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Women's Gymnastics

Titans Among Teams In Hunt For National Gymnastics Title

Titans Among Teams In Hunt For National Gymnastics Title

Recap Results

Two-time champion UW-Oshkosh joins five other women's gymnastics programs in the quest for the team title at Saturday's (March 26) National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship in Ithaca, N.Y.

Competition for the team and five individual (all-around, balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault) national titles begins at 1 p.m. (CDT) from Ithaca College's Ben Light Gymnasium.

UW-Oshkosh, which captured NCGA titles in 1989 and 2007, joins Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference colleagues UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater as West Region representatives at this year's championship.

Programs that qualified for the 37th edition of the NCGA Championship from the East Region were Ithaca College, Springfield College (Mass.) and State University of New York at Brockport.

This year's NCGA Championship features six of the top nine teams in the Division III Rating Index compiled by RoadToNationals.com. Top-ranked State University of New York at Brockport leads all NCGA programs with its season average score of 191.017 while UW-Whitewater lists second at 189.956, UW-Oshkosh third at 189.953, UW-La Crosse fourth at 189.116, Ithaca College fifth at 187.378 and Springfield College ninth at 184.953.

Wisconsin programs have combined to win 24 NCGA titles, including 17 by UW-La Crosse. Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) follows the Eagles with eight championships, UW-Whitewater with five, State University of New York at Brockport and UW-Oshkosh with two apiece, and Hamline University (Minn.), Ithaca College and Springfield College with one each. State University of New York at Brockport and UW-Whitewater shared the 2012 crown.

State University of New York at Brockport is the defending NCGA champion after the 2020 and 2021 championships were canceled due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The Golden Eagles captured the 2019 crown with a score of 191.050.

Completing the team listings at the 2019 NCGA Championship, which was hosted by UW-Oshkosh, were second-place UW-Stout with 190.275 points, third-place UW-Whitewater with 190.150, fourth-place UW-Oshkosh with 189.400, fifth-place Ithaca College with 187.975 and sixth-place State University of New York at Cortland with 185.500.

UW-Oshkosh is appearing at the NCGA Championship for the 17th time in program history. In addition to its two first-place listings at the championship, the Titans also finished second at the meet in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 2001 and third in 1992 and 2006.

UW-Oshkosh previously won women's gymnastics titles at the 1980 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Division III and the 1986 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championships.

UW-Oshkosh secured this weekend's trip to New York by winning the WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional held March 5 in Whitewater. The Titans edged second-place UW-Whitewater, 192.300-191.875, for their second straight team title. UW-La Crosse finished third to the Titans in the eight-team meet with a score of 191.200 and UW-Stout fourth at 189.625.

In addition to the six teams that earned a berth to this year's championship, seven other programs will be represented with individual qualifiers. UW-Stout and Winona State University both had four gymnasts earning at-large bids to the meet while Rhode Island College and State University of New York at Cortland had three each.

Gymnasts expected to compete for UW-Oshkosh on the uneven bars Saturday are sophomore Kaylie Berens, sophomore Emily Buffington, senior Emily Gilot, senior Rahdea Jarvis, junior Trinity Sawyer and freshman Samantha Zeilinger.

Titans scheduled to perform on the balance beam are Berens, freshman Delaney Cienkus, senior Kaira Hammond, senior Olivia Keller, freshman Liz Romano and sophomore Anna Zoromski.

Slated to represent UW-Oshkosh in the floor exercise are Buffington, Jarvis, Keller, Sawyer, senior Alyssa Nore and junior Kennedy Springer.

Titans likely to participate on the vault are Buffington, Gilot, Jarvis, Sawyer, freshman Mia Lucero and senior Haley Minor. Gilot and Jarvis both finished eighth on the vault at the 2019 NCGA Championship.

Buffington, who claimed titles on both the uneven bars and vault at the 2022 WIAC Championship/NCGA West Regional, was named the 2022 WIAC Gymnast of the Year earlier this month.

The top three teams at Saturday's championship receive a trophy while individuals finishing first through sixth (and ties) in the balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault collect All-America medals. The top eight finishers in the all-around competition also earn an All-America decoration.

Individually, UW-Oshkosh boasts 17 former national champions (12 gymnasts). In addition, UW-Oshkosh student-athletes have combined to earn 102 All-America awards throughout the history of the NCGA Championship.

UW-Oshkosh Practice Session Video • Friday, March 25 (10 a.m. - 1 p.m./CDT)