Jamie Ries earned NCGA All-America honors with her ninth place finish on the bars.

Jamie Ries earned NCGA All-America honors with her ninth place finish on the bars.

Whitewater, Wis. – Gustavus Adolphus junior gymnast Jamie Ries (Monticello, Minn.) highlighted the second day of the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships with the gymnastics program’s best finish at nationals since 2007.  Ries, who earned a spot in Saturday’s finals after scoring a 9.325 on the uneven parallel bars on Friday night, turned in a season-best routine of 9.350 to finish in a tie for ninth place.

Jamie Ries moved up three spots on Saturday after finishing 12th on the opening day.  The Monticello, Minn. native garners NCGA All-America Second Team honors for her performance and becomes the first Gustavus All-American since Nicole Gergen finished 11th on the balance beam in 2007.

Winning the bars competition was Cici Talcott of UW-Whitewater who scored a 9.725.  Warhawk gymnasts swept the podium as Annie Mix placed second (9.675) and Katie Thompson finished third (9.625).

Five other Gusties were also honored on Saturday for their excellence in the classroom.  Earning a place on the 2013 NCGA Academic All-America Team were seniors Tiffany Etterman (East Gull Lake, Minn.), Samantha Opsahl (Forest Lake, Minn.), Amanda Christensen (Albany, Minn.), Shelby Winzent (Golden, Colo.), and Bailey Zeinert (Oshkosh, Wis.).

Gustavus Athletic Director Tom Brown was also honored at the NCGA Championships by being named the North Central Region Administrator-of-the-Year.

Day Two Results

NCGA Championships Website

Jamie Ries led the Gusties at the NCGA Championships with a 12th place finish on the bars.

Whitewater, Wis. – Three Gustavus Adolphus gymnasts concluded the 2013 season at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships held Friday, March 22 on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.  Junior Jamie Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.), and seniors Sam Opsahl (Forest Lake, Minn.) and Bailey Zeinert (Oshkosh, Wis.) represented the Gusties at the season-ending national meet.

Jamie Ries turned in Gustavus’s top finish of the meet by placing 12th on the uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.325.  It was the third time this season that Ries scored a 9.325 on the bars, matching her season bests from the Hamline Dual (Feb. 8) and UW-La Crosse Dual (March 1).  Ries earns a spot in the finals on Saturday with her finish and will compete tomorrow.

Sam Opsahl and Bailey Zeinert both competed on the balance beam.  Opsahl finished 38th with a score of 8.750, while Zeinert finished 41st with a score of 8.700.

Complete Results

Bailey Zeinert, Jamie Ries, and Sam Opsahl will compete at the NCGA Championships this weekend. Photo courtesy of Tyler Grey.

Bailey Zeinert, Jamie Ries, and Sam Opsahl will compete at the NCGA Championships this weekend. Photo courtesy of Tyler Grey.

St. Peter, Minn. – Three Gustavus Adolphus gymnasts will compete in the 2013 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships held March 22 and 23 in Whitewater, Wis.  Sam Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.), Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.), and Jamie Ries (Monticello, Minn.) will represent the Gusties at this year’s national meet being held in the Williams Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.

The 2013 NCGA Championships will begin on Friday, March 22 with the march-in taking place at 5:00 p.m.  Competing in Flight A will be Brockport, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Whitewater, and the specialists from the east.  Flight B will include UW-La Crosse, Cortland, Ursinus, and the west specialists.  An awards ceremony will take place following Friday’s competition.

Riding the momentum of the best performance of her collegiate career, Sam Opsahl will look to once again shine on the balance beam.  Opsahl stole the show for the Gusties at the 2013 WIAC Championships on March 9, becoming the first Gustie in over five years to earn a spot on the podium after turning in a routine of 9.575 on the beam to finish in a five-way tie for second place.  The Forest Lake, Minn. native is making her second straight appearance at NCGA Championships.  She scored a 9.200 on the beam to finish 27th and a 9.075 on the floor to finish 40th at last year’s meet held in Brockport, N.Y.  Opsahl’s best performance on the bar this year came at the Best of Minnesota Invite where she put together a 9.625 routine.

Also competing on the balance beam will be fellow senior Bailey Zeinert who is also making her second consecutive showing at the meet.  Zeinert scored an 8.525 on the beam last year in Brockport to place 50th.  Being a product of Oshkosh, Wis., Bailey will conclude her Gustavus career in her home state this weekend. She has scored over a 9.000 on the beam five times this season including a season-best 9.400 performance at the WIAC Championships.  She placed 14th at the conference meet with her showing on the beam.

To round out the trio of Gusties, Jamie Ries will participate in the uneven parallel bars.  Now in her third year donning a three-crowned leotard, Ries has qualified for the NCGA Championships in every year of her collegiate career.  Last year, Jamie turned in a 31st place finish on the floor after scoring a 9.275 and a 37th place mark on the vault after a 9.225 routine.  Ries’s season-high score on the bars in 2013 is a 9.325, which she scored twice at the Hamline Dual (Feb. 8) and UW-La Crosse Dual (March 1).  The Monticello, Minn. product placed 16th on the bars at the WIAC Championships after scoring an 8.950.

The finals for the individual competition will take place on Saturday, March 23 and will begin with the march-in at 4:00 p.m.  The awards ceremony is set to follow at 6:00 p.m.

For vital information on the upcoming NCGA Championships, such as schedule, qualifiers, rotation schedule, ticket information, and directions, please follow the link below to the tournament website.

2013 NCGA Championships Website

Oshkosh, Wis. – Gustavus Adolphus senior Samantha Opsahl (Forest Lake, Minn.) stole the show for the gymnastics team at the 2013 WIAC Championships/NCGA West Regional held Saturday at the Kolf Sports Center located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.  Opsahl became the first Gustie in over five years to earn a spot on the podium after turning in a routine of 9.575 on the balance beam to finish in a five-way tie for second place.

As a team, Gustavus turned in its best performance of the season, scoring a 178.075 to place eighth overall.  UW-Whitewater won the 2013 title with a score of 187.650, while defending champion UW-La Crosse placed runner-up with a score of 187.025.  UW-Eau Claire rounded out the top three with a score of 186.650.

Gustavus’s individual event scores included a 44.675 on the vault, 40.400 on the uneven parallel bars, a season-best 45.850 on the beam, and a season-best 47.150 on the floor.  The squad’s previous season-high on the beam was a 45.050 turned in at the Hamline Invite on Jan. 19.  The Gusties obliterated their previous high in the floor, besting their score of 45.675 recorded at the Best of Minnesota on Feb. 16.

Along with her silver medal performance on the beam, Opsahl finished 33rd on the vault (9.025) and 33rd on the floor (9.500).  Her outing on the floor was a season-high by two-tenths of a point, outdoing her score of 9.300 posted against Winona State on Feb. 3.  The Forest Lake, Minn. native is the first Gustie to achieve a top three standing at the WIAC Championships since Brittany Moore did so with a runner-up finish on the vault (9.550) on March 8, 2007.

Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.) and Jamie Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) represented the Three Crowns in the all-around competition.  Zeinert finished fifth with a season-high score of 36.300, and Ries placed seventh with a 35.750.  Zeinert went 8.775 on the vault (45th), 8.750 on the bars (22nd), 9.400 on the beam (14th), and 9.375 on the floor (42nd).  The senior’s marks on the beam and floor are both season-bests. Ries tallied scores of 8.950 on the vault (38th), 8.950 on the bars (16th), 8.750 on the beam (41st), and 9.100 on the floor (46th).

St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus gymnastics team suffered a 184.525-176.850 loss to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in its final home meet of the season on Saturday in the Lund Center Gymnastics Studio.

Junior Jamie Ries (Monticello, Minn.) turned in Gustavus’s top performance of the dual by winning the uneven parallel bars competition with a score of 9.325, which matches her season-best score set earlier this year against Hamline on Feb. 8.  Ries also won the all-around with a combined score of 36.150.  She placed fourth on the floor with a season-high 9.425, ninth on the vault (8.975), and 10th on the beam (8.425).

Gustavus posted individual event scores of 45.525 on the vault, 42.725 on the bars, 43.125 on the beam, and 45.475 on the floor.  UW-La Crosse went 46.100 on the vault, 44.600 on the bars, 46.500 on the beam, and 47.325 on the floor.

Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.) also recorded a finish on the podium by taking second on the vault with a season-best score of 9.300.  Zeinert also competed in the all-around and finished second behind Ries with a score of 35.325.

Samantha Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) rounded out the top Gustie performers with a pair fifth place marks.  She went 9.225 on the vault and then scored a 9.100 on the beam.

UW-La Crosse’s Angela Stein won the vault with a 9.350, Jessica Herrmann captured the beam with a 9.475, and Tegan Oare took the floor exercise with a 9.575.

The Gustavus gymnastics team will now prepare for the WIAC Championships set to take place on Saturday, March 9.  The WIAC Championships, which also serves as the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association West Region qualifier, will be held at the Kolf Sports Center on the campus of UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wis.  March-in begins at 5:30 p.m. with competition starting at 6:00 p.m.

It was also Senior Day at the Gymnastics Studio as five Golden Gustie seniors were honored for the commitment to the Gustavus gymnastics program for the past four years.  The Gustavus Athletics Department extends a sincere thank you to this year’s seniors Amanda Christensen (Albany, Minn.), Tiffany Etterman (East Gull Lake, Minn.), Samantha Opsahl, Shelby Winzent (Sr, Golden, Colo.), and Bailey Zeinert for their hard work and commitment to excellence.

Complete Results

Rachel Thiner placed third on the beam against UW-Eau Claire.

Eau Claire, Wis. – The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team suffered a 183.000-174.575 loss to UW-Eau Claire in a dual held on Friday night at the McPhee Physical Education Center.

The Gusties recorded individual event scores of 45.475 on the vault, 40.750 on the uneven parallel bars, 43.375 on the balance beam, and 44.975 on the floor exercise.

Rachel Thiner (Fy., Sioux Falls, S.D.) turned in Gustavus’s best finish of the night with a third place performance on the beam.  Thiner recorded a season-best routine of 9.250, besting her previous season-high of 8.775 posted at the Best of Minnesota Invite last weekend.

The Gusties’ top finisher on the vault was Sam Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) who placed sixth with a 9.175.  Opsahl also led the Three Crowns on the floor with a with fifth place showing after a 9.150 routine.

Baily Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.) was the top Gustie on the bars with a sixth place finish after scoring an 8.400.  Zeinert also finished runner-up in the all-around with a score of 35.150.  Jamie Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) also competed in the all-around, finishing third with a 34.000.   Danielle Schulzetenberg of Eau Claire took the all-around competition with a score of 36.150.

The Gustavus gymnastics team will be back on the mats next weekend when it hosts UW-La Crosse in the final home meet of the year.  The Gusties will take on the Eagles at 2:00 p.m. in the Gustavus Gymnastics Studio.

Complete Results

Bailey Zeinert posted three season-best scores at the Best of Minnesota on Saturday night.

Minneapolis – The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team scored over a 177.000 for the second straight meet on Saturday night, finishing fourth out of four competing teams with a score of 177.450 at the annual Best of Minnesota competition held at the Sports Pavilion on the campus of the University of Minnesota.  The Gophers won the meet with a score of 196.000, while Winona State placed second with a 184.975, and Hamline finished third with a 184.675.

The Gusties posted individual event scores of 46.050 on the vault, 40.975 on the uneven parallel bars, 44.750 on the balance beam, and 45.675 on the floor exercise.  Gustavus’s score on the floor is a season-best, topping the team’s performance from its dual against Winona State on Feb. 3.

Top competitors for the Gusties at the Best of Minnesota included Sam Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.), Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.), and Jamie Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.).

Opsahl’s top performance of the meet came on the balance beam where she recorded a season-best score of 9.625 to take ninth place.  The senior also placed 14th on the floor with a 9.225 and 15th on the vault with a 9.275.

Zeinert turned in three of her best performances of the season on Saturday night.  She came in ninth on the bars with a season-high 9.200, 15th on the vault with a season-high 9.275, 20th on the floor with a season-high 9.050, and rounded out the competition with a 8.250 on the beam for a 23rd place finish.  Zeinert scored a 35.775 to finish fourth in the all-around.

Jamie Ries was also at her best in several events tonight, registering season-high scores on the floor with a 9.250 (13th) and the beam with a 9.000 (15th).

Individual event winners included Minnesota’s Kayla Slechta on the vault (9.925), Janell Campbell on the bars (9.875), Dusti Russell on the beam (9.875), and Lindsay Mable on the floor (9.925).  Gopher Jenny Covers was the all-around champion with a score of 39.125.

The Gustavus gymnastics team will be back on the mats Friday, Feb. 22 when it travels to Eau Claire, Wis. to take on UW-Eau Claire at 6:30 p.m.

Complete Results

Jamie Ries named WIAC All-Arounder-of-the-Week.

Jamie Ries named WIAC All-Arounder-of-the-Week.

St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus junior gymnast Jamie Ries (Monticello, Minn.) has been named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) All-Around Gymnast-of-the-Week for her performance against Hamline University on Friday, Feb. 8.

Ries led Gustavus to its first dual meet victory since the 2010 season, defeating Hamline on Friday night in the Gustavus Gymnastics Studio by the score of 177.900-177.575.  The Gusties’ final team score of 177.900 was their best mark since a 178.350 scored at the WIAC Championships in 2011.  It had been since earlier in the 2011 season that Gustavus had registered a team score of over 177.000.

The Monticello, Minn. product was rock-solid throughout the evening, tuning in her best meet of the year after recording three season-high scores.  Ries turned in a season-high 9.325 to win the uneven bars, then scored a 9.200 on the floor exercise to finish second.  Combined with an 8.975 on the vault (eighth) and an 8.950 on the balance beam (sixth), she finished runner-up in the all-around competition with the best score of her three-year career to date – a 36.450.

The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 16 when it travels to Minneapolis, Minn. to take part in the Best of Minnesota Invite hosted on the campus of the University of Minnesota.  The meet is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. and will feature the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, and Winona State University along with Gustavus.

Head Coach Katie Olson hugs Samantha Opsahl after her performance on the balance beam in Friday night's win over Hamline. Photo take by Dan Coquyt - Gustavus Sports Information

Head Coach Katie Olson hugs Samantha Opsahl after her performance on the balance beam in Friday night's win over Hamline. Photo take by Dan Coquyt - Gustavus Sports Information

St. Peter, Minn. – In front of a packed house at inside the Gustavus Gymnastics Studio, the Gustie gymnastics team fed off the crowd’s energy all night and rode the momentum to a 177.900-177.575 victory over Hamline University.

“The crowd was great and the girls responded to the outstanding atmosphere in the gym,” said head coach Katie Olson who earned her first collegiate victory tonight in the same gym where she competed as a student-athlete for the Gustavus gymnastics team.  “When things are going well that success is contagious, and that’s what we saw throughout our lineup tonight.”

Gustavus’ score tonight was the team’s highest since posting a 178.350 at the WIAC Championships in 2011.  It had been since earlier in the 2011 season on Feb. 4 that Gustavus had registered a team score of over 177.000.

Tonight’s dual win over Hamline is also the Gusties’ first since Feb. 12, 2010 when the Three Crowns topped Hamline 172.850-170.325.

“It feels great, it feels amazing,” said Olson following the meet.  “The girls have been working so hard and this is so well-deserved.  They hit on 23-of-24 routines and that’s not easy to do.  The girls deserve all the credit tonight.”

Gustavus registered individual event scores of 45.200 on the vault, 42.800 on the uneven parallel bars, 44.900 on the balance beam, and 45.000 on the floor exercise.  The squad’s total on the bars is a season-high, besting the previous high by 1.775.

Senior Bailey Zeinert performs on the beam.

Hamline turned in individual event scores of 46.775 on the vault, 41.300 on the bars, 45.075 on the beam, and 44.425 on the floor.

The meet was as tightly contested as one can as for in Division III gymnastics.  After the first two rotations with the vault and bars in the books, Hamline held on to a narrow 88.075 advantage.  Hamline had a slight 0.175-point edge in the beam competition, but Gustavus capped off the night with a stellar top-to-bottom score of 45.000 on the floor, taking the event by .575.  With their score on the floor, Gustavus was able to edge Hamline by just 0.325 to win the meet.

Jamie Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) led the Black and Gold with her best meet of the year after recording three season-bests on the evening.  Ries turned in a season-high 9.325 to win the bars, then scored a 9.200 on the floor to finish second.  Combined with an 8.975 on the vault (8th) and an 8.950 on the beam (6th), the junior finished runner-up in the all-around competition with her best score of the year, a 36.450.

Taking third in the all-around behind Ries was Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.) who scored a season-high 36.100.  Zeinert’s top marks came by way of a second place finish on the bars (9.125) and third place finish on the beam (9.200).  Both scores were season-bests for the senior.

Samantha Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) rounded out Gustavus’ top performers with a victory of her own.  Opsahl took the top spot on the podium with a 9.450 routine on the beam, matching her top score of 2013 set earlier at the John Zuerlein Invitational on Jan. 25.

Hamline’s Courtney Benson scored a 36.875 to win the all-around competition.  Benson took gold on the vault (9.525) and floor (9.550) while also placing third on the bars (8.950).

“If anything, this win shows them that when they come out and compete, good things can happen,” Olson stated.  “I’m not sure if they had that before, but now it’s in the back of their minds.  This is a work in progress and tonight was a step in the right direction.  I’m proud of the girls and what they accomplished.”

The Gustavus gymnastics team will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 16 when it travels to Minneapolis to take part in the Best of Minnesota Invite set to begin at 6:00 p.m.

Complete Results

Kacy Lorber finished third on the vault with a season-best mark of 9.325.

Winona, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team turned in its best score of the season with a 174.550 on Super Bowl Sunday in a dual meet against Winona State University held in the Talbot Gymnasium.  Winona State won the meet with a score of 185.150.

Gustavus recorded individual event scores of 46.125 on the vault, 39.900 on the uneven parallel bars, 42.950 on the balance beam, and 45.575 on in the floor exercise.  The Gusties’ marks on the vault and the floor are team’s best so far this season.

Samantha Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) led Black and Gold with a pair of top five finishes.  Opsahl came in second on the vault with a score of 9.350 and fourth on the floor with a score of 9.300.  She also added Gustavus’ top finish on the beam in seventh with a 8.725.  The senior’s performances on both the vault and floor are season-bests, overtaking a previous scores of 9.200 on the vault and a 9.250 on the floor.

Kacy Lorber (Jr., Ashland, Wis.) also made the podium on the vault after taking third with a  season-best 9.325, topping her previous high score of 9.300 set at the John Zuerlein Invitational.

Paige Dieleman (Jr., Washington, Iowa) rounded out the club’s top vault performers in fourth with a 9.275, which is also a season-best for her.  Jaime Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) scored a season-high 9.250 on the floor to finish fifth behind Opsahl, and Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.) won the all-around competition with a season-best 36.025.  Zeinert’s top event was the bars where she placed fourth with a 9.100.

Winona State’s  Jade Donaldson won the vault with 9.400, Anna Gleason won the bars with a 9.575, and Stephanie Wojton won the beam with a 9.450 and the floor with a 9.575.

The Gustavus gymnastics team will be back on the mat Friday, Feb. 8 when it hosts Hamline University in a dual set for 7:00 p.m.

Meet Results