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Women's Gymnastics

Karnitz Selected As WIAC Coach Of The Year

Karnitz Selected As WIAC Coach Of The Year

The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named UW-Oshkosh's Lauren Karnitz as its 2020 Women's Gymnastics Coach of the Year.

Karnitz received the award for the second time (2014 was the other) after guiding the Titans to a first-place finish at the WIAC Championship held March 7 in Eau Claire. The league title was the 15th for the Titans and first since 1996.

UW-Oshkosh, which compiled an 8-1 record against its seven WIAC rivals during the regular season, defeated all of its challengers at the league championship with its winning score of 189.675. The Titans accumulated their second-highest score of the season by earning counts of 47.55 on the vault, 47.60 in the floor exercise, 47.275 on the vault and 47.25 on the balance beam.

UW-Oshkosh had one event champion at the WIAC Championship as Emily Gilot achieved a winning score of 9.725 on the vault. Gilot became the Titans' first league champion on the apparatus since 2003.

UW-Oshkosh tallied 186-plus points during its last eight meets of the season, including a high of 190.025 at a quadrangular hosted by Texas Woman's University on Jan. 26.

The Titans qualified for the National Collegiate Gymnastics Championship on March 27 in Ithaca. N.Y., but that meet has since been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Karnitz, who just concluded her 13th season as UW-Oshkosh's head coach, was named the 2019 NCGA Coach of the Year after leading the Titans to finishes of second at the WIAC and fourth at the NCGA championships.

Karnitz took over the leadership of the UW-Oshkosh program following the 2007 season. In 2014, she led the Titans to a third-place finish at the WIAC Championship and a fifth-place listing at the NCGA Championship.

The Crystal Lake, Ill., native has coached 11 Titans to 25 NCGA All-America citations, including Baylee Tkaczuk who won consecutive national uneven bars titles in 2017 and 2018.

Karnitz competed for the Titans from 2003-06. She earned All-WIAC honors in the floor exercise in 2004 and qualified for the final in the floor exercise at the 2006 NCGA Championship.