The West Chester women’s gymnastics team sent three gymnasts to Colorado to compete in the USAG National Championships which took place at the U.S. Air Force Academy last weekend, April 8-9. The competition hosted gymnasts from all over the country who qualified to compete in the competition.Alli Aquila, Kaley LaFleur and Paige Griffin all went to Colorado to represent the West Chester gymnastics program. All three gymnasts were all-around competitors for West Chester this season. Both Aquila and LaFleur had been to Nationals before and have experience competing at this type of event.
These three gymnasts were on one of the most successful gymnastics teams in West Chester history. Since head coach Barbara Cordova took over the program, it has continued to improve year after year. This year’s team set a new school record with their team score. They also set a new record on the uneven bars.
Aquila has qualified for Nationals in all of her seasons at West Chester, making this her third trip to the event.
“The altitude really affected [Alli] because she has asthma and anemia,” Cordova said. “But, she pushed through and worked really hard. Her best event of the day was the floor exercise where she scored a 9.125.”
Aquila also competed on the uneven bars where she scored a 8.975, and the vault where she scored a 8.800. The results of the meet were out of the ordinary for Aquila. Her highest uneven bar score of the season was a 9.425. Her highest performance on the vault came in the second meet of the season where she scored a 9.45.
“I did not have my best performance ever, but I was very excited that I made it to Nationals for a third year in a row as an all-arounder,” Aquila said. “It was a great experience and I am so glad that I got to share it with two of my teammates.”
Alongside Aquila was teammate LaFleur, who had not competed in the last couple of meets of the regular season due to an injury. This was LaFleur’s second trip to Nationals. Like Aquila, she qualified for Nationals in all of her seasons at West Chester.
“[Kaley] had not competed in about four weeks,” Cordova said. “Nationals was her first meet back after the injury and she did great. She was up last on the beam so the pressure was on. She hit and scored a 9.55 and tied for 16. The winner scored an amazing 9.9.”
When LaFleur was able to compete this season, she was consistently excelling on the beam for the Golden Rams. Last year at Nationals, LaFleur had her best beam routine of the season and scored a 9.625. She missed a trip to the finals by two positions.
Griffin qualified for Nationals in her freshman season with West Chester. Griffin had an exceptional season for West Chester in her first season with the team. She competed as an all-arounder for West Chester this season with her highest score coming against SUNY Brockport and Rhode Island early in the season (37.025). She was able to travel to Nationals for the first time with two teammates who have already gotten some experience competing on a national level.
“We have worked all year for this opportunity and to get the chance as a freshman to qualify for Nationals was an incredible experience,” Griffin said.
“Paige handled the pressure really well for her first time at Nationals,” Cordova said. “Her best event was on bars where she scored a 9.250 and tied for 22.”
The USAG Nationals was the last event for the West Chester women’s gymnastics team for the season. All three gymnasts will return to compete for the Golden Rams next season.
Amy Festa is a fourth-year student majoring in English with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at AF649219@wcupa.edu.