Front: Brittany Moore, Shannon Bank, Amanda Parker, Back: Danielle Berg, Nicole Gergen, Therese Gay, Ashley Erickson.
The Gustavus women’s gymnastics team will send seven gymnasts to the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships which will take place this Friday and Saturday, April 1-2 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Individual qualifiers for Gustavus include Danielle Berg, Shannon Bank, and Brittany Moore on the vault, Amanda Parker, Therese Gay, and Ashley Erickson on the uneven bars, and Nicole Gergen on both the balance beam and floor exercise. The Gusties, who finished fourth at the NCGA West Region meet on March 18 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, missed qualifying as a team by just .5 of point. This is the first time in seven years that Gustavus has missed qualifying for the national meet and only the third time in the 22-year history of the NCGA Championships.
Sophomore Brittany Moore will lead the Gustavus contingent on the vault with a season average of 9.108. Moore, who finished first at the region meet with a score of 9.525 ranks 26th nationally. Sophomore Shannon Bank qualified with a season average score of 9.025 and first year Danielle Berg qualified with a season average score of 8.98.
Senior Amanda Parker will lead the Gustie trio on the uneven bars. Parker, who will be making her fourth consecutive appearance at the national meet, finished third at the region meet with a score of 9.25. She ranks 20th in the NCGA with a season average score of 9.011. Joining Parker will be senior Therese Gay, who placed fifth at the region meet with a score of 9.175, and junior Ashley Erickson who placed eighth at the region meet with a score of 8.85.
Sophomore Nicole Gergen is the lone Gustavus gymnast to qualify in two events. She will compete on the balance beam where she placed 20th at the region meet with a score of 9.05 and on the floor exercise where she finished eighth at the region meet with a score of 9.45.
All seven of the gymnasts will compete in the first round of the individual event competition on Friday night and then the top 12 scorers in each event (with ties) will advance to the individual event finals on Saturday afternoon. Friday night’s competition begins at 6:20 pm, while Saturday’s event finals will start at 4:00 pm. The University of Wisconsin at La Crosse will host the NCGA Championships. The competition will take place in Mitchell Hall.