West Chester at Bridgeport; vs Cornell, Centenary
Meet Details: January 25 I 5 P.M.
Location: Wheeler Recreation Center (Bridgeport, Ct.)
Coverage Links: Tickets
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE
Bridgeport Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE
Cornell Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE
Centenary Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE
Fan Information
Tickets are required for Saturday’s quad meet in Connecticut. They should be purchased via the link above and are priced at $8 for adults and $3 for seniors/children.
Last Time Out
Lily McFarland (Baltimore, Md.) was nothing short of outstanding for West Chester on Monday in Louisiana against Centenary and Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) as the veteran registered a pair of season-best scores on floor (9.750) and beam (9.725) to help lead West Chester to a team score of 189.725. Jordan Coleman (Bowie, Md.) won the uneven bars for West Chester with a season-best score of 9.750. The rookies also continued to impress for West Chester as Catherine Keener (Holly Springs, N.C.), EmmaGrace Kelly (Bradenton, Fl.), and Rylee Harada (Runnemede, N.J.) all had excellent meets once again on Monday afternoon. Keener tied McFarland for second on the floor with a 9.750 of her own, while Kelly started her day with a 9.675 to finish in a tie for fifth. Kelly and Keener also registered scores of 9.500 and 9.550 on beam to end the day for the Golden Rams. Harada led West Chester on the vault with a 9.625, which was a new season high and enough for the rookie to place fourth in this event.
Road Warriors
West Chester will compete in its fourth meet away from home this season on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Rams will head to Connecticut to take on Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) foes Bridgeport and Cornell, along with familiar foe Centenary. This meet comes less than a week after the team returned from a trip to Texas and Louisiana, which saw the team compete at Texas Woman’s on Friday, January 17, and Centenary on Monday, January 20th.
Making a Name for Itself Among the Giants
West Chester University, which competes at the NCAA Division II level in all other school sports, has held its own against the mostly Division I institutions that make up the Gymnastics East Conference. The Golden Rams are a combined 17-3 in head-to-head competition against GEC schools in the regular season, and West Chester has taken third place in two of the first three GEC Championships (2022, 2023).
Scouting the Opposition
Scouting Bridgeport
Bridgeport enters the competition on Saturday, riding the momentum from a quad meet sweep at Southern Connecticut State, which saw the Purple Knights post a score of 193.225 to best Brown, SCSU, and Springfield. A name that will sound familiar to many fans from the USAG Championships a year ago, Lola Sepulveda finished first in the all-around with a score of 38.975 with victories on both vault and floor with scores of 9.825. She also finished in the top 11 on bars and beam, scoring 9.575 and 9.750, respectively. Abigail Kenney took third on the bars with a score of 9.700, while Olivia Imbarlina led the way on the beam with a 9.775 to finish in a tie for fifth.
Scouting Centenary
Sophie Schmitz led the way for Centenary once again with a second-place finish in the all-around with a 38.025, with her best score of the meet being a 9.600 on beam, which left her in a tie for ninth. Schmitz also led the way for Centenary on the bars with a score of 9.550, which was fifth-best in the field, while tying with Peyton Burford for the team high on vault with a 9.500. Olivia Williams led Centenary on the floor with a 9.625, which helped the Ladies post a season-high 185.325 in their second meet of the year.
Scouting Cornell
Cornell returns to action this weekend after a trip to California last weekend, which saw them also compete twice in three days, beginning with a Friday night tri-meet against Sacramento State and Alaska before heading to UC Davis to compete alongside Alaska once again and No. 5 California on Sunday afternoon. At UC Davis, Cornell posted a score of 193.500, led by a top-five finish on vault and the all-around by veteran Sydney Beers, who was a three-time First Team USAG Collegiate All-American and a first-team All-GEC selection in the all-around, floor, and vault a year ago. Beers carded a 9.800 on the vault on Sunday and finished fifth in the all-around with a score of 38.800. Morgen Shambo led the team on bars with a 9.725, which was good enough for a tie for 10th before Mikayla Burton turned in a ninth-place finish on beam with a season-high score of 9.775. Cornell had three gymnasts in the top 10 on the floor as it was the Big Red’s highest scoring event of the evening with a 48.875 led by Beers and Avery Byun, who each scored a 9.800 to tie for sixth. Addy Rothstein chipped in a 9.775 to finish in a tie for ninth.
