Casey Jo MacPherson ‘the perfect fit’ as Pitt’s next gymnastics coach
Share this post:
Casey Jo MacPherson, who has served since 2011 as an assistant coach at Missouri, Western Michigan and Arkansas, has been named the fourth head coach in Pitt gymnastics history. She replaces Samantha Snider, who was relieved of her duties April 3.
Athletic director Heather Lyke said in a statement that Pitt “searched the country for a new leader of our women’s gymnastics program.”
“We found the perfect fit in Casey Jo MacPherson,” Lyke said. “Her extraordinary competitive background, phenomenal coaching experience, dynamic and genuine personality, and desire to build Pitt gymnastics into a nationally competitive program make her the ideal person to lead our team.
“We have great expectations for this program as we head into the first year of gymnastics in the ACC and the upcoming completion of new training and competition spaces in the new Victory Heights arena and performance center. We could not be more excited to have Casey Jo as our new leader.”
MacPherson was associate head coach at Missouri for the past three years after spending six seasons there as an assistant coach. She was the head beam coach while assisting on floor exercise.
“From my first conversation with Heather Lyke, it’s been clear how committed she and her staff are to every sport and student-athlete at the University of Pittsburgh,” MacPherson said in a statement. “The passion and dedication throughout the athletic department create an energy that gets you excited about the future. Victory Heights is a state-of-the-art, game-changing facility that is only going to add to the momentum Pitt Athletics is seeing.
”I am so excited to connect with this talented team and begin building our championship program. I’m very grateful to Heather and the Pitt family for this opportunity and look forward to competing for the first ACC Gymnastics Championship.”
Over the past decade, MacPherson helped bring Mizzou gymnastics to national prominence. The team recorded its top eight all-time beam scores, and nine of the top 12 under her direction. She also coached three Tigers to Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association regular-season All-America honors on the apparatus.
MacPherson’s beam team set a beam program-high score of 49.550 against Arkansas. Over the season, Mizzou earned at least a 49.200 on the apparatus seven times, with three 49.500 or better.
In 2021, MacPherson’s beam team finished the regular season ranked 10th in the nation with a qualifying score of 49.369. Over the course of the season, the Tigers scored at least 49.250 on the event six times, including three times of 49.400 or better. At the NCAA Tuscaloosa second round, MacPherson’s team totaled 49.450 on beam, breaking the postseason team beam record.
In 2013, MacPherson helped lead Western Michigan to the 2013 Mid-American Conference Championship.
As a student-athlete at Arkansas, MacPherson earned 71 individual event titles and eight All-American honors. She was a two-time, first-team All-SEC honoree, a four-time Academic All-SEC choice and Arkansas’ most outstanding gymnast twice. She joined the Arkansas gymnastics staff as a student-assistant in 2011.
Lyke said MacPherson will be formally introduced next week at a news conference at the Petersen Events Center.