St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus gymnastics team registered a team score of 171.950 for a third place finish on Saturday at the Hamline University Invitational. Winona State University won the meet with a score of 180.075, while Hamline placed second with a score of 175.250.
Gustavus’ top individual event performance came on the balance beam where the Gusties recorded a score of 45.050. The Gusties posted a 44.100 on the vault, 42.500 on the floor, and 40.300 on the uneven parallel bars.
Paige Dieleman (Jr., Washington, Iowa) turned in Gustavus’ top individual performance of the night, placing third on the beam after a 9.325 performance. Bailey Zeinert (Sr., Oshkosh, Wis.) placed sixth (9.100) on the beam and Samantha Opsahl (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) finished behind her in seventh (9.075).
Dieleman was the top Gustie performer on the vault, taking seventh with a 8.925. She also placed ninth on the bars with an 8.175.
On the uneven parallel bars, Jamie Ries (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) paced the Black and Gold with a score of 8.750. Ries also finished ninth on the beam after scoring an 8.900 and ninth on the beam with a score of 8.775
Amanda Christensen (Sr., Albany, Minn.) scored an 8.850 on the floor for an eighth place finish.
Courtney Benson of Hamline won the all-around competition with a score of 36.600. Ries place second (35.250), Dieleman finished third (34.375), and Zeinert rounded out the top all-arounders in fourth (33.725).
The Gustavus gymnastics team will be back on the mat Jan. 25 at the UW-Stout Triangular which is set to take place in Menomonie, Wis. at 6:00 p.m.