NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Cornell gymnastics team bested its team score from last season with a 193.775 in the morning session to earn seventh at the 2024 Gymnastics East Conference Championships held Saturday evening at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. With its 193.870 national qualifying score, Cornell has also clinched a spot in the team competition at the 2024 USAG Collegiate Nationals.
Cornell began the morning session of the championships with a 48.375 on beam. Freshman Avery Byun and Sydney Beers each put on a show in the event by scoring a career-high 9.825 to finish tied for second with Bridgeport's Hanna Barry in the morning session. Byun and Beers were not the only Big Red gymnasts to score well, as sophomore Mikayla Burton scored a 9.800 for her eighth score recorded of that or better to earn a three-way tie for fifth in the opener. Freshman Natalia Tehrani (9.725) and senior Alexandra Quiana (9.200) set the other two qualifying scores for Cornell.
Shifting into its second rotation, the Big Red set the highest team score of the morning session on floor, scoring a 49.225. Quiana led the way as the fourth gymnast to compete in the event, grabbing a career-high 9.900 to take home the top score of the session and tie for first overall with Yale's Ella Tashjian of the championship. Beers and Caitlyn Walsh also excelled in the event as the final two Cornell gymnasts in the lineup, securing a 9.875 each to earn the second-best scores in the session and a tie for third overall. Freshmen Addy Rothstein and Josie Moylan were the other two gymnasts to record scores in the Big Red's best event score of the day with 9.800 and 9.775, tied for the fifth and seventh-best scores on the morning spot.
Cornell held near a point lead heading into the third event of the afternoon on vault and pushed its streak of 48.000 or better in the event to nine consecutive meets with a 48.500 and tied Southern Connecticut State for the best team score of the session. The lineup was led again by a 9.900 by Beers, taking home the top score of the session and the championships for the second time in the last three seasons. Sophomore Cami Whitaker was the other Big Red gymnast to earn a top-five finish in the session (9.750) to secure her fifth score of 9.700 or better this season. Byun (9.650), Michaela DeFrancisco (9.625), and Rothstein (9.575) closed the qualifying scores for Cornell in the event.
The Big Red's final rotation came with a score of 47.675 on the uneven bars. Rothstein had the highest score as the fourth gymnast to hit the bars (9.675), followed by a 9.650 each from Tehrani and Beers. Sophomore Morgen Shambo (9.575) and Moylan (9.125) were the final two scores in the event for the Big Red.
Beers was also the only Big Red gymnast to compete in the all-around, earning second overall with a final combined score of 39.250. Cornell's two individual event championships from Beers and Quiana also bumped the number won in program history to three, as Beers won on vault during her freshman season in 2022.
The Penn Quakers took home the team champion with a final combined score of 196.275, followed by Yale University (195.125) and Brown University (194.450).
Alongside the championship honors, Cornell senior Melanie Stone was named GEC Woman of the Year for this season after amassing a 4.123 cumulative grade point average. Stone will graduate from Cornell this spring with a bachelor's degree in Biological Studies and continue her college journey this summer when she begins Medical School at the University of Miami.
UP NEXT
The Big Red will prepare for the 2024 USAG Collegiate Nationals beginning on Friday, April 12 at 10 a.m. West Chester University will serve as the host for nationals.
