St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus gymnastics team’s steady improvement was on display Sunday afternoon in the Lund Center Forum, as the Gusties recorded a season-best team score of 174.550 at the Gustavus Quadrangular. Gustavus finished fourth out the four competing WIAC schools, as UW-La Crosse ran away with gold after turning in a score of 183.050. Winona State University placed second with a 179.550 and UW-Eau Claire rounded out the meet in third at 177.050.
Fresh off being named WIAC Specialist-of-the-Week for her performance at the Best of Minnesota Invite last Saturday, sophomore Jamie Ries (Monticello, Minn.) made her mark in her first meet taking part in the all-around competition. Ries finished second in the all-around with a score of 36.025. The Monticello native placed sixth on the uneven parallel bars (8.800), 10th on the vault (9.250), 10th on the floor exercise (9.225), and 13th on the balance beam (8.750).
Earning first place honors in the all-around was UW-La Crosse’s Morgan Shene who compiled a score of 36.875. Shene’s top marks came in her first place finish on the bars (9.325) and second place finish on the floor (9.475).
The Gusties tallied individual event scores of 46.175 on the vault, 40.300 on the bars, 43.325 on the beam, and 44.750 on the floor. Gustavus’ team scores on the vault and bars are both season-highs.
Other top Gustavus performers included sophomore Kacy Lorber (Ashland, Wis.), junior Bailey Zeinert (Oshkosh, Wis.), and junior Sam Opsahl (Forest Lake, Minn.). Lorber recorded her second-best score of the season on the vault to take sixth place with a 9.350. Zeinert’s top mark of the afternoon came by way of a seventh place finish on the bars with a score of 8.650. Zeinert also competed in the all-around, finishing fourth with a season-best 35.275. Opsahl rounded out the group with a seventh place finish on the beam after performing a 9.100.
First place gymnasts at the meet included Jenna Swails of UW-La Crosse on the vault (9.625) and floor (9.626), Morgan Shene of UW-La Crosse on the bars, and Brooke Baures of Winona State on the beam (9.525).
As is tradition at Gustavus, the final home meet of the regular season is designated as Senior Day and a special tribute is made to those individuals who have dedicated themselves to the Gustavus gymnastics program over the last four years. Today on Gus Young Court, head coach Kris Glidden honored seniors Maren Lodge (Coon Rapids, Minn.), Alina Stevenson (North Bend, Ore.), and Amanda Woodhul (Minnetonka, Minn.). The Gustavus Athletics Department would like to send a sincere thank you to those three individuals for their hard work and commitment to Gustavus gymnastics.
The Gustavus gymnastics team will close out the regular season with a dual match against UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2:00 p.m. in Whitewater, Wis.