On Saturday, Feb. 18, the West Chester University gymnastics team (7-9) traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. for a dual meet against hosts Cornell University. Inside the Teagle Hall gymnasium, the Golden Rams came in second to Cornell’s record-breaking score of 194.5-192.025.
Senior Majesta Valentine won three events during the competition, claiming first on beam (9.85), floor (9.85) and the all-around (39.175). Valentine tied for second on vault, scoring a 9.75 and scored the high score for the team on bars, placing fourth with a score of 9.725.
With a rough start to the competition, other high scores from the first event, bars, were Myranda Marshall (9.625), Lindsay Mathis (9.575) and Jordan Miranda (9.5).
Selena Swanger, also a senior, contributed an impressive 9.775 to the team beam score, tying for second. The senior also placed fourth on vault with a score of 9.65 and contributed a 9.7 to the team floor score.
Cassie Hageman, sophomore, tied for fourth, scoring a 9.75 on the balance beam, the third highest beam score for the Golden Rams.
Junior Madison Brent scored the second highest floor score for the team with a 9.725. Rose Wortman, also a junior, scored a 9.625, coming in right behind Brent and Swanger.
The Unite For Her Pink Invitational was held in the Philadelphia Convention Center on Friday, Feb. 24. Unite for Her is an organization committed to helping women with breast cancer with treatment and therapy. This wonderful event raises money for the cause and also counts as a home competition for the Golden Rams.
The meet was against Temple University, Southern Connecticut State University, and the University of Maryland. Maryland won the competition (195.225), Temple came in second (193.9), West Chester in third (193.6), and in fourth Southern Connecticut State (191.275).
Valentine once again claimed the top spot in the all-around, besting Maryland’s Kirsten Peterman with a 39.3, tying her own best all-around score.
She tied for first on floor with a gymnast from Maryland, both scoring a 9.925 and tying the individual floor record. Valentine also placed first on beam, scoring 9.875, breaking the individual beam record, placed fifth on bars with a 9.75, and second on vault, also with a 9.75.
Marshall tied for eighth on the uneven bars with a 9.725. Meghan Chan tied for eighth on beam, scoring a 9.75. Rachel Blair and Mathis scored the second and third high scores on the vault for the Golden Rams, scoring 9.65 and 9.625 respectively.
The team also managed to break the floor record for the second time this season. The contributing scores to the record-breaking floor score of 49.125 were from Valentine, Brent (9.85), Swanger (9.8), Emily Loughery (9.8), and Hageman (9.75).
For that week of competition, Brent and Valentine were awarded with ECAC Honors. This is the second honor for Brent and the fifth for Valentine this season.
This past week, on Wednesday, March 1, West Chester traveled to the University of Maryland to compete in a five-way meet against Temple University, hosts Maryland, University of New Hampshire and the College of William and Mary.
Coming out on top was Maryland finishing with a 195.8. Right behind them was UNH with 195.275, in third was Temple with 194.9. Then comes West Chester with a 193.225, and William and Mary with 191.05. This marks the first time West Chester University has defeated William and Mary in competition.
The Golden Rams held their own under the bright lights of the Xfinity Center. Starting off on bars the team finished with a 48.0 on the event. High scores were earned by Valentine (9.75), Chan (9.625), Miranda and Mathis (9.55) and Marshall (9.525).
Valentine placed fourth in the all-around with a total of 39.075. She also scored 9.775 on beam, tied for first on floor with 9.85 and earned a 9.7 on vault.
Also scoring 9.7 on vault were Blair and Swanger. On the balance beam, Chan scored a 9.675, Swanger a 9.65 and Sarah Boyd a 9.625.
For the floor exercise, Brent earned a 9.8, Swanger a 9.725 and Kristen Torres a 9.7.
For upcoming events, on Sunday, March 5, the Golden Rams will be traveling to the University of Pennsylvania for a quad meet with Bridgeport University and Penn State.
The following week, on Saturday, March 11, make sure to come support your WCU gymnastics team as they host Ursinus College and honor the seniors graduating.
Lastly, Saturday, March 18 will be the ECAC Championships with Bridgeport University and Southern Connecticut State University. The competition will be held in Hollinger Field House at noon.
Meghan Chan is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies. She can be reached at MC827361@wcupa.edu.