Winona, Minn. — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Gymnastics team has punched their ticket to the NCGA National Championship for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The championship berth comes off a season that saw multiple broken program records, a program second-best team score of 192.050 at the WIAC Championships Saturday night, and head coach
Jessie DeZiel being named WIAC Coach of the Year.
The conference championship finished with the Blugolds placing fourth in team score. The team was carried by strong performances across the board, especially on the beam (48.500) and floor (48.075).
UWEC's consistent strength, the beam, continued to be a driving factor Saturday. An event led by depth saw the team score a 48.500, led by Hareet Gehlon's 9.775, which tied for 8th best at the meet. Close behind Gehlon was Jozie Armos scoring 9.750, and Linnea Vasali's 9.700. The team also received strong performances from Georgia Guynn (9.650) and Grace Gerster (9.625) to solidify their score on the beam.
On the uneven bars, the Blugolds saw Cadence Cordova score a 9.650, and Ella Montgomery a 9.625. Grouped closely behind were Kinley Rose (9.500), Ava Obermoller (9.475), and Linnea Vasali (9.425). Overall, the Blugolds scored a 47.675 on the bars.
The Blugolds put up a team score of 47.800 on vault, with Cadence Cordova leading the way scoring 9.650. The vault proved to be another event where the team's depth showed up with the next four gymnasts scoring within 0.025 of each other. Haley Zampella and Emily Leese each scored 9.550, while Grace Gerster and Abigail Berens each scored a 9.525.
Lastly, on the floor, the team scored a 48.075. Hanna Riha led the team with a score of 9.750, 9th in the meet. Behind here was a pair of 9.650's scored by Anna Preussner and Sky Skipper. Rounding things off for the team was Haley Zampella's 9.525 and Kamryn Andrade's 9.500
The NCGA National Championship will take place Friday, March 20th in Cortland, N.Y.
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