MENOMONIE, Wis. – The Gustavus gymnastics team Friday took third of three at the John Zuerlein Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stout, tallying a score of 181.925. Winona State won the triad with a score of 187.650, while UW-Stout took second at 185.700.
The Gusties posted solid team scores of 46.900 on vault, 45.450 on bars, and a season-high 46.825 on floor, but were tripped up on beam with a 42.750.
“We had three almost perfect events,” Head Coach Aryn DeGrood said. “They’ve been showing the consistency in practice and they were able to show it off tonight as well. It’s clear though that we have to put in some more work on beam. Beam this year seems to be our weakest event and will be a huge focus during practice moving forward. However, even with our poor showing, the team was able to pull together for their last two events and rocked the house. It’s not easy to leave a beam performance like that behind, but they did it exceptionally well.”
Lauren Kershner (Sr., Marine, Ill.) led the Gusties with a third place finish in the all around, totaling a career-high 37.150. Kershner posted a 9.475 on vault, 9.175 on bars, 9.250 on beam, and 9.250 on floor. In her first all around performance of the season, Emily Anderson (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) took fifth with a career-high score of 36.300. Amanda Malo (So., Greenwood, Minn.) took sixth at 36.100 and Alex Kopp (Sr., Wayzata, Minn.) took seventh at 35.700. Kopp suffered a fall on beam, which dropped her all around score in an otherwise impressive performance. Her score of 9.525 on vault placed fifth.
Gustavus next hosts Hamline on Feb. 10 for a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference dual meet. First rotation begins at 7 p.m.