Setting Records and Succeeding: Meet Senior Gymnast Sydney Beers

With twenty years of gymnastics experience, senior gymnast Sydney Beers has made an unforgettable impression on the gymnastics program at Cornell — rewriting record books and leading her team to success. 

As the senior looks to the Hill for the last time, The Sun sat down with Beers and discussed her historic career. 

Early Gymnastics and Committing to Cornell

At two years old, Beers started her gymnastics career through Mommy and Me gymnastics classes. Over time, she said she was eventually placed on a team where she started as a Level 4 gymnast, and she worked her way up to Level 10 in the eighth grade. Beers also said she always knew that she wanted to do gymnastics in college — specifically at a Division I program. 

“I wasn’t sure exactly what school I wanted to go to, so I reached out to every Division I gymnastics program in the country,” Beers said. “That’s how I ended up committing to Cornell. I spoke to [head coach Melanie Hall] for a couple weeks, and she eventually offered me a spot on the Cornell gymnastics team.”

Beers committed to Cornell in September 2021. She said that the combination of strong Cornell athletics, academics and Hall’s coaching contributed the most to her decision. Beers also said she wanted to attend physician’s assistant school, which led her to ultimately commit to Cornell. 

“I knew I’d get a great education to help me with my chances of going to a great PA school,” Beers said.

Rewriting the Record Books at Cornell

Beers enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as a Biological Sciences major with a concentration in Neurobiology and Behavior. She started competing in gymnastics meets for the Red starting her freshman year and was dubbed an all-around gymnast — meaning she competed in the four events at a meet. 

One of the differences she noted between club and collegiate gymnastics was the lifting schedule she had in college. 

“I had only lifted a couple times prior to getting to college, but once I got here and we started going to team lifts, I automatically fell in love with it,” Beers said. “I’ve always been strong, but I didn’t realize how strong I was till I got into the weight room here.”

Beers said she works closely with the assistant director of strength and conditioning, Erika Rogan. She also spent a summer in Ithaca before her senior year, training her bench and squat personal records. 

Beers currently holds the Cornell women’s weightlifting record of a 355-pound squat and 240-pound bench. 

On the gymnastics side, Beers said it was her goal to beat the all-around record since her freshman year. She achieved this goal in her junior year at home against Centenary College on March 10, 2024, with a score of 39.275. 

Led by Beers, the team also set a new program record team score of 195.025 across the four events. 

“I always knew I was capable of doing it as long as I hit all four events to the best of my ability, and I was finally able to do that in the same meet that we broke the school program team record,” Beers said. “It was a really exciting day for Cornell gymnastics.”

Notably, Beers is listed in the top five spots for the Cornell All-Around Records. In 2022, Beers achieved a score of 39.125. Then, in three separate competitions in 2024, Beers filled out the first, second and fourth places for the record book with scores of 39.275, 39.225 and 39.150 respectively. 

On February 14, 2024, during the Long Island University quad meet, Beers earned a 9.900 floor score that put her in a four-way tie for first place on the Cornell Vault Records, and she also grabbed another four-way tie for second place on the Cornell Floor Records with a score of 9.900.

What next?

Beers has also served as a team captain for two consecutive years. She says she works by “leading by example” and setting a positive tone for the team to follow. 

“I try to lead by example and make sure that everyone’s practicing to the best of their abilities and show the team that anything is possible as long as you’re doing the right recovery and the right amount of training on your body,” Beers said. 

While Beers does not plan on pursuing gymnastics post-graduation, she said she will continue weightlifting because it is something she deeply enjoyed. She hopes to coach gymnastics and watch her younger sister, Taylor Beers, who has committed to the University of New Hampshire to continue gymnastics at the Division I level. 

“Gymnastics has become a part of who I am,” Beers said. “I grew up in the gym … “It has taught me some valuable life lessons like committing yourself to something, discipline and time management.”

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