UW-La Crosse 188.250, Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) 179.475
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse gymnastics team earned a 188.250 to 179.475 dual victory over Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) Friday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles swept all four individual events.
UWL scored 47.775 on the vault, 45.950 on the uneven parallel bars, 47.500 on the balance beam and 47.025 on the floor exercise. The Eagles set a single-season high on the vault Friday while tying a season-high on the balance beam. The 188.250 team score is the second-highest total this year after a 189.125 in a dual versus Winona State University (Minn.) January 29.
"We had a great performance on the vault tonight," said UWL head coach
Barbara Gibson. "We had several athletes with their best vaults of the year. I couldn't be more pleased with the vault, we really had nine good performances (three exhibitions).
"Our rhythm overall is really improving on the beam," said Gibson. "We're seeing that consistant flow and rhythm from practice to competition."
Dani Barmore captured a pair of individual titles Friday, winning the vault (9.675) and balance beam (9.625). She was also third on the uneven parallel bars (9.500). The Eagles'
Lauren Wilson won the uneven parallel bars (9.625) while
Elsa Spitzmueller captured the floor exercise (9.700). Wilson also tied for fourth on the vault (9.500).
"Dani is a such a calm freshman and steady competitor," said Gibson. "She knows what to expect now in competition. Elsa is just coming back with tonight being only her second performance of the season. She looked more confident tonight.
"Lauren is having a great season," added Gibson. "Her vault and bars is what we are seeing in practice everyday. She is getting stronger and more confident."
The Eagles'
Samantha Wiekamp was second in the all-around (37.050) while also finishing second on the vault (9.650), sixth on the floor exercise (9.000) and eighth on the balance beam (9.150).
Amy Enright and
Leah Spankowski each had three top-eight finishes Friday. Enright placed second on the uneven parallel bars (9.550), fifth on the floor exercise (9.350) and sixth on the balance beam (9.375) while Spankowski was second on the beam (9.600), sixth on the vault (9.450) and eighth on the floor (8.850).
UWL's
Savana Kettner finished third on the balance beam (9.475) and tied for fourth on the floor exercise (9.450) while
Kari Willett tied for fourth on the vault (9.500) and finished fifth on the balance beam (9.425).
Other top finishers Friday included
Chelsie Richards third on the floor exercise (9.525),
Janelle Kopa sixth (8.650) and
Carly Kiesow seventh (8.625) on the uneven parallel bars and
Allison Jahns seventh on the vault (9.350).
Alex Kopp from Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) won the all-around (37.050).
UWL returns to action Sunday, February 21 at the Iowa State University Quadrangular at 2 p.m. Nebraska and North Carolina will join UWL and Iowa State in the quadrangular.
