ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell gymnastics senior Mikayla Burton has been named the GEC Specialist of the Week, the conference announced Wednesday.
 
Burton earned the honor after posting a 9.900 on balance beam to win the event at the West Virginia Quad Meet on Friday in Morgantown, W.Va. The score marked the highest beam performance by a Cornell gymnast this season and helped the Big Red post a 48.075 on the event.
 
The Newnan, Ga., native's 9.900 topped a field that included West Virginia, Kent State and Pittsburgh, finishing 0.025 ahead of the second-place finisher. Burton has competed on beam in all four meets this season, steadily improving her scores from 9.700 at the LFI Invitational to 8.850 against Bowling Green before her season-best performance at WVU.
 
This marks Burton's first GEC weekly honor of her career. She is the first Cornell gymnast to earn a conference weekly award this season.
 
Cornell returns to action Friday, Feb. 6 when it travels to Philadelphia for a quad meet at Penn.