Kylie Bridenhagen
Winonan
The 2013 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championships concluded Saturday, March 23, 2013 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Williams Center in Whitewater, Wis.
Winona State University did not qualify as a team, but sent nine individual qualifiers to the national championship meet.
This meet took place over a two-day period, starting on the evening of Friday, March 22, and ending late in the afternoon the following day.
Friday’s portion of the meet was mostly team competition, but also the all around competition, as well as qualifying to the event finals. This was the time for the nine Warrior gymnasts to shine—to show off all they could do, in order qualify to the event finals the next day.
The Warrior gymnastics team fell short at the regional qualifying meet—ending their season with a fourth place finish, as only the top three teams moved on the NCGA meet.
The top six teams, Brokport State, Cortland State, Ursinus College, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, and host school, UW-Whitewater from the East and West regional meets continued on their quest to become Division III national gymnastics team champions.
Of the nine WSU gymnasts that qualified into the NCGA meet, seven of the Warriors advanced on to the individual event finals after competing on Friday night and placing in the top 14.
The competition for the event finals ran a bit differently than how normal duel meets did. There was a four-judge panel that scored each routine. From there, the highest and lowest score would be dropped; with the final two scores being averaged for the final score for each gymnast.
The three vault qualifiers were Jena Jondahl, Cassandra Mello, and Jade Donaldson, but only Jondahl moved on to the second day.
Jondahl qualified in second place with a 9.700 for her front handspring front vault. The next day during event finals, she competed her same vault again, with only a small step forward, earning a 9.550.
She was runner-up, once again becoming an All-American on this apparatus, after placing second during her freshman season in 2011.
Mello scored a 9.550 for her layout yurchenko in prelims, and tied for 21st overall. Donaldson also performed the same vault, and scored a 9.525, which tied her for 29th overall.
On the uneven bars, Anna Gleason, Olivia Catellino, and Melanee Pfautz all qualified in the top 14 to move on the event finals.
Gleason was tied for first place after night one, receiving a 9.600 for her routine, and ended her meet with a 9.350, and tied for ninth overall.
Catellino was ninth after the first night with a 9.475. Her second routine averaged out to a 9.500, and she finished seventh overall. Lastly, Pfautz qualified in 11th with a 9.350, and on day two, she was also 11th with a 9.275. All of these girls still earned All-American honors.
Brooke Baures and Stephanie Wojton both qualified on the balance beam. In prelims, Baures tied for fifth place with a 9.550. Unfortunately, a fall on one of her aerials during her final routine put her in eighth place with a 9.125.
Wojton qualified in a tie for ninth place with a 9.525, and on day two, she had a fall and a few other mistakes. She received an 8.675 for her routine, which put her in 13th overall on beam.
Seniors Wojton and Gleason, as well as freshman Brooke Hiestand, qualified in the floor exercise. Gleason tied for 21st during prelims with a 9.500, and was unable to move on to the second day event finals.
Wojton earned a 9.650 for her first routine and qualified in a tie for fourth place. The following day she earned just a bit lower than her first routine. She received a 9.625 and was forth overall. Hiestand was tied for 14th after the first day with a 9.575, and ended her NCGA meet in 15th place with a 9.250.
Five Warrior gymnasts, Laura Fabian, Kimberly Miske, Samantha Smith, Gleason, and Wojton received All-American honors in academics.
Contact Kylie at [email protected].
