SESSION 1 RESULTS
SESSION 2 RESULTS
WEST CHESTER, PA – A season-high score of 48.525 on the vault helped propel West Chester into second place and earn the Golden Rams a spot in Saturday night's team finals of the 2026 Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championships inside Hollinger Fieldhouse on North Campus.
Texas Woman's University and West Chester finished first and second, respectively, in the second semifinal grouping to advance to Saturday's team finals. TWU scored a 195.250 while West Chester scored a 192.725. Southern Connecticut State University placed third with a 191.875.
Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) won the first semifinal grouping during the afternoon session with the University of Bridgeport finishing second. They will each join TWU and West Chester in Saturday's team finals. University of Alaska-Anchorage finished third in the afternoon session.
Dubbed the 'Dark Horse' by some media, West Chester head coach Barb Cordova felt this year's squad came into the national championships with a chip on their shoulders and something to prove. Friday night's result may have done just that.
"I am really proud of this team," Cordova said afterwards. "College Gym Fans called us the dark horse to get into the final. So, we have been embracing that. We had eight freshmen competing in the lineup with a junior who had never competed at in the lineup before this year. That's nine new people in the lineup, and that's a lot. The future of West Chester gymnastics looks very bright."
It marks West Chester's third straight year advancing to the finals, and the Golden Rams are not satisfied with just getting there.
"We've never finished third or higher in the finals," Cordova explained. "So, that's our goal. We are not done, yet. We have to clean up the beam a little bit, and hopefully, they will do that tomorrow."
The Golden Rams concluded the semifinals on the vault. Sobczak and
Jaslyn McComeskey (Swarthmore, Pa,) each set a new career high with a 9.750. Eskew also posted a 9.750 on the vault from the anchor position.
"I thought that was the last vault and last bar routine of my career," Eskew mentioned. "It was a great crowd and everyone had fun. That's what I was happy about."
Ava Griffith (Palm Desert, Calif.) scored a 9.675 on vault and
Gianna Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted a 9.600. All of those scores added up to a season-best team score of 48.525.
"It's anyone's meet until that last score is posted. So, we all were just so excited," Eskew said afterwards. "It definitely was a work in progress all year long. (For the freshman) having to come from what is completely an individual sport at the high school level, I think you saw that it mattered on every single person (in the lineup). It was very much a team effort today. I think we were able to get everyone in that kind of a mindset, and that's why we were able to do so well today."
West Chester began the night on the uneven bars and turned in their third-highest team score of the season with a 48.3. Freshman
Madelyn McCullough (Covington Twp., Pa.) led off the event tying her career high with a 9.750.
Grace McNamara (Baltimore, Md.) posted a career-best with a 9.725.
Melina Ringas (Glen Allen, Va.) put up a season-high score of 9.700. Senior
Sarah Eskew (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished the event with a 9.650.
Junior
Lydia Stoner (Palmyra, Pa.) set a new career record on the balance beam with a 9.825. McCullough continued her outstanding evening with a personal best of 9.700 on the beam.
Macarthy Keane (Trumbull, Conn.) started off the beam with a 9.575.
From there, West Chester moved on to the floor exercise where
Catherine Keener (Holy Springs, N.C.) scored a 9.775, which was her second-best score of the season on the floor.
Aly Sobczak (Pittsgrove, N.J.) scored a 9.675.
Corinne Gruber (Boyertown, Pa.) put up a 9.725 from the anchor position to help push West Chester's team score to 48.400. Keener and Gruber, the final two competitors on the floor, were a big reason for that score.
SUNDAY'S EVENT FINALS SET; 7 GOLDEN RAMS SET TO COMPETE
West Chester University also sent seven gymnasts into the event finals, which will be contested on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. inside Hollinger Fieldhouse. Those seven are all first team WCGNIC All-Americans as a result of qualifying for the event finals. West Chester's All-Americans – and subsequently – the events in which they will compete on Sunday are listed below. Only senior,
Sarah Eskew, is a repeat All-American. She was a second-team All-American on the vault in 2024.
VAULT
Fr.,
Aly Sobczak
Fr.,
Jaslyn McComeskey
Sr.,
Sarah Eskew
UNEVEN BARS
Fr.,
Madelyn McCullough
Fr.,
Grace McNamara
BALANCE BEAM
Jr.,
Lydia Stoner
FLOOR EXERCISE
So.,
Catherine Keener
