PHILADELPHIA – After capturing its second consecutive GEC Championship and Regular Season titles, the University of Pennsylvania gymnastics team hauled in four major awards, announced by the conference at the end of Saturday night's meet in Williamsburg, Va.
 
Senior McCaleigh Marr was named GEC Co-Specialist of the Year, freshman Marissa Lassiter earned GEC Newcomer of the Year honors, while head coach Kirsten Becker was named GEC Coach of the Year and assistant coaches Casey Rohrbaugh and Cassie Hageman were both named a GEC Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
Marr had an incredible final season for the Red and Blue in 2023, riding the momentum after qualifying for an NCAA Regional in 2022. She was a stalwart on both uneven bars and balance beam for the Quakers, earning First-team All-GEC honors for both events. Marr's national qualifying score (NQS) of 9.850 on bars was the highest score for any event for any Penn gymnast for the year, earning a team season-high on the routine with a 9.900 at Maryland. On beam, Marr shared a season-high with her sister Campbell Marr at Temple with a 9.950. That was the third time in her career she tallied that mark.
 
After being named one of the nation's premier freshman entering the season by College Gym News, Lassiter surely lived up to the hype, becoming one of Penn's most consistent scorers all season long. She earned a team-high three All-GEC honors including two first-team laurels on vault and floor. Lassiter finished the 2023 regular season with an NQS of 9.785. She recorded scores of 9.800 or above five times with a season-high 9.825 at Cornell on Feb. 5. She was a heavy-hitter in the floor exercise, recording a 9.8 or above on five occasions during the regular season, scoring a season-high 9.875 in Penn's quad meet at The Palestra on Feb. 12. Her season-high 9.800 on bars in the regular season finale at Rutgers led the team.
 
Kirsten Becker has had quite the start to her coaching career at her alma mater, named GEC Coach of the Year for the first time after leading the Quakers to their second straight GEC regular season and Championship team title. Under Becker's guidance, Penn went 11-15 overall with a 7-2 record in GEC meets during the regular season, along with a 5-1 Ivy record. The Quakers recorded a league-best and regular season program-record NQS of 195.015 to earn the regular-season crown and were the highest-ranked GEC team in the Road To Nationals poll, coming in at #51.
 
In addition, assistant coaches Casey Rohrbaugh and Cassie Hageman were named GEC Assistant Coaches of the Year for their outstanding contributions to the program. Rohrbaugh taught two gymnasts new vaults during the COVID year, one of whom, Campbell Marr, tied Penn's vault record with a 9.900, a routine she most recently debuted earlier this season. Under Hageman's guidance, the Quakers set a new school record of 49.475 at Temple, two different gymnasts recording scores of 9.950. From an administrative side, both Rohrbaugh and Hageman brought great balance to the team with Cassie's planning and organizational skills and Casey's work on the team's social media accounts, with a following close to 20,000 followers.