Two Gustavus gymnasts sophomore Dani Thibodeau and first year Jamie Ries will take part in the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Championships this weekend in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Thibodeau qualified individually on the balance beam and floor exercise, while Ries qualified on the uneven bars. The championships, which are being hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire begin on Friday, March 25 with the team championship and conclude with the individual event finals on Saturday, March 26.
Danielle Thibodeau
Thibodeau is coming off a very strong performance at the WIAC Championships where she finished 10th in the all-around with a career best score of 36.675, while also finishing 11th on the beam with a career best score of 9.350 and 12th on the floor exercise with a career best total of 9.575. This will be Thibodeau’s second performance at the national meet after competing in the vault and floor exercise last year in Springfield, Massachusetts. She enters the national meet ranked 58th nationally in the floor exercise with a season average of 8.897 and a regional qualifying score of 9.060. On the beam, she ranks 59th nationally with an average of 8.672 and a regional qualifying score of 8.735.
Ries also enters the national meet on a roll as she turned in the finest performance of her young career at the WIAC Championships with a career best all-around score of 35.400 (14th overall) including season and career best individual event scores in the vault (9.375), uneven bars (9.325), and floor exercise (9.250). She enters the national meet ranked 57th nationally on the bars with a season average of 8.413 and a regional qualifying score of 8.50.
The NCGA Championships begin on Friday, March 25 with Team and All-Round competition starting at 4:30 pm. Then on Saturday, March 26, Individual Event finals will begin at 3:30 pm.
Championships host UW-Eau Claire is providing live video of the meet with cameras on each of the four individual events. You can access the video at this link.
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