Titans Aim For WIAC/NCGA West Regional Gymnastics Crown
UW-Oshkosh will be among the favorites to win the program's first league title in more than 20 years when the Titans compete at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Gymnastics Championship/National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) West Regional on Saturday (March 9) in Menomonie.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked third in the NCAA Division III by the NCGA, is seeking to dethrone defending WIAC Championship/West Regional champion UW-La Crosse and secure a spot in the NCGA Championship that will be hosted by the Titans on March 23 in Kolf Sports Center.
The WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional (presented by Culver's) serves as the qualifier for the NCGA Championship. The top three teams from Saturday's event, along with qualified gymnasts, will advance to the NCGA meet.
Competition at the 46th conference championship begins at 2:20 p.m. Saturday in UW-Stout's Johnson Fieldhouse.
This year's WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional features five of the top nine teams in the national rankings. Third-ranked UW-Oshkosh headlines the squads competing in Menomonie on Saturday while conference rival UW-Stout is ranked fifth, UW-Whitewater is sixth, UW-La Crosse is seventh and Hamline University (Minn.) is ninth.
UW-La Crosse captured its conference-leading 24th league crown last season with a score of 191.875. Following the Eagles in the standings were UW-Whitewater in second with a score of 191.725, Hamline University in third with 189.700, UW-Eau Claire in fourth with 187.775, Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) in fifth with 185.725, Winona State University (Minn.) in sixth with 184.900, UW-Oshkosh in seventh with 184.700 and UW-Stout in eighth with 183.825.
UW-Oshkosh, the 2007 NCGA champion, won the last of its 14 conference titles in 1996.
UW-Oshkosh heads into the WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional on the heels of a program record-setting performance during a 191.850-190.675 win at UW-Whitewater in the regular season finale last Saturday (March 2). The Titans' team score surpassed the previous school record of 191.250 set in 20117.
The Titans have produced several of the top individual apparatus scores in the conference this season as freshman Emily Gilot had the second-best vault in the league with a score of 9.675 and freshman Kaira Hammond ranks third with a score of 9.700 on the uneven bars.
UW-Oshkosh has the WIAC's top three scores on the balance beam this season. Hammond is the conference leader with a score of 9.825 while freshman Olivia Keller and junior Baylee Tkaczuk are tied for second with scores of 9.775. Titan junior Jessica Bernardo ranked second in the WIAC in the all-around this year with her top score of 37.925. Bernardo finished second in the all-around competition at the 2017 NCGA Championship.
Tkaczuk, the two-time defending national champion on the uneven bars, won the 2017 WIAC Championship title on the balance beam.
Other Titans among the WIAC top-10 performers in an event this season are freshman Rahdea Jarvis on both the uneven bars and vault, senior Bailey Finin on floor exercise and Gilot in the all-around. Jarvis ranks sixth on the vault and ninth on the uneven bars with scores of 9.625 in both events, Finin is seventh on floor exercise with a score of 9.675 and Gilot is eighth in the all-around with a score of 37.175.
This year's conference meet features three gymnasts who have claimed titles at previous WIAC Championships. Joining Tkaczuk on the list of previous winners are UW-La Crosse's Brooke Kachinsky, the defending champion on the uneven bars, and UW-Whitewater's Frankee Hutton-Lau, the reigning balance beam champion.
The top scores in the conference this season include UW-Whitewater's Lauren Marshall with a 9.700 in the vault, UW-Stout's Sierra Beaver with a 9.725 on the uneven bars, Hamline University's Meghan Webb with a 9.775 on floor exercise and UW-Stout's Mikala Bugge with a 38.100 in the all-around.
This year's conference championship competitors hail from 34 different states, two are from Canada and one each come from New Zealand, Sweden and Japan. Following is the breakdown by state: Minnesota (46); Wisconsin (18); Illinois (15); Michigan (8); Colorado (6); Texas (5); Iowa (4); Ohio (4); California (3); Kansas (3); North Dakota (3); Oklahoma (3); Oregon (3); Virginia (3); Washington (3); Indiana (2); Montana (2); North Carolina (2); Tennessee (2); Alabama (1); Arizona (1); Florida (1); Georgia (1); Hawaii (1); Idaho (1); Kentucky (1); Maine (1); Mississippi (1); Missouri (1); Nebraska (1); New Mexico (1); New York (1); and South Dakota (1).
The top six finishers in each event receive All-WIAC designation.