Women's Gymnastics Set to Open 2025 Season at Rutgers on Saturday Afternoon

WEST CHESTER, Pa.- West Chester University opens its 64th year of varsity intercollegiate gymnastics with a tough road test against three perennial powers, including two current top-20 teams in No. 16 Rutgers, No. 19 Penn, and No. 26 Towson on Saturday afternoon at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway. 

Saturday’s season-opener can be seen on the Big Ten+ Network by clicking here. That broadcast will be a Pay-Per-View event. Live Results of the event will also be available here.

Saturday’s quad-meet with the Scarlet Knights, Quakers, and Tigers starts a busy month away from home for West Chester. The Golden Rams travel to Texas the following week to take on Texas Woman’s and Southeast Missouri State on Friday the 17th, before visiting Louisiana to face Centenary and SMSU once again on Monday the 20th.

After the team returns North, it will head to Connecticut to take on two more Gymnastics East Conference opponents, Bridgeport and Cornell, ahead of the home opener on Saturday, February 1st, against SUNY-Cortland and SUNY-Brockport. 

“We are very excited to get the new season underway,” opened 17th-year head coach Barbara Cordova. “We have a great returning class, including our last two fifth-year student-athletes in, Lily McFarland and Caroline Cascadden, who are both back after great seasons last year and have brought such great veteran leadership. Having a National Champion in Jordan (Coleman) back is really exciting, too, so I think our returning class has us in great shape heading into the New season.”

West Chester returns four of its five All-GEC performers from a year ago, led by USAG Bars National Champion Jordan Coleman (Bowie, Md.) and 2024 GEC Specialist of the Year Caroline Cascadden (Ashburn, Va.). A year ago, Cascadden was a First Team selection on both the beam and floor exercise, while Coleman earned a First Team nod on the bars. Lily McFarland (Baltimore, Md.) was also a First Team honoree on the beam, while Sarah Eskew (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was named to the Second Team on both the vault and uneven bars. McFarland and Cascadden also earned Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Associations Regular Season All-America honors on the beam. 

Our four returning All-Conference selections all look really, really strong early this season,” said Cordova. Having a fifth year is something that I love because they have that added maturity that an extra year gives them. Caroline and Lily have looked steady and consistent, and Jordan looks great as ever on bars and has also looked strong on vault early this season. Sarah continues to train beautifully once again as she heads into her junior season, and I’m excited to see her compete again this year.”

Eskew led West Chester at the 2024 GEC Championships at Yale last March, tying for third on the uneven bars with a personal-best score of 9.85 before finishing fifth in the all-around with another personal-best score of 39.1.

West Chester also saw four gymnasts earn USA Gymnastics All-American honors last year as Eskew copped these honors in the vault and all-around, while the USAG Uneven Bars National Champion, Coleman was a First Team honoree in this event. McFarland was a First Team All-American on the balance beam, while Cascadden earned First Team honors on the floor and second team on the beam. Kristina Rodriguez (Cincinnati, Ohio) was the final Golden Ram to earn a USAG All-America certificate as she was recognized as a Second Team on the floor exercise, earning her third career All-America citation. 

West Chester will face its first Gymnastics East Conference foe of the year this weekend in the 19th-ranked Quakers posting an incredible 18-2 record all-time against fellow GEC members in head-to-head regular season competition. West Chester was picked to finish third in the GEC Preseason Poll released in mid-December.

When asked about being slotted third in the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) Preseason Poll, Cordova said, “We are really excited to be seen in that light. We know how challenging and competitive our conference is, especially going against the Ivy’s and William & Mary, so to be seen as a program with the opportunity to finish third excites us a lot. Every year, the team works to create a mission and goals that we work toward throughout the year, and part of our mission this year is to make it back into the night session at GEC and finish at least third in that event. 

When competition gets underway on Saturday, Cordova and the Golden Rams know that they will be looking to make continued strides in all events while also leaning on a returner-laden roster after losing only Kiley Fred, Maggie Storz, Madison Whitaker, and Lauren Wicker to graduation a year ago.

On the vault, West Chester brings back several talented returners, including Eskew, McFarland, Rodriguez, and Coleman, along with newcomer Rylee Harada (Runnemede, N.J.), whom Cordova mentioned as having looked strong on vault early in her collegiate career.

“Vault is always a hard event,” acknowledged Cordova. “It’s an event that we are always looking to continue building as the year progresses. We’ve looked good early this year with a great group of returners and talented newcomers. It is probably the event that we have the most room for growth early, but the team has been working hard, so it’ll be something exciting to keep an eye on as the season goes.”

One would be hard-pressed to find a coach who would not be excited about returning as a National Champion. Cordova is no exception, as she knows that USAG Uneven Bars National Champion Jordan Coleman returns to lead the Golden Ram bar lineup in 2025. “It’s great to have Jordan on bars again,” stated an excited Cordova. “She is just so solid in that event and such a great anchor because she is so physically and mentally strong to handle what the event throws at you.”

In addition to the return of the Bowie, Maryland native, Coleman, West Chester will also look to Eskew, Rodriguez, and Melina Ringas (Glen Allen, Va.) to help fill voids left by the graduation of Betts and Wicker.  Cordova also noted that first-year Tatum McGuinn (Glen Mills, Pa.) has impressed early in her tenure with the Golden Rams on both bars and beam, which means she may have an opportunity to be a part of the Golden Ram lineup in one or both of these events in 2025. 

Another perennially strong event for West Chester is the beam. West Chester returns a veteran-laden lineup once again highlighted by the trio of McFarland, Cascadden, and Natalie Marshall (Bolton, Ma.), who all broke records and had excellent seasons in 2024. Macarthy Keane (Trumbull, Ct.) made her way into the lineup last year and proved to be a consistent performer, who West Chester will also look for continued progress out of 2025. Newcomers EmmaGrace Kelly (Bradenton, Fl) and McGuinn have also impressed through early days and will look to potentially make an impact for the Golden Rams as the season continues.

“I am excited about what this group is capable of,” said Cordova. “With such an experienced and hard-working group, along with the new talent we were able to bring in with our first-year class, I expect beam to absolutely be a strong suit for us again this season.”

The floor exercise is a fan favorite event for many. Cordova also expressed excitement about her floor exercise lineup for the 2025 season. “We have a ton of depth on beam and on the floor, so I think that gives us a lot of flexibility and a bunch of potential lineup options we can work with throughout the season,” explained Cordova. 

The Golden Rams have an excellent returning core led once again by McFarland and Cascadden, along with Rodriguez and Eskew. Catherine (Cat) Keener (Holly Springs, N.C.) and Kelly are first-year student-athletes who have impressed the Golden Ram coaching staff early in their Golden Ram career and may find their way into a spot in the Golden Ram floor lineup before long. “Cat has had a great first few weeks of training and has looked absolutely beautiful on the floor throughout preseason,” confirmed Cordova. 

When asked about her incoming class of first-year student-athletes, which includes Hannah Elkins (Mukileto, Wa.), Madalyn Espinosa (Phoenix, Az.), Harada, Keener, Kelly, and McGuinn, Cordova said, “It’s been a great class to work with, and I think they have made the transition really well. I think this is a class that can absolutely help us right away and will continue to grow as the year goes on, which will be exciting to watch.”