The Brockport Gymnastics team entered the 2026 season with high expectations after a strong 2025 campaign. Brockport returned many seasoned veterans ahead of a challenging schedule and after finishing 2025 ranked third nationally, the Golden Eagles Gymnastics squad soared into 2026.
Coming off a third-place national finish at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Championships, Brockport Gymnastics finished third once again during the 2025-2026 season, scoring 193.875 points. Additionally, the Golden Eagles won their sixth straight NCGA East Regional Championship with a score of 193.675 points.
Kayla Gleason, an All-American on the beam and the floor, described the regional championships as a team-defining moment leading up to the nationals.
“As a whole team, I would say at regionals,” Gleason said. “At regionals, it felt like we had finally clicked as a team, and we got our highest score of the season.”
At the NCGA National Championships, Gleason, Kiara Hockman and Alyssa Strain were named All-Americans after all three scored within the top eight in their respective events. Hockman earned honors in the vault, balance beam, and the floor. Gleason earned her status as an all-American on the beam and the floor and Strain rounded out Brockport’s All-Americans following her placing performance on the beam.
The Women Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) named Hockman, Emma Brookins, and Lienna Kay regular-season All-Americans. Hockman was named first team on the vault and balance beam while earning second team on the floor exercise.
This is the junior’s second consecutive year earning regular season All-American recognition. Hockman averaged an impressive 9.785 on the vault and 9.780 on the balance beam. An average of 9.820 solidified a second-team all-American distinction, continuing her elite consistency stretching from the 2025 season.
Brookins was named a first-team regular season All-American for her performance on the uneven bars after receiving second team honors on the floor as a freshman. After a strong sophomore campaign, she completed her individual goal of becoming an All-American.
“Individually, this year I definitely had the goal of becoming an all-American,” Brookins said. “I wanted to work so hard throughout the year and be consistent enough to gain that title.”
Kay received second team All-American regular season honors with an average score on the balance beam of 9.695. This followed the junior’s performance as the 2025 balance beam co-champion at the NCGA National Championships.
The 2026 lineup for the Golden Eagles had a healthy mix of top recruits and experienced veterans. Juniors Hockman and Kay, sophomores Gleason and Brookins, and seniors Cali Czarcinski and Gracie Weaver contributed heavily throughout the season, leading Brockport into the postseason.
“As a team, we felt good about the season,” Gleason explained. “I think we were all excited and optimistic about the season. For myself, I was just excited to compete. I didn’t compete last year, so I went into this year excited and ready to soak everything in.”
SUNY Brockport Gymnastics finished the regular season 6-4. Although the Golden Eagles won only one of five early-season competitions, Brockport then rattled off five consecutive victories to end the season with a positive record.
Brookport Gymnastics faced challenging competition early in the regular season, beginning the season at the Rutgers January Meet. Here, the Golden Eagles defeated Ithaca College, 191.200-187.600, but fell to Rutgers and Temple University.
“Honestly, our first meet at Rutgers, we started off not good, but we finished so strong for where we were in the season in a completely different competition environment,” Brockport Gymnastics head coach Dr. René Lyst said. “And that meet itself, I think, made our team so much better.”
Following a dual loss at the Golden Girls Classic in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois University, the Golden Eagles had a much-needed break, with the Cornell Quad meet in Ithaca, NY, being cancelled. Although unable to find victory, the loss at Eastern Michigan reinforced that Brockport could compete at that high level, while boosting the confidence of the Golden Eagles.
“I think our meet at Eastern Michigan, you know, being in the lead halfway through the meet and then, having mistakes, but then coming back and finishing so strong just built the confidence and our resiliency,” Lyst explained. “So, while we had errors in those meets, they really built our confidence as a team when we came back to our own conference meets and that sort of thing.”
After a two-week break from competition, the Golden Eagles started to spread their wings. Brockport won its dual meet against Ursinus College, 188.250-187.175, led by Hockman. The junior won the vault with a 9.750 and the balance beam with a 9.800. Brockport shined as a team on the floor, earning a 48.450 together, their top event total of the meet.
The Golden Eagles built off their Ursinus victory with wins over Ithaca College and Cortland. In their return against Ithaca, Brockport posted a regular-season best score of 192.175 points. Brookins highlighted the meet, tying for first in the bars, earning a 9.725 and tying for third on the floor with a score of 9.775.
The following week, Brockport took on the Empire State Collegiate Championships, placing third out of six total teams with a final score of 192.000, behind Long Island University and Cornell University.
Brockport finished its regular season with strong victories over Utica University (191.275-185.425) and Greenville University (192.400-187.475) before travelling to Providence, Rhode Island to take on the NCGA East Regional Championships. Brockport walked away with a first-place finish following a dominant showing in the process of earning its 6th consecutive regional championship. The Golden Eagles posted the highest score in three of four events at the meet as Hockman highlighted the event, earning two gold medals.
For Nationals, the Golden Eagles travelled to Cortland University, where Brockport posted a season-high total score of 193.875 points. Hockman and Gleason were named multi-All-Americans while Strain earned All-American honors for her performance on the beam. Brockport ended its season with three NCGA Co-National Champions, six NCGA All-Americans, and two NCGA Academic All-Americans.
Coach Lyst highlights her team’s defining abilities as a reason for success throughout the regular and postseason.
“They’re competitors,” Lyst stated. “They’re not afraid of a challenge. They are persistent and resilient. And I love that about them. No challenge is too big.”
With Brockport returning many key leaders and contributors across all events, the Golden Eagles hope to achieve more at the national level of competition next year. With some redshirt athletes ready to compete, the Golden Eagles will continue to work towards the coveted NCGA National Championship.
“We have a couple of redshirts that are coming in that are going to help us,” Lyst said. “A couple of the girls coming in are really filling some of the holes that we have, mostly on vault. We lack a little bit of difficulty there. But, I think that this team now kind of enjoys the competition part of things, not just the participation part of things and I see us continuing to be very strong.”
Although finishing the season just short of first place, the Golden Eagles are quickly reloading with more young talent to create a well-rounded machine, ready to fight for a national championship once again in 2027.
