PHILADELPHIA – On the heels of a treble last season, the University of Pennsylvania gymnastics team is looking to check off the first box in that quest this season with the Ivy Classic this Sunday afternoon in Ithaca, N.Y.
 
The Quakers will take on Ancient Foes Brown, Cornell and Yale to determine the Ivy Classic champion for the 2025 season.
 
Meet 8: Penn vs. Cornell, Brown and Yale | Ivy Classic
Sunday, February 23 | 1 p.m. | Newman Arena at Bartels Hall | Ithaca, N.Y.
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Meet Notes
 
Ivy Classic History
Penn will be looking to repeat as Ivy Classic champions for the first time since 2012 and secure its 15th Ivy title overall. A win would make head coach Kirsten Becker the third coach in program history to win multiple Ivy Classic titles. The Quakers had a historic performance at the 2024 Ivy Classic, breaking the program record for the highest score at the meet (195.800).
 
Individual Champs
The Red and Blue have had an individual champion in the last five Ivy Classics dating back to 2019. Last year Penn had four individual champions for the first time program history. Skyelar Kerico won the all-around title and set a new program record score of 39.325. Jordan Barrow and Sara Kenefick shared the vault title at 9.825 and Samathan Wu recorded a 9.900 to win the beam title.
 
All-Ivy Classic
In the second year of All-Ivy Classic laurels, Penn earned 15 honors across 10 individuals. Barrow (vault), Sara Kenefick (vault), Kerico (bars, beam and all-around), Campbell Marr (beam) and Wu (beam) received first-team accolades while Kiersten Belkoff (beam), Emma Davies (floor), Ana Kenefick (beam), Sara Kenefick (floor), Kerico (vault and floor), Marissa Lassiter (vault) and Sophia Paris (bars) made the second team.
 
Last Time at the Ivy Classic
The Quakers secured their first Ivy Classic championship under Becker, scoring a 195.800, the best score in an Ivy Classic in program history. Kerico notched the highest all-around score in Penn history (39.325) to secure the title. She picked up two more second place finishes (beam and bars). Barrow and Sara Kenefick split the vault title at 9.825. Wu set a career-high 9.900 to secure the beam title. 10 Quakers earned a total of 15 All-Ivy Classic selections.
 
On Fire in February
Penn has outright won all three of its February meets so far, steadily increasing the team score in each meet. Last Saturday at Southern Connecticut, the Quakers took home all four event titles and the all-around on their way to a season-high score of 195.150. Manama Fofana picked up her second Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) Newcomer of the Week honor after winning her first career event on the floor exercise and tying for the best event score among all GEC freshmen.
 
Rotation Notes
*Kerico picked up the bars title at SCSU with a score of 9.900. She is the second Penn gymnast to score a 9.9 or better on a single event three times in a season. She becomes the third gymnast in program history (Kyra Levi and McCaleigh Marr) to score three 9.9's on bars in their career.

*Kerico became the first gymnast this season to win multiple events in one meet. She was the outright champion on bars (9.900) and split the floor title (9.850). She also won in the all-around for the first time this season (39.150).

*Barrow picked up her second vault title of the season with a score of 9.800.

*Werlen tied her career-high on beam (9.800) en route to a first-place finish.

*Fofana won her first career individual event, splitting the floor title with Kerico (9.850).

*The only event in which Penn didn't have all top three scorers was the balance beam where Alexa Melanson finished third.
 
RTN Rankings
In the first week of Team NQS, Penn sits atop at No. 41 with a 194.745. Yale is second at No. 53 (193.410) with Cornell three spots behind at No. 56 (192.735). Brown has not qualified for Team NQS but its season average score is 192.290.
 
In the northeast region, Barrow is tied at No. 5 on the vault with Cornell's Sydney Beers coming in at No. 8; Kerico is No. 2 on bars with an NQS of 9.845; on floor, Yale's Ella Tashjian is No. 8 and Zara Gazdak is No. 10; Lassiter leads the pack in all-around.
 
Scouting Cornell
The Big Red enter the Ivy Classic coming off a second-place finish at the George Washington quad, scoring a 191.825.
 
Beers – who received three All-Ivy Classic honors last year – currently ranks No. 2 among GEC gymnasts on the vault and No. 5 on the floor exercise. Sophomore Avery Byun is top 10 in the GEC on three different events (vault, beam and floor).
 
Scouting Brown
Brown scored a 193.375 at the Yale Quad last Sunday. Emily Ford (beam) and Maya Davis (floor) each secured second-place finishes.
 
Last year's Ivy Classic floor champion, Julia Bedell, specializes on the vault and floor for the Bears this season. Across four meets this season, she averages a 9.7625 on vault and 9.5875 on the floor. She scored a 9.900 on floor at the Stick It for the Cure Tri-Meet on February 9. Liza Marcus averages a 9.755 on the uneven bars in five competitions.
 
Scouting Yale
Yale placed third with a score of 193.675 at its quad meet. Tashjian won the floor title at 9.900 with Ellie Kearns finishing right behind in second place (9.850).
 
Reigning GEC Newcomer of the Year Tashjian ranks No. 1 on the floor exercise in the GEC with an NQS of 9.830; she's seventh on the vault (9.690). Junior Hana Strause comes in at No. 2 on the balance beam (9.720).
 
For the latest on Penn gymnastics, follow @PennGym on X and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.