UW-La Crosse Secures Women’s Gymnastics Crown
LA CROSSE, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse won the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Gymnastics Championship/National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) West Regional (presented by Culver’s) at UW-La Crosse’s Mitchell Hall on March 4.
The Eagles collected the 23rd league championship in program history - and third in the last five seasons - with a score of 191.800 to nip the second-place score of 191.400 by defending champion UW-Whitewater. Winona State University (Minn.) finished third with a score of 188.525, UW-Oshkosh fourth with 187.400, UW-Eau Claire fifth with 186.750, UW-Stout sixth with 186.075, Hamline University (Minn.) seventh with 184.875 and Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) eighth with 184.475.
The conference championship also served as the West Region qualifier for the NCGA Championship that will be hosted by State University of New York-Brockport March 18-19. UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater and Winona State earned spots into the national event by placing in the top three.
UW-La Crosse captured four WIAC individual titles as Samantha Wiekamp was victorious in the vault and all-around with scores of 9.775 and 38.625, respectively. Amy Enright won the uneven bars for the second straight year with a score of 9.750
The Eagles’ Leah Spankowski, along with UW-Stout’s Kelly Huseman and Gustavus Adolphus’ Alex Kopp tied for first-place honors in the balance beam with a score of 9.700.
Kopp also added a championship in the floor exercise with a score of 9.775. UW-Stout’s Kaylee Jondahl shared the title with Kopp. Jondahl won the event for the second consecutive season.
Kopp’s titles in the balance beam and floor exercise were the first in program history in both events.
The top-six individuals in each event secured All-Conference recognition. UW-Eau Claire’s Liz Stubbs and UW-Whitewater’s Hannah Lee shared the Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award, which is sponsored by Badgerland Financial.
An All-Sportsmanship Team was chosen for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. It included one member from each school. Named to the squad were: UW-Eau Claire’s Sarah Engstrom; Gustavus Adolphus College’s Jessica Niedermayer; Hamline University’s Katherine Bush; UW-La Crosse’s Hailey Warner; UW-Oshkosh’s Dana LoCascio; UW-Stout’s Kelly Huseman; UW-Whitewater’s Kristin Shackleton; and Winona State University’s Brooke Hiestand.
# # # # #