Kylie Bridenhagen/Winonan

The Winona State University Gymnastics team finished their competitive team season this past weekend at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and West Regional National Collegiate Gymnastics Association qualifying meet at University of Oshkosh’s Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Eight teams, all of whom Winona State has competed against at least once already this year, competed for the chance to become conference and regional champions, giving the gymnasts a chance to qualify to the NCGA national meet.

With only the top three teams advancing on to the National Championship meet, Winona State fell short, taking fourth place as a team with a 185.250. This score still managed to be their third highest score of the season.

The Warriors started out their day on one of their stronger events, the vault, where all competitors scored a 9.250 or higher.

Jade Donaldson has earned multiple top three finishes on the vault this season and continued this tradition by tying for third with a 9.475.

Jena Jondahl was tied for sixth overall with a 9.450. Both Donaldson and Jondahl earned All-Conference honors for placing in the top six on the event. Cassandra Mello scored a 9.375 for her vault and tied for 11th place.

Stephanie Wojton was tied for 15th with a 9.325. Brooke Hiestand chipped in with her 9.250 and tied for 22nd place finish.

The team scored 46.875 on vault for the day.

The uneven bars of rotation two were a bit problematic, where they only scored 44.875 as a team. Anna Gleason earned All-Conference honors by placing fourth with 9.450.

Melanee Pfautz tied for eighth with a 9.175 for her performance. Jondahl was next in the lineup with an 8.875 and placing 18th overall. Olivia Catellino tied for 22nd with an 8.750. Brooke Baures was the fifth counting score of an 8.625, in 27th place.

Winona State’s third event was balance beam. Baures lead the team with her 9.475 routine and tied for 11th overall.

Kimberly Miske scored a 9.225, which was tied for 21st. Wojton was 24th with her 9.150.

The next two counting scores were lower than normal, which impacted their overall team score. Mello had an 8.975 in 34th place. Sabrina Hoover tied for 41st place with her 8.750. The overall apparatus score for beam was 45.575.

WSU rallied back from their two previous challenging rotations to finish the day on floor, with a team score of 47.925, the highest event score of the season, and eighth best score in program history. All five of the counting scores from the Warriors were a 9.500 or higher. Hiestand and Gleason tied for 19th overall, both achieving season high scores of 9.625. Wojton tied for 23rd with her 9.600. Mello tied for 30th with a 9.575. Samantha Smith rounded out the floor lineup with a 9.500, which tied for 33rd overall.

Christa Booman of UW-La Crosse won the all around with a 38.000. The Warriors had no all around competitors at this meet.

Senior Warrior, Anna Gleason, also earned a spot on the All-Sportsmanship Team. One gymnast from each of the eight participating schools received these honors for “displaying exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season.”

The next and final meet of the Division III gymnastics season will take place on March 22nd and 23rd in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where the Warhawks will host the NCGA National Championships. Team competition will take place on Friday the 22nd and the individual event finals will follow on Saturday, where nine gymnasts representing Winona State will contend for a spot atop the podium.

Freshman Mello and Donaldson will be competing at Nationals for the first time on the vault, along with junior Jondahl, who will be making her third straight appearance.

Three gymnasts will be competing on the uneven bars. Freshman Cattelino and sophomore Pfautz both will be competing for the first time. Senior Gleason qualified for a fourth year in a row, making this her final trip on bars.

Sophomore Baures and senior Wojton will both be performing on the balance beam for a second straight year.

Finally, on the floor exercise, Gleason and Wojton, along with freshman Hiestand will all be competing for the first time in their careers.

Contact Kylie at [email protected]