The Gustavus gymnastics team will travel to Menomonie, Wis. for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, March 12. The University of Wisconsin at Stout will serve as the host for the eight team championship, which is set to start at 4 pm in the Johnson Fieldhouse. The meet also serves as the West Region Qualifier for the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association National Championships with the top three teams automatically qualifying for the national meet.
Gustavus will be looking to improve on its seventh place finish from a year ago when the meet was hosted by the Gusties. Coach Kris Glidden’s has compiled a season average score of 171.431 including season averages of 44.725 on the vault, 40.488 on the uneven bars, 42.394 on the balance beam, and 43.825 on the floor exercise. The Gusties posted a season best score of 178.075 at the Gershon Invitational hosted by UW-La Crosse on February 4.
Individually, Gustavus will be led by sophomore Dani Thibodeau who has compiled a season average of 35.131 in the all-around including the team best average of 9.169 on the vault. Her season best on the vault is 9.325. First year Jamie Ries has been a big contributor as well posting a season average of 34.321 in the all-around including a team best average of 8.413 on the uneven parallel bars. Ries’s season best score on the bars is 8.750. Sophomore Sam Opsahl has led the way on the balance beam with a season average of 8.841 and the floor exercise with an average of 8.981. Opsahl has posted season best scores of 9.275 on the vault, 9.350 on the beam, and 9.30 on the floor exercise.
You can watch the meet live through the UW-Stout web site beginning at 3:45 pm on Saturday.