UP to Play Host to USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships

The Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania will play host to the 2015 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships in Philadelphia, Pa., April 10-12.  The three-day meet will feature athletes from 12 colleges and universities, with eight competing in the team competition.  The University of Bridgeport looks to earn its seventh-straight team title, and Brown University’s Diana Walters is returning to defend her all-around crown.

In 2014, Bridgeport won the team title for the eighth time, with Texas Woman’s University and Seattle Pacific University finishing second and third, respectively.  The returning individual event champions are: Maria Hundley, Seattle Pacific, vault, uneven bars (tied) and balance beam; and Caitlin Perry, University of Bridgeport, floor exercise (tied).

The schools competing in the team competition are: Brown University, Lindenwood University, Seattle Pacific University, Texas Woman’s University, U.S. Air Force Academy, University of Bridgeport, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.  Schools with athletes competing for an event or all-around title only are: Centenary College, Cornell University, Southern Connecticut State University and West Chester University. Bridgeport has won the team title the last five years, and tied with Cornell in 2009.

The championships begin on Friday at with two sessions of team preliminaries and the all-around finals, 2 p.m. (Air Force, Brown, Lindenwood, TWU) and 7 p.m. (Bridgeport, Penn, Seattle Pacific, Yale). Team finals will start at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, and Sunday’s individual event finals are scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

Tickets may be purchased online or at the event. Tickets are available as all-session tickets (30-$60), along with individual sessions, including tickets for the team and individual finals, which are $15 or $20 per session. Group tickets are available. For ticket information or questions call 215-898-6151 or email tickets@pobox.upenn.edu.

The USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships is for Division I, II and III schools with less than seven-and-a-half full scholarships.

Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its disciplines include men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and Gymnastics for All (formerly known as group gymnastics). For more information, log on to www.usagym.org.