Although the West Chester gymnastics team lost a couple key seniors from last year’s team, they also saw the return of some of last season’s strongest competitors.After an exceptional freshman season that included a trip to USAG Nationals, Kaley LaFleur is hoping to pick up where she left off last year.
LaFleur’s road trip companion to Nationals was junior Alli Aquila. Aquila has been strong for the Rams in the all-around competition for the last two years and continues to be one of the most reliable and consistent members of the gymnastics squad.
“We have strong leadership on the team this year starting with our captains Lindsey Britt and Aquila,” Cordova said. “Alli will compete all-around again this season and will be a strong competitor on the team. Lindsey is very strong on the floor exercise.”
This season saw the debut of six new freshmen that were added to the roster in the off season. Newcomer Paige Griffin made her presence known for West Chester in the team’s season opener; a quad meet with Southern Connecticut State University, Springfield College and Ursinus College. She finished second overall with a score of 36.100 and was only edged slightly by teammate LaFleur who scored a 36.975.
West Chester has also been anticipating the arrival of freshman Emily Seigel, who signed her National Letter of Intent to compete for the Rams back in June. Seigel was the level 9 bar, beam and all-around state champion back in 2009. In the past couple of years, West Chester has struggled in their performance on the uneven bars and hopes to be able to rely on gymnasts like Seigel to make them a more dynamic and all-around competitive team.
“We saw a huge improvement on bars in our first meet scoring a 45.175,” Cordova said.
Amber Miller also returned to last year’s form, finishing in first place on the balance beam with a score of 9.525.
West Chester started the season exactly how they wanted to. They finished second in the meet with a score of 181.450, just shy of Southern Connecticut State University who finished in first place with 182.275. West Chester topped both Ursinus College and Springfield College, who scored a 176.625 and 175.625 respectively, by substantial margins.
Two seasons ago, West Chester set a goal of achieving a team score over 180; a feat they were unable to reach until the following season. Early on in this year’s campaign, West Chester has shown that they can set new goals and aim higher than they have in past years.
With the first and second overall score winners being Golden Rams, West Chester grabbed the momentum and confidence that they will need to carry them throughout the season.
Their second match of the season proved to be just as close. For the second meet in a row, West Chester was barely edged by the first place finisher. Host SUNY Cortland finished with a score of 184.35, which proved to be just enough to top West Chester, who finished with an impressive score of 183.775.
Yet again, West Chester stole some of the top honors in the match, but fell just short in the all-around team score. Miller had an incredible meet on the balance beam and got the overall best score for the event with a 9.725. Aquila was in the top five in three events. LaFleur had West Chester’s best all around score with a 37.250, the second best of both teams.
West Chester’s success is coming under the supervision of Barbara Cordova, who returned for her third season as the Rams’ head coach. In every year that Cordova has been backing the gymnastics squad, they have continued to improve and build on prior success. Her recruiting classes have been strategically selected to fill in the gaps or thin areas in the team’s performance. With the exponential success over the last couple of seasons, she has set high expectations for her team which she can reasonably expect them to meet.
“I expect our three all around competitors to have excellent seasons this year being led by LaFleur who finished as the top all-around gymnast for West Chester in our first two meets,” Cordova said. “Aquila and Griffin are also strong all around competitors.”
West Chester will return home next weekend on Jan. 29 when they host an Alumni Day in the South Campus Gym.
Amy Festa is a fourth-year student majoring in English with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at AF649219@wcupa.edu.