ITHACA, NY(SMI-GLOBAL-WOMEN-SPORTS-UNIVERSITY-03-21-03.24, 2026)-The University of Pennsylvania women's gymnastic team claimed its fifth GEC conference (Gymnastic East Conference) title with an overall score of 195.025 in the 2026 GEC Gymnastic Championship that took place during two session on Saturday March 21, at Newman Arena at Bartel Hall, Cornell University.

The Quakers who are NCAA #38, and won its fifth regular GEC conference crown as well led the competition with 195.025, followed by Yale 194.625, Brown 194.525 & Cornell 194.150 to closed-out the final results in the 2nd Session.

William & Mary led the competition with in the first session with team overall score of 193.800, followed by University of Bridgeport 192.475, Southern CT. 192.350 & West Chester registering 192.250 to closed out the overall score of the GEC conference championship. 

Find the Final Results of the 2026 GEC Women's Gymnastics Championship Below:
1) Penn:  195.025,  2) Yale: 194.625  3) Brown : 194.525   4) Cornell: 194.150
5) William & Mary:193.800  6) U. Bridgeport 192.475, 7)Southern Ct:192.350 & West Chester: 192.250.

The University of Pennsylvania were led by Manama Fontana & Jordan Barrow who shared first place in the Vault while Marissa Lassiter took first place with 9.825 & Mimi Fletcher third place with 9.775 in the Uneven Bars Rotation. Quakers Mimi Fletcher and Maggie Murphy score 9.950 & 9.875 to take first and second place in the Balance Beam Rotation and Manama Fontana & Marissa Lassiter shared first place with the score 9.900 in the Floor Rotation.

Prior to the Trophy presentation to the Champion, GEC announced its Gymnastic End-of-Year awards naming Jordan Barrow (Penn Junior) 2026 GEC Gymnastic of the year and head coach Kirsten Becker Coach of the year.

Jordan Barrow (Jackson, Tenn.) delivered a breakout season for the Quakers, establishing herself as one of the premier gymnasts in the conference. Barrow finished first in the GEC on vault (9.830 NQS) and ranked second on both bars (9.800) and beam (9.810).

Kirsten Becker 

This is the second consecutive year that head coach Kirsten Becker has been named GEC Head Coach of the Year. Becker who in her fifth season with the Quakers has won 23 victories in a regular season, the best in program history, and accumulated 81 career wins at Penn including its third straight Ivy Classic title, five consecutive GEC regular season &  GEC championship crowns.

Vault Rotation Competition:
The vault title was shared by Nova Staruk (Bridgeport) and Manama Fofana (Penn), who each posted a 9.850. A four-way tie for third place at 9.825 included Cami Whitaker (Cornell), Jordan Barrow (Penn), Lulu Ton-That (Brown), while Marissa Lassiter (Penn) placed sixth with a 9.800. 

Bars/Uneven Bars Rotation Competition:
Marissa Lassiter (Penn) and Liza Marcus (Brown) shared the event title with matching 9.825 scores. Kate Peebles (Cornell) followed in third with a 9.800, while a four-way tie for fourth at 9.775 included Ascha Laird (WCU), Abby Kenney (Bridgeport), Mimi Fletcher (Penn), and Ellie Kearns (Yale).
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Beam Rotation Competition:
Mimi Fletcher (Penn) delivered the top routine of the meet with a 9.950 to claim the beam title. Maggie Murphy (Penn) followed in second with a 9.875, while a four-way tie for third at 9.850 featured Anne MacKenzie (Cornell), Emily Ford (Brown), Addy Whiteside (Brown), and Hana Strause (Yale). 
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Floor Rotation Competition:
Abby Royer (SCSU) captured the floor title with a 9.925. A four-way tie for second at 9.900 included Marissa Lassiter (Penn), Manama Fofana (Penn), Annie Bilbe (Yale), and Ellie Kearns (Yale). Liza Marcus (Brown) placed sixth with a 9.875. Finnegan( LSU ) won the Floor rotation registering 9.9750
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In the AA Overall Individual Overall score:​
Abby Kenney (University of Bridgeport) 38.975
Gianna Smith ( West Chester) 37.975 

Note: Sophia Dewar (Brown Floor), Nova Staruk (Bridgeport U. Vault), Jordan Barrow (Penn vault), Manama Fontana (Penn floor), and SCSU's Abby Royer (floor) were selected as part of the five GEC gymnasts that qualified for the 2026 NCAA Lexington Regionals in Kentucky.​

Article & Photo by Staff Writer/ Staff PhotoGrapher/ Women Starlight/SMIW.digital