Gustavus Adolphus junior Kelly Mathewson and first year gymnast Danielle Thibodeau have qualified and are set to compete at the 2010 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships hosted by Springfield College in Springfield, Mass. on March 26-27.
Kelly Mathewson, a native of Maple Grove, Minn., will compete on the uneven parallel bars after scoring a season-best 9.100 and finishing in seventh place at the WIAC Championships on March 7th. Mathewson’s career-best score on the bars came at last season’s WIAC Championships when she scored a 9.175. She has totalled four top three finishes in the event this season and enters the 2010 NCGA Championships ranked 41st in the nation.
In her first season wearing the three crowns, Danielle Thibodeau of Rochester, Minn. will compete on the vault and floor exercise at the 2010 NCGA Championships. Thibodeau tied for 17th on the vault with a score of 9.250 and tied for 13th on the floor with a mark of 9.450 at the WIAC Championships on March 7. Her season-best score on the vault came in the Jan. 16 dual against UW-Oshkosh when she scored a 9.475, and her best mark on the floor came on Feb. 6 at the Best of Minnesota Invite when she scored a 9.500 to take sixth. Thibodeau has tallied four top three finishes in each event, and ranks 33rd on the floor and 42nd on the vault entering the 2010 NCGA Championships.
Brockport State enters the competetion ranked #1 in the team rankings with a team regional qualifying average score of 187.290. Cortland State ranks second (184.010), as WIAC schools UW-Whitewater (183.460) and UW-La Crosse (182.895) rank third and fourth, respectively.
The schedule of events will begin on Friday, March 26 with Team and All-Round competition starting at 4:30 pm. Then on Saturday, March 27, Individual Event finals will begin at 2:30 pm.