Women's Gymnastics Travels To Temple for Quad Meet Sunday

MEET NOTES

PHILADELPHIA - West Chester University returns home for a tri-meet with Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) foe William & Mary and Centenary College in Louisiana. The Golden Rams finished third out of four at last weekend's quad meet hosted by Rutgers University. West Chester will look to rebound froma sub-par effort as it returns to the friendly confines of Sturzebecker Health Science Center on South Campus. It is the first of two meets this weekend as the Golden Rams get ready to travel up I-95 to Temple University on Sunday for a quad meet that will also include William & Mary, along with Long Island University. That quad meet will serve as Temple's Senior Day.

West Chester is winding down on its 62nd season. The Temple meet is the Golden Rams' final road trip of the regular season. The Purple & Gold will return home next Friday evening for a dual meet against GEC rival Cornell inside Sturzebecker. That will be the Golden Rams' Senior Day celebration. After that, it is off to the GEC Championships at Yale University in late March and then back home for the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships, which will be held in Hollinger Field House April 12-14.

WCU LAST TIME OUT
West Chester broke its school record on the balance beam to come from behind in the last rotation to squeeze out a close win over William & Mary in a tri-meet Friday night. All five scores that West Chester counted on the beam were career highs as the Golden Rams pulled within one-tenth of a point of William & Mary heading into the final rotation. The hosts amassed a team total of 48.775 on the floor – two-tenth of a point better than what The Tribe did on the uneven bars -  which was enough to overtake William & Mary and earn a win over its Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) foes.
 
William & Mary fell just one-tenth of a point shy of West Chester, despite putting up its highest score of the season with a 194.275. Incidentally, the Golden Rams' 194.375, which was enough to win the meet, is the fourth-best score in school history. Centenary was third with a 188.075. Nine Golden Rams either equaled, or beat, their personal bests on Friday. Cascadden set a new personal high in winning the balance beam with a 9.9. Fellow senior Lily McFarland (Baltimore, Md.) was second on the beam, tying her career high, with a 9.875, while classmate Madison Whitaker tied for third with a career-best 9.825. Sarah Eskew was fifth with a career high 9.8 while Macarthy Keane tied for sixth with a 9.75 her first time in the scoring lineup.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
LIU (11-9)
The LIU women's gymnastics team posted its best score of the season on Sunday afternoon. The Sharks then honored seniors who had been with the program since its inception. Cael Bixler won the beam with a 9.975. Brisa Carraro won the bars with a 9.95. Alana Ricketts tied for first on the vault with a 9.85. And Syd Morris tied for first on the floor exercise with a 9.925. LIU scored a season-best 195.875, although the Sharks were edged by visiting Bowling Green, which scored 195.925 at Pratt Recreation Center.

Syd Morris' busy and successful week has resulted in a top conference weekly honor.Morris, a sophomore from Landenberg, Pa., was selected the EAGL Gymnast of the Week on Wednesday. It marked the second time this season that Morris has earned the award. In three meets since last Monday, Morris won the all-around twice — producing a 39.025 at the All-American Challenge at Mohegan Sun and 39.300 while competing with Temple and host Towson. Morris also scored a season-high 39.400 to finish second against Bowling Green this past Sunday.

TEMPLE (10-14)
During week nine, the Owls visited the No. 21 NC State Wolfpack for a quad meet. During the quad, Temple finished in fourth place as it scored 194.425. NC State won the meet with a 197.000, while Iowa State finished in second with a 196.700, while Northern Illinois came in third place with a 195.200. Overall, the Cherry and White finished with nine 9.8s or better, highlighted by career-bests from senior Mackenzie Aresta (9.850) and freshman Hannah Weklar (9.825) on vault.

The Owls best event this season has been on floor where they are ranked 52nd in the RoadtoNationals rankings with a 49.000. The other rankings include 53rd on bars (48.610), and 58th on vault (48.675) and beam (48.370).

WILLIAM & MARY (3-13)
William & Mary is beginning to hit its stride at the right time of year. The last two times out have been two of the team's top scores all season. Just two days ago at West Chester, The Tribe posted its season-high score of 194.275 and narrowly fell to the host Golden Rams. Michelle Ngo won the floor exercise. In addition to the impressive team total, the Tribe posted the meet's top scores on vault (48.350) and bars (48.575) and recorded season highs in three events – bars (48.575), beam (48.650) and floor (48.700). W&M's beam score ranks tied for the 10th-best performance on the apparatus in program history.   

CASCADDEN SETS SCHOOL RECORD ON BEAM
West Chester University senior Caroline Cascadden set the school record on the balance beam with a 9.9 that also landed her a first-place finish on Senior Night inside the Sturzebecker HSC Friday.

BALANCE BEAM LEADS THE WAY FOR GOLDEN RAMS
West Chester has been performing the best on the balance beam of late. The Golden Rams have scored a 49, or better, in two of the last three weeks and set the school record on beam their last time out with a 49.15. All five Golden Rams who scored on the beam last Friday set personal bests. Additionally, West Chester has recorded five of its top 13 scores all-time this winter alone. It's 194.375 two days ago was the fourth-best team score in school history.

WEST CHESTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT
West Chester University had two competitions air on the Big Ten+ Network his winter. Sunday's meet at Temple is set to air on ESPN+ as well. West Chester traveled to Rutgers for a quad meet on March 2 that was the second time on the BIG Ten Network. The Golden Rams' meet at Boise State in January was also on the Mountain West Network.

Last year, West Chester appeared on ESPN+ twice. It's meet inside the Palestra at University of Pennsylvania was televised on ESPN+ while it's quad meet at Temple in March also aired on the same network. Additionally, West Chester appeared on ESPN+ three times in 2022, including the GEC Championships, making it eight national television appearances in the last three seasons for the Golden Rams.

MAKING A NAME FOR ITSELF AMONG THE GIANTS
West Chester University, which competes at the NCAA Division II level in all other sports at the school, has held its own against the mostly Division I institutions that make up the Gymnastics East Conference. The Golden Rams are a combined 15-0 in head-to-head competition against GEC schools in the regular season, and West Chester has taken third place in each of the first two GEC Championships (2022, 2023). Couple that with wins over Alaska-Anchorage a year ago and a victory against Bowling Green in  2020, and West Chester has represented itself rather well against larger schools with much more money and resources.

USA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS COMING TO WEST CHESTER
West Chester University has been chosen to host the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Championships this coming April. It marks the first time that the Golden Rams have hosted the national tournament in school history. The six-team tournament format guarantees a spot for the host institution, which would increase the field to seven should West Chester not have a high enough National Qualifying Score (NQS) at the end of the regular season. To be eligible for the USAG national tournament, a school must offer fewer than six scholarships to its gymnasts.