Jordyn Ewing’s path through gymnastics is anything but textbook. Few athletes from Halifax, Nova Scotia, make their way into the NCAA and even fewer for gymnastics specifically. During her club career, she advanced through the high-performance track under TAISO Gymnastics, making her senior debut in 2019 after two seasons as a junior elite. Starting in early 2020, right before the start of the pandemic, she began competing under Halifax Alta, where she trained with a larger and older group of elite gymnasts.
Though the timing of her move wasn’t ideal, Canada’s East Coast was the first region in the country to resume a sense of normalcy, dubbing itself the “Atlantic bubble” during the initial year of distancing practices. It was during this phase, with roughly two years of high school remaining, that Ewing began considering collegiate gymnastics. She shared that her coaches at Halifax Alta “really pushed me to that level, started reaching out to schools for me, and helped me with that process.”
One of the major factors in her readiness for the NCAA were the resources available to her through training at Alta, which works along with the Canadian Sport Institute’s (CSI) Halifax location to develop their high-performance athletes. Programming through the CSI has been instrumental for athletes, who get the opportunity to work with integrated sports medicine teams to improve performance and lengthen competitive careers. Another factor was coach David Kikuchi and teammate Ellie Black who acted as her main support system in the gym, along with Martha Purdy – known as a physiotherapist to many in Gymnastics Canada, but to Ewing as someone who “does it all”.
Ewing had considered programs across major, mid-major, and division three schools, but found the decision to commit to Pittsburgh an easy one. After visiting only Kent State and Southern Connecticut, she knew Pittsburgh was “an easy decision” and a place that would quickly become her next home. Her recruiting process took place entirely over the pandemic, relying only on digital communications with the Panthers’ coaching staff. Additionally, compared to the rest of her signing class, she had relatively very few competition opportunities as a high school junior and then as a senior. This placed a heightened importance on her training consistency, and showing hit routines in virtual competitions. Having never seen the campus, she made the leap of faith and committed to joining the team two weeks before moving from Halifax to Pittsburgh.
To longtime followers of Pittsburgh’s gymnastics program, signing Ewing to the team seemed like a no-brainer. When she joined in 2022, the team welcomed her as one of two international elites, alongside England’s Hallie Copperwheat. Fast forward to the present day, and the team boasts of representing Canada coast to coast, both non-contiguous American states, and three European nations. With the school being half an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh International Airport, gymnasts not local to the region have easy access to travel, which is not always afforded at other universities. For Ewing, the two-hour flight home from Pittsburgh is closer than many of her American teammates. Another major draw for her to the program is the campus’ diversity, mirrored by the city as a whole and in the school’s athletics.
Pittsburgh’s wealth of international student-athletes has reached a critical mass, where the sheer number of them currently and formerly competing for the school acts as a recruiting tool. Head coach Casey Jo MacPherson, now in her second season leading the Panthers, remarks that her program doesn’t have to search for international gymnasts; instead, their current network of past and present international athletes has grown interest for the sport at a college level– and thus Pittsburgh’s program– in their home communities. This is in stark contrast to her previous coaching role at Missouri, which at the time only had American gymnasts rostered.
As a Panther, Jordyn’s career is nothing short of noteworthy. She contributed on all four events as a freshman and was a weekly presence on bars and floor. Come sophomore season she dropped vault to compete the remaining three events all season long and became a co-program record holder on bars with a 9.950. Her junior campaign saw her qualify to regionals as an individual, due to her 9.905 NQS on floor. In the ACC’s inaugural season sponsoring gymnastics, she was the conference’s floor co-runner-up in an immensely deep field with ten gymnasts hitting 9.900 or better. She has also proven herself to be an athlete who can deliver in any lineup position, sometimes filling leadoff and anchor roles in the same meet.
Her presence in the gym speaks even louder than her scoring, with Ewing’s teammates and coaches noting how she has taken to leading by example. MacPherson has seen Ewing grow into a steadfast leader in the gym. “She observes a lot” shared MacPherson, adding, “when she sees something that she thinks could be improved on or that she wants to weigh in on, her voice carries a lot of weight…when (she) shares she has a positive impact on her teammates because it’s clear when she thinks something is important.” With an upperclassmen-heavy roster such as Pittsburgh’s, each veteran has a different way of expressing how they want to lead.
Ewing and MacPherson have found success taking the season one week at a time. The two are comfortable making daily adjustments to training expectations, evidence of a larger culture at Pittsburgh surrounding check-ins. Ewing said,, “They don’t just see you as gymnasts; they see you as people. Having those check-ins, whether it’s for events or personal life, which is nice because every day is a new day.” Taking the time with each athlete to know what can set them up for success that day has made way for incredibly personalized training assignments. This has been instrumental for the team and its staff to see the season as a series of at least twelve weeks, rather than one big picture.
Both Ewing and MacPherson have been at Pittsburgh during a pivotal era for the program, having been in three different iterations of a conference: 2023 saw an eight-team EAGL league, then 2024 marked the creation of ACC gymnastics with four teams, ultimately growing to six teams for 2025. While these changes have introduced new layers to the team’s goals each fall, both Ewing and MacPherson echo the Panthers’ willingness to compete against the best. In their quest to reach the postseason as a full team, the Panthers are eager to gain experience competing alongside as many different programs as they can, especially new conference additions Stanford and California.
Ewing and the Panthers closed out their last home meet on Sunday, March 9, with a senior night matchup against West Virginia. In an action-packed night, the program honored its five seniors and notched their second-highest team all-around score with Ewing closing out the night on floor. In taking on the familiar Mountaineers, fans witnessed Ewing’s precise gymnastics and enjoy her sense of comfort in her second gymnastics home.
Article by Peri Goodman
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