West Chester Gymnasts Open Home Slate Saturday with Quad Meet in Sturzebecker

MEET NOTES

WEST CHESTER, PA - West Chester University welcomes three opponents from the Empire State to South Campus Saturday afternoon when SUNY-Cortland, SUNY-Brockport and Ithaca College descend on Sturzebecker Health Science for a 1 p.m quad meet. The meet will be streamed live HERE with live stats included on the broadcast.

The Golden Rams are looking to get back on track after last week's quad meet out West in Boise, Idaho. Saturday is West Chester's home opener of the 2024 campaign and head coach Barbara Cordova is expecting her charges to bounce back from that performance.

Senior Caroline Cascadden (Ashburn, Va.) shined last weekend by tying the school record on the balance beam with a 9.875. She tied for second on the beam at Boise State. Lily McFarland (Baltimore, Md.) finished the beam rotation with a 9.85. Sarah Eskew (Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted a career-best 9.675 on the balance beam. That was just a bit higher than what she did at Maryland last Friday. The beam was definitely where West Chester shined Friday night. Pressed into service on the beam, Karah Vargo (Ft. Myers, Fla.) posted a season-high 9.725.

In just the first two weeks of the year, West Chester gymnasts have broken two school records and tied two others while also posting a personal best 10 times. The Golden Rams broke the school record for highest overall team score in an opener at Maryland two weeks ago. Jordan Coleman (Bowie, Md.) also set the school record on the uneven bars in that meet. Meanwhile, McFarland tied the school record on the balance beam, just to see Cascadden equal that score last week in Boise, Idaho. Plenty of personal bests have been achieved as well, and some very impressive performances from freshmen have the Golden Rams' coaching staff excied about the rest of this season and the future.

Injuries have crept up on West Chester like they will in any gymnastics season. However, Vargo has shown the ability to step right in and contribute while Coleman has filled in nicely on the vault, which is a new event for her. Freshman Corinne Gruber (Barto, Pa.) has also filled into the lineup well on both vault and floor.