COMPLETE RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERY
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus gymnastics team started its 2016 season with an extremely slim loss to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday afternoon by the score of 176.975-176.250.
“For the first meet of the year it was an incredible start,” Head Coach Ayrn Bell said. “It was the highest first meet of the year score Gustavus has had in a long time. That was awesome! Overall the team did great. Vault started us off super strong. We had a few bobbles on bars, but overall that was a great meet for us.”
The Gusties had their strongest showings on the vault and in the floor exercise as they scored 45.375 and 45.225 points, respectively. Gustavus scored 42.875 points in the bars and 42.775 points on the beam.
“Bars are improving and that certainly showed today,” Bell said. “I was very impressed with them as a whole. Beam started off very strong with four hits. We had some falls but the beam line up was pretty solid. Floor was awesome as a whole. The ladies had fun out there and it showed. We certainly have room for improvement and we are ready to get to work in the gym. It is a great start to our season and we are excited to see where we go from here.”
Leading the way on the vault was Alex Kopp (Jr. Wayzata, Minn.) as she scored a meet-best 9.375 points. Lauren Kershner (Jr., Marine, Ill.) led the Gusties on the bars with a score of 8.950 and on the beam with 8.675 points. On the floor, Amanda Malo (Fy., Greenwood, Minn.) was the top performer for Gustavus with a score of 9.250 in her first collegiate meet. Malo also led the Gusties in the all-around with 35.275 points. Kopp scored an all-around total of 33.500.
“Individually, most did awesome,” Bell said. “They did what we asked of them. Our first-years maintained their composure and performed well. Amanda Malo had a great meet to start her college career with a top three finish on floor and second in all-around. Emily Anderson (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.) had a great meet! She was our leadoff on vault and bars and did what we needed her to do to start us off strong. Lauren Kershner did well as well. She was solid on all the events and lead off the line up wonderfully on beam and floor. But more than individually I am impressed with the entire team and the unit they were. It was inspiring to see them build off each other and support each other.”
Gustavus next hits the road Jan. 15 for a meet in Winona, Minn. against UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater.