Titans To Perform Routines At WIAC Championship
Sophomore Baylee Tkaczuk leads UW-Oshkosh into the 2018 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Gymnastics Championship (presented by Culver's) that will be held Sunday (March 4) in St. Peter, Minn.
Competition at the 44th version of the league championship begins at 2 p.m. from Gustavus Adolphus College's Lund Center.
Last year Tkaczuk captured first place on the balance beam as UW-Oshkosh ranked sixth in the team standings with 185.90 points. UW-Oshkosh junior Dana LoCascio finished fourth on both the balance beam and vault at the WIAC Championship a year ago.
UW-Whitewater scored 191.85 points a year ago to win its fifth WIAC title in program history. UW-La Crosse finished second in last year's eight-team meet with 189.70 points while UW-Stout placed third with 188.75, Winona State University (Minn.) fourth with 186.75, UW-Eau Claire fifth with 186.525, UW-Oshkosh, Gustavus Adolphus College seventh with 185.625 and Hamline University (Minn.) eighth with 183.775.
The WIAC Championship also serves as the West Region qualifier for the National Collegiate Gymnastics (NCGA) Championship that will be held March 23-24 in Springfield, Mass. The top three teams from the WIAC Championship, along with qualified gymnasts in the five event categories, will advance to the national meet that is being hosted by Springfield College.
This year's WIAC Championship includes five teams that rank among the top 10 nationally. UW-La Crosse is ranked second in the NCGA Season Average Score listings while UW-Whitewater ranks fourth, UW-Oshkosh eighth, UW-Stout ninth and Winona State University 10th.
In addition to Tkaczuk, Sunday's meet features five other gymnasts who have claimed titles at previous WIAC championships.
UW-Whitewater's Lisa O'Donnell is the defending champion in the all-around competition and vault while Warhawk teammate Kate Mierow was victorious on the balance beam at the 2015 championship.
In 2016, UW-La Crosse claimed four individual conference titles as Samantha Wiekamp won the all-around competition and vault, Amy Enright the uneven bars and Leah Spankowski the balance beam. Enright also claimed the uneven bars crown in 2015.
Tkaczuk enters Sunday's championship ranked fourth in the NCGA with a season average score of 9.618 on the uneven bars. She is also averaging 9.483 on balance beam this season and 9.154 on vault.
Titan senior Amanda McBrayer ranks ninth in the all-around competition with a value of 37.156, averaging 9.331 on vault, 9.272 on balance beam, 9.131 on floor exercise and 9.044 on uneven bars.
UW-Oshkosh junior Bailey Finin is averaging a team-leading 9.400 on floor exercise this season after placing 15th in the event at last year's WIAC Championship.
Titan freshman Amira Ali and Paige Mayhew, and senior Kasandra Stamopoulos are also averaging better than 9.000 on at least two apparatus.
Ali is averaging 9.369 on vault, 9.111 on floor exercise and 9.100 on balance beam. Mayhew averages 9.254 on vault, 9.229 on floor exercise and 9.113 on balance beam. Stamopoulos is averaging 9.300 on balance beam and 9.175 on uneven bars.
This year's WIAC Championship features student-athletes that represent 28 different states and one each from Canada and Sweden. The state of Minnesota leads the list with 38 competitors from its cities while Illinois follows with 17, Wisconsin 14, Michigan 9, Colorado with 6, Iowa with 5 and North Dakota with 4.
The top six finishers in each event receive all-conference designation.
Trailing UW-La Crosse's 23 WIAC team titles are UW-Oshkosh with 14 and UW-Whitewater with five. Each of the remaining current league members are searching for their first league championships.
UW-Oshkosh claimed WIAC titles in 1979-87, 1989, 1991-93 and 1996.