Erie County Times

The University of Pennsylvania's gymnastics team completed a historic season at the first ever Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) Championship with a record-setting score of 196.950, beating the previous record of 196.225 that was set a week prior in Maryland.

The Quakers' score was the highest ever by an Ivy League school, the school's athletics department reported on its site on March 19. Host school Brown was second, West Chester placed third and Yale was fourth.

The Quakers were 7-1 going into the championship and were the top seed, as the team was a regular season champion with a national qualifying score of 194.875, Penn Today reported.

"This has been one of, if not the most successful and consistent years in our program's history, and it's all due to our team's commitment to training and preparation," head coach Kirsten Becker told Penn Today. "They've shown their resilience no matter the circumstances and challenges we've faced throughout the last two years. They are truly a unit and support one another endlessly. We are very proud of them and this accomplishment."

At the meet, there were two Quaker athletes with top scores in their events: McCaleigh Marr with a 9.900 on the balance beam and Connie Hsu who tied for the highest floor score with 9.900, the Quakers reported.

In the vault, Penn had a score of 48.900 to start the day, the Quakers reported. All five members of the team had a score of 9.700 or better, led by Kiersten Belkoff with 9.825. Penn also had wins in bars at 49.325 and beam at 49.250, before claiming the title with a 49.475 score on the floor led by Sara Kenefick's score of 9.975.

There were records set across the board throughout the season. The team set a school record with a vault score of 49.175 and a balance beam score of 49.175, in addition to the Ivy League-leading total score, Penn Today reported.

There were individual records set as well. On the beam, Marr broke a school record that had been held for 21 years with a score of 9.50 against Towson University, Penn Today reported. Ariyana Agarwala set a school record in vault with a score of 9.900.

This season, there were nine Penn athletes to be named All-GEC, Penn Today reported. First-team awards went to Belkoff, Rose DeBarberie, Sydney Kraez and Isobel Song for vault; Kenefick and Emma Davies for floor routine; and Marr for bars and beam.