West Chester gymnastics continued to show talent and strength as a team on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 in a quad-meet at Towson University inside the SECU Arena. The Rams (3-5) finished in fourth place as a team with a 188.025 under the Division One College of William & Mary (190.900) and University of North Carolina (195.35). The host, non-league Towson Gymnastics, placed second with a team score of 194.525.
Sophomore Majesta Valentine of Wilmington, Del., scored a strong 9.725 on the vault to place fifth while scoring a 9.75 on the balance beam to finish in seventh. Valentine placed fifth overall in the all-around with a 38.350. Freshman teammate Rachel Blair was 11th on the vault with an outstanding 9.6 performance. Sophomore teammate Selena Swanger posted a 36.525 in the all-around competition. [pullquote align=”left”]It was a really great atmosphere with strong competition[/pullquote]
“It was a really great atmosphere with strong competition,” said pleased co-captain and senior Cassandra Ringer. “It was a great experience for our team!”
On Sunday, Feb. 1, West Chester’s gymnastics team traveled to University of Pennsylvania to face Ursinus College, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania.
The Golden Rams women’s gymnastics team set a new school record with an overall team score of 190.725 and finished second Sunday afternoon inside the Palestra at University of Pennsylvania. The girls came very close to Division I University of Pennsylvania in the team standings. The host Penn won the meet with a 190.900. In fourth place was non-league foe Ursinus College (190.475). Third place behind the Lady Rams was Division I Cornell with a 190.625.
WCU started their competition again on the uneven bars. They had a strong start with five out of six girls on the line-up hitting their bar routines. Junior Meghan Brannon, of Seminole, Fla., led the crew on the uneven bars recording an outstanding 9.7.
The Golden Rams were able to keep their momentum going and remain high in the standings after a team effort on the balance beam. Swanger had the team high score on the event for the Rams with a 9.7. Behind Swanger, teammates Lindsay Knapp and Cassandra Ringer both posted scores on the event above the 9.55 mark.
For the third rotation, West Chester headed to the floor exercise where they had an outstanding performance. Sophomore Valentine was the standout with a strong 9.825 performance. Behind Valentine, freshman teammate Madison Brent, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, tumbled her way to a well-deserved 9.7 performance.
To wrap up the quad-meet at the Palestra, WCU gymnastics finished on the vault with a record-breaking 48.275 performance. The record-breaking line-up included Rose Wortman, Meghan Chan, Rachel Blair, Selena Swanger, and Majesta Valentine. The girls got off to a strong start with Wortman’s seventh place 9.65 performance. Teammate Swanger showed her strength on the event with an outstanding 9.7 performance. Valentine displayed her confidence and poise on this event in the anchor position leading the team with a record-breaking 9.8 performance.
“It really was a great all-around team effort by all the girls today,” excited WCU head coach Barbara Cordova said. “We look forward to carrying our momentum through the remaining meets in the season!”
Overall, the girls did an excellent job staying positive and mentally strong throughout the meet regardless of the action and excitement occurring around them. West Chester will head home for their next competition hosting a quad-meet inside Sturzebecker Health Science Center on Saturday Feb. 7, against Ursinus College, Rhode Island College, and University of Bridgeport. Things get under way at 4 p.m.
Lauren Bilenki is a fourth-year student majoring in accounting and finance. She can be reached at LB759145@wcupa.edu