Titans Among The Favorites To Win WIAC Gymnastics Title
UW-Oshkosh is among four programs expected to contend for first place at Saturday's (March 7) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Gymnastics Championship (presented by Culver's) in Eau Claire.
The 47th edition of the conference gathering is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. from UW-Eau Claire's McPhee Physical Education Center.
UW-Oshkosh, which owns a league-leading 8-1 record against its seven WIAC rivals this season, is seeking to dethrone defending champion UW-Stout and outscore 2018 winner UW-La Crosse and 2017 first-place finisher UW-Whitewater for this year's conference crown.
UW-Stout won its first WIAC championship a year ago with a score of 190.225 while UW-Oshkosh finished second with 188.95, UW-Whitewater third with 187.425 and UW-La Crosse fourth with 186.55.
UW-La Crosse owns a league-high 24 conference titles, while UW-Oshkosh has 14. UW-Whitewater five and former league member University of Wisconsin two. UW-Oshkosh won its most recent WIAC title in 1996.
Rounding out the team standings at last year's championship were fifth-place Winona State University (Minn.) with a score of 185.675, sixth-place Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) with 184.725, seventh-place Hamline University (Minn.) with 184.275 and eighth-place UW-Eau Claire with 183.975.
Saturday's WIAC Championship also serves as the West Region qualifier for the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship that will be held March 28 at Ithaca College (N.Y.). The top three teams from the WIAC Championship, along with qualified gymnasts, will advance to the NCGA Championship, an event hosted by UW-Oshkosh a year ago.
UW-Oshkosh's stellar record against its WIAC opponents this season is followed by UW-Whitewater with its 8-2 league mark, UW-La Crosse at 6-2, UW-Stout at 6-3, Hamline University at 4-6, Gustavus Adolphus College and Winona State University at 3-7 and UW-Eau Claire at 0-10.
UW-Oshkosh's lone WIAC loss this season was to UW-Whitewater at the three-team Harley-Davidson Invitational held Feb. 7. The Warhawks defeated the Titans, 188.925-187.825, for first place after UW-Oshkosh ousted UW-Whitewater, 186.200-184.625, for first place during a triangular the Titans hosted on Jan. 17.
This year's WIAC Championship features five of the top 10 teams in RoadToNational.com's national Division III Rating Index. Top-ranked UW-Whitewater headlines the WIAC squads competing in Eau Claire with its season average score of 190.4313 while UW-La Crosse lists second at 189.6375, UW-Stout fourth at 188.8438, UW-Oshkosh fifth at 188.8063 and Winona State University 10th 184.6063.
UW-Oshkosh, which has surpassed a score of 186 during each of its last seven meets, returns 2017 balance beam champion Baylee Tkaczuk to this year's championship. The senior also finished fifth on the balance beam and ninth on the uneven bars with scores of 9.625 and 9.45, respectively, at last year's championship and second on the uneven bars at the 2018 meet.
UW-Oshkosh sophomore Rahdea Jarvis also returns to the championship. Last year she finished second on the uneven bars with a score of 9.55 and eighth on the vault with a grade of 9.40.
The Titans bring back a pair of top 10 finishers from last year's floor exercise competition in senior Jessica Bernardo and sophomore Olivia Keller. Bernardo placed third in the event with a score of 9.75 and Keller eighth at 9.725. Bernardo also finished fifth in last year's all-around competition with a figure of 37.30.
Concluding UW-Oshkosh's group of returning top 10 finishers from last year's championship are sophomores Kaira Hammond and Emily Gilot. Hammond placed second on the balance beam with a score of 9.75 and Gilot sixth on the vault with a count of 9.425.
This year's competition features four other gymnasts who have claimed titles at previous WIAC championships.
UW-Stout's Brooke Terry secured the all-around and balance beam titles at last year's championship while teammates Shadae Boone and Mikala Bugge claimed the vault and floor exercise crowns, respectively. Terry's score of 9.75 on the balance beam and Bugge's mark of 9.825 in the floor exercise matched championship records.
UW-La Crosse's Brooke Kachinsky was the uneven bars champion at the 2018 league meet.
The 2020 WIAC Championship features student-athletes who represent 31 different states, three from Canada and \one each from New Zealand, Sweden and Tokyo. The breakdown by states are Minnesota with 45 participants; Illinois with 18; Wisconsin with 16; Indiana with 8; Michigan with 7; Colorado with 6; Iowa, Kansas and Texas with 5; Ohio and Oklahoma with 4; North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia with 3; Florida, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota and Tennessee with 2; and Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Washington with 1.
The top six finishers in each event receive All-WIAC designation.