Titans Capture WIAC Championship
UW-Oshkosh's second-highest score of the season was an event winner as the Titans captured their first league title since 1996 at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Gymnastics Championship (presented by Culver's) held Saturday (March 7) in Eau Claire.
UW-Oshkosh, which compiled an 8-1 record against its seven WIAC rivals during the regular season, defeated all of its league challengers Saturday with its winning score of 189.675. The conference championship was the 15th for the Titans, who finished second at last year's league gathering with a score of 188.95.
2017 champion UW-Whitewater finished second to UW-Oshkosh with a score of 189.425 while 2018 winner UW-La Crosse placed third at 189.350 and defending champion UW-Stout fourth at 185.925.
Saturday's WIAC Championship also served 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, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse, along with several qualified gymnasts, advanced to the NCGA meet.
Rounding out the team standings at the WIAC Championship were fifth-place Hamline University (Minn.) with a score of 184.925, sixth-place Winona State University (Minn.) at 182.100, seventh-place UW-Eau Claire at 177.075 and eighth-place Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) at 175.925.
This year's WIAC Championship featured five of the top 10 teams in RoadToNational.com's national Division III Rating Index. Top-ranked UW-Whitewater led all WIAC squads with its season average score of 190.4313 while UW-La Crosse listed 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's victory on Saturday wasn't decided until the later stages of the meet. The Titans entered their fourth and final event in second place and trailing first place UW-La Crosse, 142.975-142.400. UW-Oshkosh pulled out the win by totaling 47.275 points on the uneven bars while the Eagles accumulated just 46.375 in the floor exercise. UW-Whitewater moved from third place to second with the 47.45 balance beam points it scored in addition to the 141.975 the Warhawks had entering their last event.
UW-Oshkosh, which has tallied 186-plus points during each of its last eight meets, completed its victorious team score with the counts of 47.55 on the vault, 47.60 in the floor exercise and 47.25 on the balance beam.
This year's championship featured five of the top 10 teams in RoadToNational.com's national Division III Rating Index. Top-ranked UW-Whitewater led all WIAC squads with its season average score of 190.4313 while UW-La Crosse listed 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 had one event champion as sophomore Emily Gilot recorded a winning score of 9.725 on the vault. She also finished eighth on the uneven bars with a figure of 9.475.
The Titans owned a pair of second-place results as Rahdea Jarvis and Baylee Tkaczuk earned scores of 9.675 in the floor exercise and on the uneven bars, respectively. Jarvis also placed fourth on the vault with a score of 9.60 and Tkaczuk 18th on the balance beam with a mark of 9.375.
Titans Kaira Hammond and Jessica Bernardo also performed well against its WIAC competitors. Hammond finished third on the balance beam with a score of 9.625 and eighth on the uneven bars at 9.475 while Bernardo placed eighth in the floor exercise with a score of 9.525 and 14th on the uneven bars with an evaluation of 9.35.
UW-Oshkosh had a pair of seventh-place finishes at the championship as Paige Mayhew and Trinity Sawyer achieved scores of 9.575 on the balance beam and 9.55 in the floor exercise, respectively.
The Titans also received a 12th-place score of 9.525 on the balance beam from Alyssa Nore, 14th-place scores of 9.425 on the vault from both Haley Minor and Haley Volstad, a 15th-place score of 9.45 in the floor exercise from Olivia Keller, a 16th-place score of 9.30 on the uneven bars from Sawyer, a 17th-place score of 9.375 on the vault from Bernardo,
The top six finishers in each event received All-WIAC designation.