April 4th e-Newsletter
Greetings to everyone...
Another outstanding season came to a close with the NCGA National Championships
on March 28th and 29th. UW-Eau Claire hosted and ran a wonderful
championship, and in the closest finish since 1995, UW-LaCrosse came back
from more than 2 points down in the final rotation to overtake SUNY-Cortland
by .175 - 183.95 to 183.775. The Eagles successfully achieved the
'three-peat' and have cemented themselves as the strongest team in the NCGA over
the last 10 years. In that time, La Crosse has won 6 championships, only
surpassed by Gustavus Adolphus College, who won 7 championships in the first 10
years of the NCGA history (including an outstanding 5 in a row from 1990-1994).
La Crosse has also tied Gustavus for the most championships with a total of
eight. The Midwest region has dominated the NCGA, as only two schools
outside the region have won in the last 20 years - Springfield College in 1996
and Ithaca College in 1998.
Team Results
UW-La Crosse 183.950
SUNY-Cortland 183.775
Urisnus College 181.325
Gustavus Adolphus 180.900
UW-Eau Claire 180.500
UW-Oshkosh
178.175
Ithaca College
177.975
SUNY-Brockport 177.675
The all-around title was won by a first-year student for the third year in a
row. Lindsey Marranca of Cortland edged out sophomore Kristen
Grimmel from Ursinus 37.025 to 37.00 to take home the gold. Last year
it was frosh Amanda Paker from Gustavus, and the year before that it was frosh
Melissa Stanton from Hamline. It is all a clear indication that stronger
gymnasts are joining the NCGA ranks and the level keeps getting higher and
higher.
All-Around All-Americans
Lindsey Marranca - Cortland
Kristen Grimmel - Ursinus
Alison Eagels - Eau Claire
Megan Hollern - Ursinus
Danin Squires - Cortland
Amanda Parker - Gustavus
Brianna Lentz - Oshkosh
Tiffany Reber - Stout
Jordan Christiano - Brockport
Kristina Reitzel - Eau Claire
The host school of UW-Eau Claire had a Cinderella type of season and a
very fitting outcome at Nationals. Along the way, they broke their school
record several times and established new individual records with strong
performances. At these championships, they finished fifth. Alison
Eagles finished third in the all-around and on vault to become a two-time
all-american. Lynn Morris tied for first on balance beam and
finished fourth on bars for her two all-american honors. Kristina
Reitzel also garnered all-american honors by finishing 10th in the
all-around competition.
Vault was won by Cortland as a team, but it was Golden Gustie Alyssa
Cox who took home the individual title. Luisa Gutierrez from
Cortland finished second, and a tie for third between last year's champion Amanda
Parker and Alison Eagles.
Vault All-Americans
Alyssa Cox - Gustavus
Luisa Gutierrez - Cortland
Amanda Parker - Gustavus
Alison Eagles - Eau Claire
Jordan Christiano - Brockport
Jessica Bowman - Brockport
UW-La Crosse dominated bars, with 5 of their 6 athletes making it to bars
finals and taking 1-2 with Michelle Saxton and Nina Schubert.
Ursinus' newcomer Megan Hollern finished third.
Bars All-Americans
Michelle Saxton - La Crosse
Nina Schubert - La Crosse
Megan Hollern - Ursinus
Lynn Morris - Eau Claire
Jamie Randall - La Crosse
Merritt Tam - MIT
Cortland Red Dragon Danin Squires successfully defended her balance beam
crown although she had to share the title with hometown hero Lynn
Morris. Everybody's favorite Jennie Williams from Oshkosh
closed out a sensational NCGA career by finishing third on the event. As a
team, it was Ursinus who won the event.
Beam All-Americans
Danin Squires - Cortland
Lynn Morris - Eau Claire
Jennie Williams - Oshkosh
Cassie Johnston - Stout
Janelle Domaradzki - Cortland
Kristen Grimmel - Ursinus
On floor, it was La Crosse once again that won the event as a team but it
was Jordan Christiano from SUNY-Brockport that came through to win the
individual title. Amanda Parker took second place for the second
year in a row a a tie for third between two La Crosse gymnasts - Jenny Struve
and Leslie Stewart.
Floor All-Americans
Jordan Christiano - Brockport
Amanda Parker - Gustavus
Jenny Struve - La Crosse
Leslie Stewart - La Crosse
Krystal Kaminski - Ithaca
Nancy Peterson - La Crosse
To close out the weekend, Cortland's Gary Babjack was voted as the NCGA
Coach of the Year and Oshkosh's Jennifer Williams was awarded the NCGA's
most prestigious honor - Outstanding Senior Athlete.
With this last e-newsletter, I sign off for the 2002-2003 season. Very
soon you'll be hearing about the 2003-2004 season though, as a major NCGA alumni
reunion is being planned. Please help us spread the word about that.
Check out the NCGA website for more information and soon to have pictures of the
National meet. Hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed
writing. A very special Thank You to Kerrie Beach from Oshkosh for
contributing news from the Midwest Region.
Until next year... have a great summer!
Kind regards,
Eduardo
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." - Robert Southey