COLLEGEVILLE, PA. – SUNY Cortland freshmen Taylor Goldstein (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills West) and Kathryn McSweeney (East Brunswick, NJ) earned All-America honors and fifth-year head coach Sulekha Modi Zaug was named the National Coach of the Year at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships, hosted by Ursinus College.
 
Goldstein tied the school record on balance beam with a 9.825 to tie for second place along with Emily Buffington of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She came up just short of winning the national title, which was claimed by Winona State's Bryce Stoltz with a 9.85.
 
McSweeney tied for sixth place, along with Sarah Best of Wisconsin-La Crosse, on uneven bars with a 9.75. Buffington and Wisconsin-Whitewater's Hayden Gough shared the national title, each with a 9.85. The top eight finishers in each event are All-Americans.
 
Cortland finished sixth in the final team standings with a score of 190.925. Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the team title with a 194.975, followed by Wisconsin-Whitewater (193.575), Wisconsin-La Crosse (193.175), Brockport (193.075), Wisconsin-Stout (191.625) and Cortland. The Red Dragons earned their trip to nationals by claiming one of two automatic berths, along with Brockport, from the East Region after finishing second at the regional championship on March 9.
 
Freshman Samantha Meadows (Cypress, TX/Texas Connections Academy) narrowly missed All-America honors, tying for ninth on balance beam with a 9.775. Senior Delaney Brown (Peru) tied for 15th place on floor exercise with a 9.775.
 
Three Red Dragons, in addition to McSweeney, placed in the top half of the field on uneven bars. Goldstein and freshman Cloe Block (Lockport/North Tonawanda) tied for 17th place, each with a 9.60, and freshman Autumn Adkins (Aledo, TX) tied for 23rd place with a 9.575. On vault, freshman Kyleigh Brown (Tunkhannock, PA/Commonwealth Charter) tied for 22nd place with a 9.625 and freshman Rory Allan (Dubai, UAE/Gems International School Al Khail) tied for 24th with a 9.60.
 
In addition, Cortland senior Christelle Louis (Carle Place) has been recognized as an NCGA Senior All-Americans in Academics award winner. The award goes to seniors with at least a 3.25 overall grade point average who appear on the team's NCGA squad list for the current year. The winners must be in their final year of athletic eligibility as well as seniors academically.
 
Modi Zaug began as Cortland's head coach during the 2019-20 season. The NCGA regionals and nationals that season was canceled, as well as the entire 2020-21 season, due to COVID-19. The Red Dragons placed fifth regionally in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 before making the leap to second regionally this season and earning their first national team berth since 2019. Cortland reached the 190-point mark in six of its last seven meets, including a school record-tying 191.65 team score and a school-record 48.65 uneven bars score at the regional meet.

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Sulekha Modi Zaug:

This was a record breaking season in so many ways. I am truly honored to be working with gymnasts of this level who have so much potential to be the greatest team in DIII. We were there as a team, held our own, fought so hard with many incredible routines but scoring was tough and competition fierce. We are all so motivated to come back next season stronger than ever, with a successful year under our belt and an awareness now of what the big stage is all about since for many, it was their first experience at a National Championships. We are also incredibly grateful for all of the support from SUNY Cortland, the Athletics Department, our alumni and families who have traveled across the country numerous times this season to support us.