remaining two heats (6 & 7 Element) of Acro. Belmont Abbey also scored an additional 27.925 points in the second event of the competition. Heading into the Pyramid Event, Lelia Brozowski demonstrated complete control on top of the Inversion Pyramid and scored an impressive 9.700 points for the Cobras. The Cobras claimed 9.600 points in Heat 2 (Synchronized Pyramid) and another perfect 10 in Heat 3 (Open Pyramid), taking their cumulative score up to 93.600. Despite the 15 minute intermission and just trailing Belmont Abbey, Coker's energy continued on into the Toss Event of the competition. Amber Garcia kicked off Heat 1 (450 Salto) and scored 9.175 points for Coker. The Cobras kept their pace with another 27.375 points. Belmont Abbey took their cumulative score up to 120.825 to round out the Toss Event. Following up, Madison McAfee and Paula Urquidi started off the Tumbling Event (Duo Pass) with 8.525 points. Tori Bosner, Jada Dalton, Lelia Brozowski, and Priscilla Dalton competed their Tumbling Heat (Quad Pass) with 7.850 points. Coker boosted their cumulative score to 172.125 points in the final heats of the Tumbling Event. Rounding out the competition, the Cobras posted 91.200 out of 100.700 points in the team event. Coker took down Belmont Abbey with an overall score of 263.425 to 262.845 and set another program high to end the night.
In response to her team's performance, Brianna D'Angelo stated "I'm so proud of how hard the team fought today. It was a close meet that could've gone either way. We had a few little mistakes but they did a great job of moving forward and staying focused the rest of the meet. We can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!" Brianna D'Angelo has led their team to two program highs this season along with five perfect 10s and their first ever Finals appearance.
The Cobras will be returning to the mats on Sunday against Limestone. The first heat is set for 11 AM at Lander University. Live streaming will be available at www.cokercobras.com.