St. Peter, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse captured its 18th National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championship, including first since 2016, Saturday in Gus Young Court at Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.).
The Eagles finished with a team score of 194.925 while UW-Whitewater was second with 194.025 and UW-Oshkosh third with 193.075.
SUNY Cortland placed fourth (191.975) with Rhode Island College fifth (191.850) and SUNY Brockport sixth (190.715).
The 18 NCGA team titles (1986, 1988, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2025) are the most in NCGA history.
UWL recorded 48.475 on the vault, 48.200 on the uneven parallel bars, 49.050 on the balance beam and 49.200 on the floor exercise. The Eagles set season-highs for overall team score, balance beam and floor exercise.
The team score of 194.925 on Saturday broke the school record of 193.650 at the NCGA Championships in 2016 while the balance beam score of 49.050 also set a school record, breaking the previous mark of 48.775 at the national championships in 2005.
The Eagles have now recorded 27 top-two finishes in 40 national championship meets. The NCGA has conducted championships since 1984.
Kasey Crawford, in her ninth season as UWL's head coach, captured her first NCGA title Saturday after leading the Eagles second-place finishes in 2017, 2018 and 2023. UWL placed third in 2022 and 2024. Named the 2023 NCGA Coach of the Year, Crawford was a four-year letter winner and two-year team captain at UWL from 2004-08.
UWL won three individual event titles on Saturday. The Eagles'
Grace Kehr captured the vault championship (9.850) while
Raina Christenson,
Claire Robbins and
Kyla Dickson tied for first on the balance beam (9.850). UWL's
Jessica Taylor took the floor exercise (9.990) national crown.
Along with winning the vault title, Kehr also earned NCGA All-America honors with a second-place tie (9.875) on the floor exercise. It is her first two career All-America awards.
Christenson picked up her first career NCGA All-America award Saturday while Robbins' earned her second career All-America honor on the balance beam after finishing tied for fifth a year ago.
Dickson garnered her second All-America recognition in this year's championships and third in her career after finishing tied for sixth (9.825) on the floor exercise Saturday. She also gained All-America honors with a third-place tie on the balance beam in 2023.
It is Taylor's second career NCGA All-America honor on the floor exercise after placing tied for seventh last season.
The Eagles'
Paige Breckwoldt,
Sarah Best and
Grace Edwards also earned All-America honors Saturday. Breckwoldt tied for third (9.750) on the vault while Best tied for third (9.750) on the uneven parallel bars and Edwards tied for sixth (9.825) on the floor exercise.
It is the second career award for Best after tying for sixth on the uneven parallel bars in 2024.
Kehr is the seventh gymnast in UWL history to win the NCGA vault title and the first since Dani Barmore (2018). Lisa Kartman (1986), Laura Pastore (1995), Gabi Hooper (2007, 2008), Jackie LaFleur (2007) and Samantha Wiekamp (2016) also captured the championship.
Christenson, Robbins and Dickson won the balance beam title for UWL for the first time since Sam Weyker (2018). The Eagles have now won the balance beam 12 different times in school history. Along with Weyker, Kim MacKrille (1988, 1989), Tricia Adkins (1992, 1994), Kari Motz (1997, 1998), Angela Erato (2001), Jennifer Houle (2005, 2006) and Kari Willett (2017) won the title.
It is the first time since Hooper won the floor exercise crown in 2010 that UWL won the national title with Taylor's first-place finish. Ann Kelly (1987) and Becky McDonnell (1998, 1999) also captured the floor exercise championship.
UWL has won 39 individual (23 gymnasts) national championships. The Eagles have earned 268 All-America awards in the history of the national championships.
The top-eight individuals in the all-around and vault, uneven parallel bars, balance beam and floor exercise earn NCGA All-America honors.
