MENOMONIE, Wis. – In a sport that involves so much scoring, its hard to imagine losing by five one-hundredths of point, but the Gustavus gymnastics team came out on the short end of a 179.675-179.625 decision Friday evening against the University of Wisconsin-Stout, moving to 1-2 in WIAC dual meets this season.
The Gusties posted scores of 45.925 on vault, 44.825 on floor, 44.525 on beam, and 44.350 on bars. Although the bars score was the lowest of the events, it was the most improved and highest bars score for the Gusties all season, including a victory by Sam Ardy (Fy., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) with a score of 9.250. Lauren Kershner (Jr., Marine, Ill.) also posted a score over 9.0 with a season-high 9.025 for fourth place.
“Overall the team did great tonight,” Head Coach Aryn Bell said. “Bars continue to shine for us. Everyone had a great performance and first-year Sam Ardy took home her first career victory.”
Alex Kopp (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) took first place on the vault with a score of 9.475.
“Vault was solid all around,” Bell said. “They are consistent on that event and that’s what we need from them.”
Kopp also tallied the highest score for the Gusties on the floor exercise with a career-high score of 9.600 for second place.
“Floor was a little rough all together and there is defiantly lots of room to improve, but as a whole, I’m happy with their performance,” Bell said. “Alex got a career-high, which was a great moment.”
On the beam, Kopp took second with a total of 9.200, while Jessica Niedermayer (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) and Amanda Malo (Fy., Greenwood, Minn.) tied for fourth with identical scores of 9.100.
“Beam is a slow improvement each week,” Bell said. “The connections are coming together and difficultly is being added. We took risks with some upgrades and were prepared for any outcome. As they continue to get comfortable with the increased difficulty we will continue to see the scores improve. They did exactly what was asked of them tonight. We may not have come away with the victory, but the team gave UW-Stout a run for their money and we are building success each week.”
In the all-around, Kopp took first place for the third consecutive meet with a score of 37.075. Malo took third with a score of 36.075.
Gustavus returns to the gym next Friday, Feb. 6 at UW-Whitewater.