Results
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse gymnastics team captured the 39th Annual Gershon/McLellan Invitational Friday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, competing in their home opener, finished with a team score of 185.800 while Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) was second at 176.600 and UW-Eau Claire third at 173.250.
UWL finished with a score of 46.350 on the vault, 47.400 (season-high) on the uneven parallel bars, 46.225 on the balance beam and 45.825 on the floor exercise.
The Eagles'
Kacey Mortenson was second in the all-around (35.875) Friday night.
In the individual events, UWL took three titles. The Eagles had the top-four finishers in the vault with
Megan Hawkins winning (9.525),
Audrey Kaufman second (9.425),
Jessica Ahrens third (9.400) and
Alex Wood fourth (9.225).
UWL took the top-six places on the uneven parallel bars.
Kerrie Legault took the title (9.650) with Mortenson second (9.475),
Molly Lyngaas and
Brooke Kachinsky tied for third (9.450),
Cate Sandvik fifth (9.375) and
Madi Vanderpool sixth (9.350).
Emma Grant won the floor exercise (9.625) with
Olivia Opheim third (9.400) and
Jenna Danninger tied for fifth (9.200).
The Eagles had had five of the top-six finishers on the balance beam with Ahrens placing second (9.450), Opheim third (9.424),
Jordyn Faust fourth (9.200), Mortenson fifth (9.100) and
Faith Sersland sixth (9.050).
The Gershon half of the name honors
Ernest Gershon, a former UWL faculty member and men's gymnastics coach. Gershon joined the UWL teaching staff in 1946 and coached the first men's gymnastics team in 1948. He coached until 1966 and retired from teaching in 1982. Gershon was inducted into the UWL Athletic Wall of Fame in 2015.
The McLellan name was added to the title in 1998 in honor of
Mary McLellan, a former coach and staff member in the college of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at UWL. She was a pioneer in the growth of women's athletics at UWL. McLellan coached women's gymnastics for seven seasons before it became an official varsity sport. She was also the first varsity volleyball coach at UWL.
UWL returns to action Friday, February 7 at UW-Stout at 6 p.m.
