WEST CHESTER GYMNASTICS MEET NOTES
WEBSTREAM
LIVE RESULTS
The Storyline
West Chester University hits the road this weekend for a Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) matchup with the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Golden Rams are coming off a two-match homestand that saw the gymnasts defeat William & Mary and SUNY Cortland. This weekend's contest against Bridgeport will be the third conference meet of the year for West Chester. They split their first two meets against Cornell and Penn.
Head coach
Barbara Cordova entered this winter with a lot of questions surrounding a young squad. However, the freshman class has stepped up nicely for the Golden Rams so far, and a couple of gymnasts coming off injuries in 2025 have also picked up where they had left off the last time they were in the lineup regularly. Freshman
Gianna Smith has worked her way into an all-around role for Cordova and the Golden Rams. She has been the GEC Newcomer of the Week each of the past two weeks. Sophomore,
Tatum McGuinn was outstanding on the balance beam last Saturday and is developing nicely. She seems to be more and more comfortable each week.
Grace McNamara and
Aly Sobczak are two more freshmen who have been gettig stronger as the year progresses.
Senior
Anna Lacey, who missed all of 2025, has settled in atop the lineup of both the beam and the floor exercise. She has led off with strong performances in each event over the last two meets. Fellow senior
Sarah Eskew, who missed time last winter, has come back strong and is anchoring both the vault and the uneven bars for Cordova's squad. Fellow senior
Karah Vargo has been a constant in both of those events as well this year. Junior
Corinne Gruber and classmate
Lydia Stoner have worked their way into the floor lineup on a regular basis. Those five upperclassmen have provided a strong nucleus of returners for the young gymnasts to follow.
WEST CHESTER LAST WEEK
West Chester won all four events en route to a new season high score as the host Golden Rams topped visiting SUNY Cortland, 192.65-189.225 in a non-conference women's gymnastics meet last Saturday.
Freshman
Gianna Smith led the way for the Golden Rams while competing in the all-around. She equaled, or tied, three career-highs, including an impressive 9.825 on the uneven bars that led to a new all-around career high of 38.65 in the meet. Along the way, Smith won both the uneven bars and the floor exercise. The only other score north of 9.8 in the meet was
Tatum McGuinn, who set a new career high on the balance beam with a 9.825 which was good for first place in that event.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
BRIDGEPORT (3-5, 1-2)
Following masterful performances in a quad meet win on Jan. 34, senior Abby Kenney and junior Nova Staruk earned Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) weekly awards. Kenney picked up her fourth career GEC Gymnast of the Week honor while Staruk was the Specialist of the Week for the second time in her career.
Kenney and Staruk were at the forefront of a UB squad that defeated Brown, LIU and Springfield and tallied their highest team score (194.050) since March 2024.
Kenney delivered a terrific all-around performance, Staruk turned in another standout performance, highlighted by a first-place finish on vault.
Last week, making her first start of the season, Rian Thompkins delivered a career-best performance on beam for the Purple Knights, recording a personal-best 9.750 in a dual meet at Penn. The Atlanta native's score stood as the second-highest beam mark of the day.
GIANNA SMITH NAMED NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
West Chester University freshman gymnast,
Gianna Smith was named the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) newcomer of the week for the second consecutive week it was announced by that organization Wednesday afternoon.
Smith earned her second consecutive GEC Newcomer of the Week award after another spectacular performance for the Golden Rams, who defeated SUNY Cortland in a dual meet last weekend. Smith posted a career-high 9.825 on uneven bars to earn the event win and followed it up with a career-high 9.750 on floor exercise, securing a second event victory. She capped off the meet with a career-best 38.650 in the all-around, edging past last weekend's mark and further establishing herself as a key contributor in the lineup.
CHASING HISTORY
West Chester University head coach
Barbara Cordova entered the 2026 campaign just seven wins shy of her mentor while at West Chester and former legendary head coach Sandy Thielz. She picked up two more victories two weeks ago at George Washington University and one more in each of the last two weeks in duals against William & Mary and SUNY Cortland. Cordova now has 174-152 (.534) record in her 17+ years at her alma mater. Thielz authored an all-time record of 177-88-1 (.670) during her 21-year career at the helm of the Golden Rams from 1974 through 1995. Cordova is three wins away from tying Thielz as the all-time winningest women's gymnastics coach at West Chester.
WEST CHESTER SECURES VIRTIUS TO BROADCAST HOME MEETS
West Chester University signed on with Virtius to broadcast and web stream all five of its home gymnastics meets, including the 2026 WCGNIC Women's national championships in late March for the second time in the last three years.
