Whitewater, Wis. – The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team turned in its best team performance of the season at the 2014 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Gymnastics Championship/National Collegiate Gymnastics Association West Regional held Sunday, March 2 at the Williams Center located on the campus of UW-Whitewater. The Gusties scored a 177.800 to finish eighth at the eight team meet.
Jamie Ries
UW-La Crosse won the championship with a score of 188.200, UW-Whitewater finished second with a 188.075, and UW-Oshkosh rounded out the podium in third with a 185.575. The top three teams, UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh will advance to the NCGA National Championship set for March 21-22 in Ithaca, New York.
Gustavus’s individual event score in three of the four events were season-bests. The Gusties posted season-highs of 45.700 on the vault, 43.250 on the uneven parallel bars, and 43.900 on the balance beam. The squad’s score of 44.950 on the floor exercise was its second-best of the year, ranking second behind a 45.000 registered at the Best of Minnesota Invite back on Feb. 23.
Top individual performers for the Black & Gold included Jamie Ries (Sr., Monticello, Minn.) and Lauren Kershner (Fy., Marine, Ill.). Ries and Kershner both competed in the all-around with Jamie taking eighth with a season-best score of 36.800 and Lauren finishing ninth with a season-best 36.700.
Lauren Kershner
Jamie Ries finished 25th on the vault (9.300), 15th on the bars (9.175), 33rd on the beam (8.950), and 22nd on the floor (9.375). Ries’s scores on the bars and floor were season-bests for the senior who competed in her final WIAC Championship meet.
Lauren Kershner placed 25th on the vault (9.300), 31st on the bars (8.850), 19th on the beam (9.400), and 34th on the floor (9.150). Kershner’s showing was far and above her best of the year as the rookie tallied season-best scores on each apparatus.
UW-Whitewater’s Katie Fiorilli was crowned the all-around champion after scoring a 37.825. Individual event champions included UW-La Crosse’s Sheree Romesburg winning the vault (9.600) and floor (9.650), and UW-Whitewater’s Allyse Dieringer taking the bars (9.675) and McKenzie Forster taking the beam (9.725).