GEC Championship Afternoon Session

Recap

The Big Storyline: William & Mary squeaked past Cornell to take the high score of the afternoon session. But that 193.050 likely won’t hold up against the teams in the later session.

Postseason Implications: Southern Connecticut will qualify a team to the USAG Nationals in just a few weeks, officially ending Cornell’s season as a team. However, Cornell and Bridgeport should qualify several individuals for nationals. William & Mary, not part of the USAG, will end its season on a high note, tying its season high of 193.050.

Conference Awards

• Gymnast of the Year: Raegan Walker (Yale)
• Event Specialist of the Year: McCaleigh Marr (Pennsylvania) and Julia Bedell (Brown)
• Newcomer of the Year: Marissa Lassister (Penn)
• Woman of the Year: Tiara DeTommaso (West Chester)
• Performance of the Year: Raegan Walker (Yale)
• Assistant Coaches of the Year: Cassie Hageman and Casey Rohrbaugh (Penn)
• Coach of the Year: Kirsten Becker (Penn)

Preview

• No. 5 Southern Connecticut | 192.995 NQS | 193.925 season high
• No. 6 Cornell | 192.585 NQS | 193.575 season high
• No. 7 William & Mary | 191.930 NQS | 193.050 season high
• No. 8 Bridgeport | 191.820 NQS | 194.100 season high

If you can only watch one meet, here’s why it should be this one… The top team in this session could be anyone, quite literally. Bridgeport has been on fire the past few meets, and we all know momentum in this sport is very real. Southern Connecticut is a legitimate threat to Cornell’s appearance as a team at USAG nationals this year. This session has the potential to come down to the very last rotation. 

If this is one of many meets you’ll be watching, don’t miss this… We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Keep an eye out for Cornell’s beam rotation. They bring a variety of acro series to turn beam from expected to unexpected, but in a good way. Keep an eye on Bridgeport’s Nicole Javinett’s beam set, as she went 9.975 earlier this season. Southern Connecticut’s Libby Allen could give William & Mary’s Keaghan Schafer a run for that floor title, although they’ll both still need to fight for that title with the teams in the second session.

What’s the bigger picture to keep an eye on? While William & Mary’s season will be ending after today, Southern Connecticut and Cornell will be dueling for the coveted eighth-place spot in the USAG. The Purple Knights will eye individual spots for qualification to nationals. 

By the Numbers

Past Champions

• Penn: 1 title, last won in 2022
• Bridgeport: 0 titles
• Brown: 0 titles
• Cornell: 0 titles
• Southern Connecticut: 0 titles
• West Chester: 0 titles
• William & Mary: 0 titles
• Yale: 0 titles

Records Watch

• Team: 196.950 (Penn, 2022) | Vault: 48.975 (Brown, 2022) | Bars: 49.325 (Penn, 2022) | Beam: 49.250 (Penn, 2022) | Floor: 49.475 (Penn, 2022)
• All Around: 39.275 (Lindsay Chia, Yale, 2022) | Vault: 9.850 (Sydney Beers, Cornell, 2022) | Bars: 9.950 (Raegan Walker, Yale, 2022)| Beam: 9.950 (McCaleigh Marr, Penn, 2022) | Floor: 9.975 (Sara Kenefick, Penn, 2022)

Last Time Out

With last year being the inaugural season, there isn’t a huge history to comb through, but that first one was a doozy. Penn stormed through, claiming the victory by a landslide with nearly a point between the Quakers and second-place Brown. The Golden Rams would take third, nearly two points behind dominant Penn.