Senior year of college is a time for students to reminisce and have fun  before venturing out into the “real world.” For the four seniors on the gymnastics team, it is also a time to leave their mark in the record books.

Seniors Emily Graber, Rachel Lamensdorf, Brianne Sullivan and Rachel Taylor celebrated their last meet in their home gym Saturday by showing off the skills they’ve acquired over the past four years. As they performed their signature events, each athlete remembered the fact that this would be her last time competing in Ben Light Gymnasium.

“This last season has flown by,” Sullivan said. “It’s unreal. I could not have hoped for a better team to share my last season with. I have had incredible amounts of fun in the gym and out.”

Their parents, coaches and fellow teammates gathered around the floor after the victory over SUNY-Cortland on Saturday. Each of their names were announced, and they were joined by their parents ­— a visibly emotional moment for the athletes. Lamensdorf said Head Coach Rick Suddaby has been a major influence in each of their lives.

“Coach Suddaby has helped me believe in myself and make me believe I was capable of doing things I never thought I could do,” she said. “While he helped me grow into attaining a difficult bar routine, he also taught me how to become more aggressive in school in order to be ready to deal with situations in the real world.”

While gymnastics has been a dominant part of the four women’s college lives, the student always comes before the athlete. Taylor and Sullivan are physical therapy majors, Lamensdorf is an accounting major and Graber is getting her degree in childhood education. Both Graber and Sullivan were previous honorees on the Empire 8 President’s List for their academic achievement and Lamensdorf is graduating a year early because of her educational prowess. The athletes’ combined GPA is an outstanding 3.7.

“It’s simply a reality that gymnastics will end your senior year of college, but how you do academically carries a lot farther in life,” Graber said. “My parents taught me that at a really young age, and it’s carried with me since then.”

Not only is this the last time competing on home turf for the seniors, but it will also most likely be one of the last times they will perform in a competitive gymnastics meet.

Moving from high school gymnastics to a team atmosphere at the collegiate level can be a big change for gymnasts, Taylor said.

“Coming from high school where I competed on a club team and it was an individual sport to now college has been such a good change,” Taylor said. “College gymnastics meets have such a high energy level, and they are so much more fun. Having teammates that support you and that are always there for you has made college gymnastics the greatest experience for me.”

The seniors have felt honored to be part of a team that, Graber said, has so much passion, drive and love resulting in an indescribable bond, which resembles that of a second family.

“It’s so easy to take something so amazing for granted until it’s gone,” she said. “My experience over the past four years has been absolutely incredible, and I’m so thankful for being able to be a part of such an amazing team, with such exceptional teammates and coaches.”