SHREVEPORT, La.- The West Chester University women's gymnastics team is finishing its preparations for the opening day of Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championships (WCGNIC) on Friday night at Centenary College in Louisiana.
Meet Information:
Date: Friday, April 11 – Sunday, April 13, 2025
Times: Fri: 8:00 p.m. | Sat: 8:00 p.m. | Sun: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Shreveport, Louisiana
Venue: Gold Dome
Participants (Conference): Southeast Missouri (MIC), Texas Woman's (MIC), Centenary (MIC), Alaska (MPSF), Fisk (independent), Southern Connecticut (GEC), Greenville (Independent), Bridgeport (GEC), and West Chester (GEC)
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Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Watch: Virtius (Fri.) | Virtius (Sat.) | Virtius (Sun.)
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The WCGNIC replaces the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships, which hosted its final competition in 2024 in Hollinger Field House on the campus of West Chester University. Under a new name, the format is the same as in prior years, with two sessions occurring on Friday, which will determine the weekend competitors.
While the Golden Rams make their first appearance in the WCGNIC's in its inaugural year, it is the fifth time in program history that West Chester has qualified for the National Meet after appearing in the USAG Women's Collegiate National Championships four times, including a year ago when the Golden Rams earned a spot in the team finals with a 193.975 to advance to the finals for the first time in team history.
Out of each session on Friday, the top two teams will advance to the team finals on Saturday night while the top five finishers in each event in each session will move on to individual event finals on Sunday as
Jordan Coleman (Bowie, Md.) looks to defend her uneven bars championship from a year ago. Each athlete who qualifies for the Sunday finals will earn the title of WCGNIC All-American.
Tickets can be purchased
here for fans who made the trip to Louisiana with the team. For those who were unable to make the trip to support the Golden Rams in person,
live results and live video are available
here.
West Chester will compete in the evening session on Friday night alongside Texas Woman's, Alaska-Anchorage, and Centenary and will start off on the balance beam, which has been one of the team's top events throughout the year as the Golden Rams look to earn their spot in the Saturday night finals.
THE FIELD
West Chester heads to the Championships alongside a number of familiar foes, including Southeast Missouri State, Texas Woman's, Bridgeport, Alaska-Anchorage, Southern Connecticut, Greenville, and Centenary. West Chester has competed alongside SEMO, TWU, Bridgeport, SCSU, and Centenary at least once already this season.
In the
Road to Nationals rankings, TWU leads the eight-team field at 48
th in the nation, followed by SEMO (58)
, Bridgeport (61), Alaska (68), West Chester (70), SCSU (73), Greenville (78), and Centenary (80).
LAST TIME OUT
West Chester was last in action in late March inside the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania for the Gymnastics East Conference Championships. West Chester scored a 192.275 to finish seventh overall with its second highest score of the season.
EmmaGrace Kelly (Bradenton, Fl.) and Macarthy Keane (Trumbull, Ct.) tied for first in the afternoon session on beam with career-best scores of 9.850 and finished in a four-way tie for second alongside Manama Fofana and Skye Kerico of Penn. This effort, along with a 9.750 from
Natalie Marshall (Bolton, Ma.) and a 9.725 from
Lydia Stoner (Palmyra, Pa.) helped West Chester record a 48.825 team score on the beam, which was its second-highest score of the season.
Melina Ringas (Glen Allen, Va.) led West Chester on the bars with a 9.700 to finish in a tie for 15
th in the conference as West Chester recorded a 47.150 team score, while
Rylee Harada (Runnemede, N.J.) led the Golden Rams on vault with a 9.625.
Lily McFarland (Baltimore, Md.) led West Chester on the floor with 9.800, which was sixth best in the field when competition concluded on Saturday night.
At the conclusion of the meet, Kelly added another accolade to her growing collection, earning Co-Performance of the Year honors along with Skye Kerico, who was part of Gymnastics East Conference Champion, Penn.
LOOKING BACK
West Chester heads to Louisiana following a 2025 season, which saw the team score a season-best 192.800 on a tri-meet against SUNY-Brockport and SUNY-Cortland before notching a 192.275 at the Gymnastics East Conference Championships for its second-highest score of the season. The Golden Rams scores were steadily on the rise in the last month of the 2025 season as the team scored a 190.175 on February 23, a 190.575 on March 7, a 191.325 on March 9, and a 191.675 on March 14 before cracking 192 for the second time this season at the Gymnastics East Championships.
West Chester recorded its top score of the season on the floor with a 49.175 in its regular season finale against Cornell on March 14, while its top beam effort came on February 1 against Brockport and Cortland. The Golden Rams registered their top score of the year on bars with a 47.900 on January 17 at Texas Woman's alongside SEMO and posted their top score of the year on the vault with a 47.925 on February 23 in a tri-meet at Ursinus alongside Bridgeport and William & Mary.
Individually,
Sarah Eskew and
Rylee Harada have the two top scores of the year on vault with 9.725 and 9.700, while
Melina Ringas and
Jordan Coleman are first and second on the team on bars with 9.775 and 9.750, respectively. On beam, Kelly and Keane registered the top scores of the season for WCU at the GEC Championships, while McFarland is a close second at 9.825. McFarland also leads the team on floor this year with a stellar 9.900 from the regular-season finale against Cornell, while
Caroline Cascadden (Ashburn, Va.) and Bridget Sullivan (Watertown, Ma.) are a very close second at 9.875.
The Golden Rams beam and floor units have been the top performers throughout the year for West Chester, and this is reflected in the rankings as the Golden Rams rank 58th in the NCAA on beam and 62nd on floor.
WE ARE HONORED
In addition to Kelly's GEC Co-Performance of the Year recognition, West Chester had three gymnasts earn Second Team All-GEC honors as Coleman was a second team selection on bars, while McFarland and Kelly were second team picks on the floor and beam.
West Chester was also honored for its academic success once again as 21 of 24 gymnasts earned Gymnastics East Conference Scholar-Athlete honors, marking the second year in a row in which at least 85 % of the Golden Ram roster earned this recognition.
BUILDING OFF 2024
West Chester returns to the national stage again in 2025, looking to build off its success from 2024 and use the experience it gained in that Championship to take the next step in 2025. A season ago in Hollinger Field House, West Chester advanced to the team finals for the first time in program history, before finishing fourth in the team finals with a 193.100, to record the top finish at the National Championships in program history. In the individual finals on Sunday, Coleman made history with an uneven bars National Championship with a 9.8875 as she became the second national champion from West Chester and the first since 2017 when Majesta Valentine won the all-around at USAG Nationals in Seattle, Washington. West Chester had a competitor in all four event finals on Sunday as
Sarah Eskew took fifth in the all-around and 12
th on vault, while McFarland and Cascadden were eighth and 12
th on the beam and floor, respectively.
