The sophomore from Tennessee competes in both vault and bars, and will likely square off with Penn State star Ava Piedrahita on Sunday.Skyelar Kerico is a gymnast to watch for Penn, as she was the 2024 GEC gymnast of the year, while also being named to the First Team All-GEC. The junior from Toms River, […]
The sophomore from Tennessee competes in both vault and bars, and will likely square off with Penn State star Ava Piedrahita on Sunday.Skyelar Kerico is a gymnast to watch for Penn, as she was the 2024 GEC gymnast of the year, while also being named to the First Team All-GEC. The junior from Toms River, New Jersey, was also the 2024 GEC champion for the beam and all-around events, where she scored a 9.9 on the beam and a 39.325 in the all-around.In 2024, Penn State ended the season ranked No. 15. To open 2025, they are ranked No. 21.Serena Mullin is expected to take control of the Wildcats as she returns for New Hampshire for her junior season.No. 21 Penn State officially begins its season on Sunday at 2 p.m. as they play host to Penn and New Hampshire at the Rec Hall for the first meet of 2025.With Becker leading the charge, the Quakers won the GEC Regular Season, the GEC Championship and the Ivy Classic, which is known as the “treble”.The last time New Hampshire faced the Nittany Lions was 2022, where Penn State won by a final score of 196.550-195.775. Penn State has won four of the last five dating back to 2011.Penn is led Becker, who in her first three seasons with the team has won three straight GEC titles, becoming the only coach in program history to do so.The Quakers are coming off of their third straight Gymnastics East Conference championship, as well as winners of the GEC regular season and the Ivy Classic.Penn State has fared well against Penn in the keystone rivalry all time, as they have never lost to the Quakers in women’s gymnastics.Numerous freshmen will make their Nittany Lions debuts on Sunday, including Allison Kaempfer, Dani Latronica, Elizabeth Leary, Bella Misiura and Ellie Monahan. The first year gymnasts will look to make a name for themselves in the first meet of 2025.If you’re interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.Kylie Gorgenyi won her conference’s gymnast of the year last season, but is no longer with the team, as she was a graduate student in 2024. The absence of Gorgenyi leaves a hole in UNH that needs to be filled.Ava Piedrahita, the WCGA North East Region Co-Gymnast of the Year in 2024, will lead the way for the Nittany Lions, alongside Kalea McElligott, who was named the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. McElligott is the first Nittany Lion to win the award since 2015, and will be a focal point of the team’s success not only Sunday, but the entire season.Mullin, the junior from Connecticut, participates in vault, beam and floor, and ended the 2024 season with 369.15 total points, just three points under DeVincenzo, but nearly 200 less than Gorgenyi.New Hampshire will also be traveling to University Park on Sunday to participate in the Penn State Tri-Meet.Penn State begins its 2025 campaign with a preseason dual-meet against Penn and New Hampshir…MORE GYMNASTICS CONTENTDespite being ranked inside the top 25 to begin the year, and ranked higher than their opponents this Sunday, the Nittany Lions will still face some talented competition at Rec Hall.The Wildcats went 23-13 in 2024, ending the season on a modest three game win streak.Penn State head coach Sarah Brown is entering her eighth year in Happy Valley, as the former Eastern Michigan coach led the NIttany Lions to its first ever Regional Final appearance a year ago.They open the season as number one in the GEC preseason poll.Last January was the most recent matchup between Penn State and Penn, as they faced off in the Keystone Classic in the Palestra.The Nittany Lions ended up winning the quad-meet, with Penn finishing in third.Both the top scorers for the Wildcats a season ago are gone, leaving the opportunity for a gymnast like Mullin to take over, and become the centerpiece of the team, starting with the meet on Sunday.Jenna DeVincenzo was second in points for New Hampshire in 2024, behind Gorgenyi, but she too has graduated and left the sport of gymnastics.In that Regional Final, the team scored their highest all-around mark of the season, a score of 197.050. The score is also the team’s highest under Brown as the coach.The Nittany Lions are coming off of a 15-8 season in 2024, which ended with an appearance in the NCAA Regional Finals.Expectations are high for Penn State in the 2025 season, as they are returning several key players, as well as bringing in a new class of freshmen. These women will look to get off to a hot start in the season debut Sunday.Kerico was the first Quaker to win the GEC gymnast of the year since 2012, when Kirsten Becker, who is now the head coach of the team, won the award.
