WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional Website
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse gymnastics squad is set to compete at the 2023 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship (presented by Culver's) and National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) West Regional Saturday, March 11. March-in is set to start at 2 p.m. in UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center. It will be the 49th edition of the conference championship.
The conference meet also serves as the West Region qualifier for the NCGA Championship scheduled for Saturday, March 25 at Winona State (Minn.). The top-three teams from the WIAC event, along with qualified individual gymnasts, will advance to the NCGA meet.
In the NCGA team rankings released on March 6, UW-Oshkosh is second, UW-La Crosse third, UW-Whitewater fourth and UW-Stout sixth. Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) is ranked 11th, UW-Eau Claire 12th, Winona State University (Minn.) 14th and Hamline University (Minn.) 15th.
UWL scored a season-high 192.650 at San Jose State University (Calif.) on January 29.
The Eagles had a season-high 48.100 on the vault and 48.675 on the balance beam at San Jose State (Calif.). The team had a season-high 47.850 on the uneven parallel bars versus UW-Oshkosh on February 3 and 48.325 on the floor exercise at Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) on February 24.
UWL has won a league-record 24 WIAC titles in school history, including 19 in the last 28 seasons. UW-Oshkosh captured the league championship in 2022 with a score of 192.300 while UW-Whitewater was second at 191.875 and UWL third with 191.200. UW-Stout was fourth (189.625) followed by UW-Eau Claire fifth (187.450), Winona State (Minn.) sixth (186.225), Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) seventh (184.800) and Hamline (Minn.) eighth (184.400).
The Eagles'
Rachel Chesley won the floor exercise (9.825) at the 2022 WIAC Championships. Chesley finished second (9.775) in the vault while
Alex Wood seventh (9.700).
On the uneven parallel bars,
Kerrie Legault finished second (9.775) a year ago with Chesley finishing eighth (9.650). Legault won (9.700) the WIAC title on the bars at the 2020 championships.
Cate Sandvik is the Eagles' top returning finisher from last year's championships on the balance beam as she finished eighth (9.550).
Wood has the third-best score in the conference in the vault (9.800) this eason while Legault has the top score on the uneven parallel bars (9.825). On the balance beam,
Jordan Halcom's score of 9.850 is first in the WIAC and Sandvik's score of 9.825 on the floor exercise ranks second in the league.
Kasey Crawford is in her seventh season as UWL's head coach in 2022-23. She led the Eagles to a WIAC Championship in 2018 and second-place finishes at the NCGA Championships in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles finished third at the 2022 NCGA Championships. UWL qualified for the 2020 NCGA Championships, but the meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
An assistant coach at UWL for eight seasons, Crawford earned the 2015-16 NCGA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year award after helping lead UWL to its second straight national title. She was named the 2011-12 and 2012-13 NCGA North Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year. Crawford was a four-year letter winner and two-year team captain at UWL, competing from 2004-08.
The top-six finishers in each event receive all-conference designation.
