St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team suffered a 179.100-177.525 loss to UW-Stout on Friday night at the Sponberg Gymnastics Studio. Despite the loss, the Gusties continued to improve with their best team score of the season – an improvement of nearly three full points from their previous season-high of 174.550 turned in against Hamline last Friday.
“Our goal this week was to score a 176.000 and we bested that more than a point,” said Head Coach Aryn Bell. “Tonight’s score was unexpected – in a good way – and I’m really proud our effort. We still have a lot of room for improvement, but tonight shows that we are moving forward and getting better each time out.”
Coach Bell attributes tonight’s season-best scores to her gymnasts slowly gaining confidence in their abilities and routines. “Because we are that much more confident, we are able to attack our routines, take less steps, and trim off tenths here and there. The bars were an example of that. The girls swung hard and as a result saw much higher scores.”
With a 45.725 on the vault, 42.375 on the uneven parallel bars, 43.800 on the balance beam, and 45.625 on the floor, Gustavus posted season-high scores in all four individual events. UW-Stout scored a 46.150 on the vault, 43.900 on the bars, 44.500 on the beam, and a 44.550 on the floor.
Individual standouts for the Gusties included Rachel Thiner (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Lauren Kershner (So., Marine, Ill.). Thiner earned the top spot on podium with a season-best 9.325 on the floor, while Kershner took the all-around title with a season-best 36.475.
“Lauren had her best meet of the season and did everything we asked of her. The beam gave her issues the first two meets, but tonight she was able to relax and compete at the level we know she’s capable of,” Bell said about Kershner’s performance. “It was also great to see Rachel earn a win on the floor. That was the best routine I’ve ever seen her do and it’s great to see it come together in a competition setting.”
Kershner’s all-around finish was a product of a second place finish on the bars (8.900), a third on the beam (9.175), and fourth place efforts on both the vault (9.225) and floor (9.175). Her scores on the vault, bars, and beam were season-highs.
Alexandra Kopp (So., Wayzata, Minn.) rounded out Gustavus’s top performers with a pair of second place finishes on the vault with a 9.450 and floor with a 9.300, and a third place showing on the bars with an 8.850. Kopp’s marks on the vault and bars were season-bests.
UW-Stout’s Kaylee Jondahl won the vault with a 9.525, Kelly Huseman took the bars with a 9.225, and Randi Schorzman captured the beam title with a 9.625.
“As we move forward it is clear that the floor is our strongest event. We want to continue to build on that because it is traditionally where Gustavus is the strongest,” Bell said about her team’s strengths after three meets. “Another bright spot are the girls themselves. They are having fun, are more confident in themselves and each other, support each other, and are willing to sacrifice for the good of the team. Individual success takes a back seat to the good of the team.”
The Gustavus gymnastics team will look to continue its improvement next weekend when it heads on the road for the Gershon/Mclellan Invitational being held on the campus of UW-La Crosse at 6:30 p.m.