Karnitz Repeats As National Coach Of The Year

The National Collegiate Gymnastics Association selected UW-Oshkosh head coach Lauren Karnitz as its 2020 Women's Gymnastics Coach of the Year.

Karnitz, who just completed her 13th season coaching the Titans, earned the national tribute for the second consecutive season. Previous NCGA Coach of the Year award winners from UW-Oshkosh were Paul Scardina in 1995 and Nadalie Walsh in 2006.

UW-Oshkosh compiled an 8-1 record against its seven WIAC rivals during the regular season and posted a winning score of 189.675 to defeat all of its challengers at the league championship held March 7 in Eau Claire. The conference title was the 15th for the Titans and first since 1996.

UW-Oshkosh accumulated its second-highest score of the season at the WIAC Championship 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. The Titans had one event champion as Emily Gilot achieved a winning score of 9.725 on the vault. Gilot became UW-Oshkosh's first conference 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 six-team NCGA Championship on March 27 in Ithaca. N.Y., but that meet has been canceled due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.

UW-Oshkosh finished the season ranked fourth in RoadToNational.com's Division III Rating Index. UW-Whitewater led all 14 programs with its season average score of 190.7938 while UW-La Crosse listed second at 190.0188, The College at Brockport (N.Y.) third at 189.5625 and UW-Oshkosh fourth at 189.2688.

Karnitz, the 2020 WIAC Coach of the Year, 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 and a fifth-place listing at the NCGA championships.

Karnitz was named the 2019 NCGA Coach of the Year after leading the Titans to a fourth-place finish at the NCGA Championship.

The Crystal Lake, Ill., native has coached 12 Titans to 28 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 received All-WIAC honors in the floor exercise in 2004 and qualified for the event's final at the 2006 NCGA Championship.

Karnitz earned her bachelor's (2006) and master's (2012) degrees from UW-Oshkosh.