WEST CHESTER, PA – West Chester University was picked to finish seventh in the Gymnastics East Conference preseason coaches poll released Tuesday afternoon.
West Chester is coming off a season in which the Golden Rams placed seventh at last year's GEC Championships. Head coach
Barbara Cordova returns 14 gymnasts from that squad, including a two-time All-GEC honoree and last year's GEC Co-Performance of the Year recipient, along with one Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Iinvitational Championships (WCGNIC) second team All-American.
The Golden Rams open their 2026 campaign on Jan. 9 with a meet against Towson University out of the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL), who was preseason ranked 36th nationally in the College Gym News Preseason Poll. The Tigers, last season's regular-season EAGL champions, were picked to finish second in this year's EAGL Preseason Coaches Poll.
For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Pennsylvania sits atop the GEC Preseason Poll as the favorite to repeat as conference champion. The preseason poll is based on ranking projections given by the head coaches of the eight GEC schools.
The 2026 GEC Preseason Poll (first-place votes in parenthesis):
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1 |
Univ. of Pennsylvania |
63 |
| 2 |
Yale University |
55 |
| 3 |
Brown University |
41 |
|
Cornell University |
41 |
| 5 |
University of Bridgeport |
34 |
| 6 |
William & Mary |
24 |
| 7 |
West Chester University |
22 |
| 8 |
Southern Connecticut State |
8 |
