HAMDEN, Conn. - The sixth-ranked Gannon Acrobatics & Tumbling team started the season with a pair of wins over No. 4 Quinnipiac and first-year NCATA program East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon at Quinnipiac's People's United Center in Hamden, Conn. Gannon topped Quinnipiac, 266.955-262.235, in Saturday's matchup of Top 10 nationally ranked teams. The Knights also ran away with a 266.955-170.125 win over East Stroudsburg to begin the season with a 2-0 record.
 
The win is Gannon's first over Quinnipiac, who came into the meet with a 7-0 record all-time against the Golden Knights. The win is also Gannon's first against an NCAA Division I program, as well as the program's first against a higher-ranked team.
 
"We are so proud of this team! We have worked a lot this week on flipping our switch and forcing focus," said Gannon Acrobatics & Tumbling head coach Jacquie Eshleman. "The athletes truly did that today; they were confident and vocal with their needs and kept incredible self-awareness, while also being aware that they are a team and must be a team during every heat that they touch the mat.
 
"To be the first team to beat a NCAA Division I opponent here at Gannon, as well being the first team to beat a higher-ranked team, is a big win for Gannon and our program. We are eager to continue to build off this incredible start and continue celebrating every moment with this amazing group of young women," Eshleman added.
 
Following the win, Gannon has now won eight-straight meets going back to last season's 6-0 record.
 
Compulsory
 
In compulsory, Gannon and Quinnipiac split the four heats, but Gannon took the early lead in the meet by a 36.00-35.55 margin. The Knights were victorious in compulsory acro with an 8.90 and also outscored the Bobcats and Warriors in the compulsory pyramid heat with a 9.60. Quinnipiac earned the highest score in compulsory toss with a 9.80, compared to Gannon's 9.65. The compulsory tumbling scores were also close, with the Bobcats edging out the Knights by a 8.05 to 7.85 margin.
 
Acro
 
Gannon also held the advantage in the acro event, with the Knights posting meet-high scores in both the 5-element acro (9.45) and 7-element acro (9.25) heats. Quinnipiac posted the high score in 6-element acro, outscoring the Knights 9.15-8.60.
 
Pyramid
 
The Knights won two of the three heats in the pyramid event, posting a meet-high score of 9.80 in the inversion pyramid and adding a 9.75 in the synchronized pyramid. Gannon also scored a 9.75 in the open pyramid, finishing just behind Quinnipiac's score of 9.80 in the heat.
 
After sweeping each of the three events in the first half, Gannon went into halftime with a 92.60-91.20 advantage over the fourth-ranked Bobcats. ESU scored 64.30 points in the first half of its debut meet.
 
Toss
 
Gannon's largest margin of victory during the meet came during the toss event, as the Knights swept the three heats and outscored the Bobcats, 28.10-25.60, in the event. The Golden Knights scored an 8.90 in the 450 salto toss, a 9.50 in the synchronized toss, and an event-high 9.70 in the open toss heat.
 
Tumbling
 
Quinnipiac posted the highest score in five of the six tumbling heats on Saturday and topped Gannon by a score of 53.625-52.525 in the event. The Bobcats victory in the event was highlighted by a 9.60 in the aerial pass and a 9.525 in the six-element pass. However, Gannon sophomore Caitlyn Crawford (Reston, Va./South Lakes) had the highest-scoring pass of the tumbling event by turning in a 9.65 in the open pass to cap the event for the Knights.
 
Team Event
 
The Lady Knights entered the team event with nearly a three-point advantage (173.225-170.425) and added to their final margin of victory by outscoring the No. 4-ranked Bobcats, 93.73-91.81, in team event to wrap up the victory. ESU finished the meet with a score of 51.95 in team event.
 
Up Next
 
Gannon will return home and have 13 days to prepare for a dual meet against the No. 11-ranked Falcons of Fairmont State on Friday, Feb. 18. The meet is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Hammermill Center.
 

Gannon Competition Roster (Quinnipiac, East Stroudsburg Tri-Meet, 2/5/22)
#2 Ali Price (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge)
#3 Charisma Felix (Las Vegas, Nev./College of So. Nevada High School West)
#4 Suzy Whiteman (Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional)
#6 Nicole Pavia (Oxford, Conn./Oxford High)
#7 Kat Rodriguez (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall)
#9 Athena Martinez (Austin, Texas/Vista Ridge)
#10 Abigail Miller (Johnstown, Pa./Bishop McCort)
#11 Bri Blaszak (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence)
#13 Bethany Schirz (Reno, Nev./Edward C. Reed)
#14 Annie Colantonio (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bishop Canevin)
#15 Michaelah Lanza (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North)
#16 Ashley Fallgren (Beaverton, Ore./Hillsboro)
#19 Maddie Olsen (Phoenix, Ariz./Chandler Prep)
#21 Courtney Solensky (Columbia, Conn./E.O. Smith)
#23 Sydney Hess (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan)
#26 Addy Womeldorph (Parker, Texas/Allen)
#27 Jema Reasoner (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville)
#29 Abbie Hoffman (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc)
#38 Montana Muller (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua)
#39 Megan Revell (Richland, Wash./Richland High)
#41 Caitlyn Crawford (Reston, Va./South Lakes)
#42 Caitlyn McLaughlin (West Seneca, N.Y./Orchard Park)
#43 Maria Ondrejko (Scenery Hill, Pa./Bishop Canevin)
#44 Alexis Tosado (Sparks, Nev./Edward C. Reed)
#46 Brianna Arre (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend)
#47 Morgan Gilbert (Black River, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Central)
#50 Sammy Gouge (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek)
#51 Lauren Arroyo (West Covina, Calif./Mater Dei)