This Week in the NCGA 2003

In the MIDWEST: (courtesy of Kerrie Beach) UW Oshkosh hosted the Wisconsin teams at the 30th annual Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship this past Friday.  UW LaCrosse once again captured the team competition for the seventh consecutive year with a team score of 182.575, moving ahead of Gustavus in the NCGA rankings.   UW Eau Claire once again broke the school record with a 180.325 and a second place finish.  Host team UW Oshkosh posted a 179.45 and captured third place.  Rounding out the field UW Stout with a season high 175.60 for fourth place and UW Whitewater placing fifth with a 162.55.  Eau Claire’s Alison Eagles won the all-around with an impressive 37.10.  Eagles tied with Oshkosh’s Melissa Cummins for the top spot on vault with a 9.325.  Angela Erato from LaCrosse swung her way to first place finish on bars with a 9.025.  Oshkosh’s Jennie Williams and Brianna Lentz stood atop the podium with their first places finishes on beam and floor with scores of 9.50 and a whopping 9.80 respectively.  WIAC Coach of the Year was awarded to UW Oshkosh coach Kerrie Beach.  Jennifer Williams received the Judy Kruckman WIAC Scholar Athlete of the Year award for her outstanding achievements academically and athletically.   Hamline University hosted Gustavus Adolphus College on Friday evening as well.  Gustavus won the meet with a team score of 178.225, while Hamline continues to gain momentum with a 174.275.  Gustavus swept the top spots on all four events and the all-around.  Mary Puder vaulted her way to a 9.175.  Top all-arounder Amanda Parker scored a 9.225 for first place on bars.  Katie Balcom also scored a 9.225 for the top spot on balance beam.  Therese Gay and Hamline’s Krissy Thomsen tied for first on floor with a 9.35.  Parker, once again, won the all-around with a 36.075.  The Midwest teams have one more weekend of regular season competition before the NCGA regional meet at UW Stout on Friday, March 14th.   Look forward to a close competition!

In the EAST: Things only got tighter in this region with the last weekend of regular season action.  Ithaca College traveled to Division II Westchester and posted a win with a 185.725.  The score lifted the Bombers to the top of the NCGA Rankings overtaking Ursinus College who had held the top spot for the first 5 weeks.  Ursinus finished up at home with Senior Night.  It was a night plagued with uncharacteristic mistakes by the Bears as they had to count several falls in a 182.350 effort.  Cortland visited and toppled Brockport 183.65 to 182.875, tightening the gap between the top three teams.  Ithaca visits Cortland on Wednesday March 5th though, so they may have a chance to put a little distance between them and Ursinus.  Brockport held on to the number 4 seed going into the Regionals despite a score of 183.45 from Springfield College on Sunday, but not by much (181.9875 - 181.9250).  Springfield began their weekend with a loss at MIT on Saturday.  The Engineers beat their state rival for the first time ever with a new school record 182.025 as the Pride amassed a 179.125.  On Sunday, Springfield hosted Rhode Island College and the Anchorwomen put up the best score of the season with a 182.75.  They closed to gap between them and MIT to a miniscule .05 (180.4813 - 180.4313).  Wilson College came back from Ball State with another new school record in a record breaking year - 175.30.  Sarah Massey broke the school record on vault 9.45, floor 9.475 and the all-around 36.60 and was recognized as the ECAC gymnast of the week for her efforts.  The stage is set for a phenomenal ECAC/Regional competition.  Not only will the team and individual titles be hotly contested, but, by the looks of it, the 4th and last spot to the national championships, will be up for grabs among 4 teams.  Stay tuned....

In the EAST: The Ursinus College Bears put up another impressive score of 184.40 on the strength of Kristen Grimmel's 37.825 personal best all-around and a new school record 9.75 for her handspring double-full vault.  At the Harriett Marranca Invitational, it was Brockport who put together the best meet and squeaked by host Ithaca College 183.125 to 183.00.  Rounding out the field were Cortland - 180.075, Rhode Island College 178.90 and Wilson College 171.375.  Golden Eagle, Carrie Santore won the all-around with a 37.15 and shared floor with teammate Jordan Christiano - 9.625.  Ithaca won three events - Vault with Krystal Kaminski - 9.45, Beam with Rachel Edelson - 9.55 and shared floor with Leslie Gelatt - 9.625. Bars went to RIC's Shannon Hughey with a 9.40.  With back-to-back meets on the weekend, Cortland rested their best line-up on Saturday's Invitational and came back strong on Sunday against RIC at home, winning the meet 184.925 to 180.125.  There was a three way tie atop the all-around with Red Dragon's Lindsay Marranca, Danin Squires and RIC's Ashley O'Blenis all scoring a 36.925.  Defending beam national champion Squires took the apparatus with a 9.75 routine.  Springfield College put it all together in a loss to Southern Connecticut as they posted a season high 183.525.  By virtue of that score, the Pride have put themselves right smack in the middle of the race one more time.  MIT had the weekend off as they watched everyone go by them in the rankings.

In the MIDWEST: (courtesy of Kerrie Beach) Another exciting week of action occurred in the Midwest states this week!  UW Oshkosh traveled to Hamline University on Feb. 19th and was joined by Winona State University.  Oshkosh excelled with a team score of 176.225 to beat Winona’s score of 175.3 and Hamline’s score of 172.10.  Brianna Lentz took the top spot on vault, bars and the all-around with a 9.15, 9.1 and a 36.5 respectively.  Jennie Williams won the balance beam with a 9.3.  Hamline’s Kristen Driscoll and Winona’s Leah Kindem shared first place on floor with a 9.375.  UW Eau Claire hosted Gustauvus Adolphus, UW Stout and the UW Madison club team.  Gustavus won with a score of 178.625, while Eau Claire posted a school record score of 176.95.  UW Stout compiled a 173.825.  Alison Eagles (Eau Claire) and Alyssa Cox (Gustavus) won vault with a 9.25.  Amanda Parker of Gustavus won bars and the all-around with a 9.35 and a 36.75 respectively.  Gustavus’ Molly McIntyre won the beam with a 9.525 while her teammate Ali Legler won the floor with a 9.5.  Lastly, UW LaCrosse met UW Whitewater with final team scores of 179.425 to 151.35.  LaCrosse swept the events with Ann Gummow winning vault with a 9.025, Michelle Saxton taking the bar competition with a 9.275, Nancey Petersen posting a 9.525 on balance beam and Jennifer Houle on the floor with a 9.375.  Whitewater’s Ann Kingsnorth won the all-around with a 35.90. 

In the MIDWEST: (courtesy of Kerrie Beach) Valentine’s Day marked an exciting evening of competition at several Midwest universities.  Gustavus Adolphus and UW La Crosse have been battling it out for the top qualifying spot to nationals this season.  On the 14th at Gustavus Adolphus College, La Crosse took first place with a 180.025 over Gustavus’s 179.125.  Representing Gustavus, Amanda Parker took the top spot on vault, beam, floor and the all-around.  Michelle Saxton of La Crosse won the bars. UW Stout hosted and won against Hamline University and UW Madison’s club team.  Jennie Rosinsky of Stout won the vault, while teammates Rhian Paulson and Tiffany Reber won bars and beam respectively.  Hamline’s Kristin Thomsen won the floor.  Reber took the top all-around spot. UW Oshkosh edged UW Eau Claire at their home meet with final scores of 177.775 to a UW Eau Claire school-record of 176.650.  UW Eau Claire’s Alison Eagles won the vault, while teammate Lynn Morris won the bars.  Jennie Williams of UW Oshkosh took the top spot on balance beam, while Melissa Cummins won the floor exercise.  Oshkosh’s Brianna Lentz won the all-around.  On a special Valentine’s Day note, at the end of the competition, Jennie Williams answered a big “Yes” to a marriage proposal from boyfriend Brandon Scholes.  Congrats Jennie and Brandon! UW Whitewater had the weekend off from competition

In the EAST: Records and upsets continue to flood the headlines in the east.  On Friday, Ursinus College broke 5 school records including their team score of 185.875 to solidify their spot atop the rankings.  First year student Megan Hollern broke the school all-around record with a 37.925.  The Bears beat out the most improved team in the NCGA this year - Wilson College - who posted a 171.75.  Saturday, Ithaca College made a statement that they are not to be underestimated by beating Cortland 185.975 to 184.95 at Cornell's Big Red Invitational.  Cortland's first-year student Lindsey Marranca won the meet in the all-around with a 37.125. The team total established a new school record for Ithaca and if Cortland is going to repeat as Conference/Regional Champion, they'll apparantley have to go through Ursinus and Ithaca to do it.  MIT traveled to Brockport and upset the Golden Eagles themselves with a new school record 180.775.  MIT's 46.95 floor total was lead by Cindy Chung's 9.625 and it kept the Engineers atop the national team floor rankings for the third week in a row.  Brockport scored a 180.15 to remain ahead of MIT in the overall rankings.  Springfield College and Rhode Island College took care of tightening the overall race by posting season high scores at home on Sunday.  The Pride lost to Division II Westchester with a score of 181.55 and the Anchorwomen also lost to a Division II school, but they posted a 179.90.

In the EAST: Two of the top schools in the East had the weekend off - Ithaca and Cortland, and while those teams rested, some other teams took advantage to move up in the rankings and tighten the race.  Ursinus' coach Jeff Schepers has mentioned all year that this would be a rebuilding year for the Bears.  It seems that the project is way ahead of schedule as the Bears posted a 183.40 at home on Friday. Brockport finished the back end of a 4 meet in 8 day whirlwind in style by breaking their school record in a loss to Ursinus with a 180.925 and they followed that up by beating Springfield at home on Sunday 181.025 to 176.850.  The Pride again find themselves in the unfamiliar spot of 'outside looking in' as MIT leapt over them in the rankings by accomplishing the same feat as the Golden Eagles.  The Engineers broke their school record at home on Wednesday night while beating Rhode Island College 179.40 to 174.85.  In their next meet, on Sunday, they broke the record again in a defeat to Division II Southern Connecticut (182.25-179.725).  A showdown of sorts will take place this weekend as the Tech visits Brockport.  Rhode Island College bounced back from a poor performance at MIT to score a 178.95 at home against Bridgeport.  It's shaping up to be a very tight race in the coming weeks.  The most improved team of the year are the Wilson Phoenix, as they have already bettered their school mark by about 10 full points, scoring a 174.525 away at Temple this past week.

In the MIDWEST: La Crosse hosted and won their Gershon/McLellan Invitational. All of the other Wisconsin schools were at the meet - La Crosse 177.25, Eau Claire - 174.325, Oshkosh - 171.80, Stout - 169.575 and Whitewater - 150.35.  The two Minnesota schools were at the Best of Minnesota meet hosted at the University of Minnesota along with the host and Winona State.  Both Gustavus and Hamline posted scores that may be a little bit more in line with what they would be scoring if competing in the East.  Gustavus netted a 182.25 with Amanda Parker scoring a 37.80 all-around.  Hamline scored a 177.525.  It is well documented that the Region V scoring, especially for the Division III schools in particular, is about 3 points lower than if those schools competed out in the East.  That needs to be taken into consideration when looking at the rankings and noticing that the top 4 teams are from the East.  The rankings are deceiving when comparing one region to another, but they do serve the purpose of comparing the teams within their own region.

Things begin to heat up a little bit this week and the national rankings are deceiving because we know that the Midwest scores are 3-4 points lower than the East.

In the MIDWEST: Several schools participated in the Jefferson Classic Invitational at Division II Winona State.  Gustavus topped the field with a 176.350 followed by the host - 175.150, La Crosse - 174.075 and Eau Claire - 173.325.  Amanda Parker took the all-around with a 37.050 and Lynn Morris of Eau Claire topped her own school record on bars with a 9.275.  Oshkosh traveled to Stout and won the meet 177.175 to 173.625 behind a 35.825 from Brianna Lentz and a solid effort from Jennie Williams on three events. Stout seems to have had a decent meet even while missing one of their top freshman Rhian Paulson for the second meet in a row.  Hamline traveled down to Texas Woman's and posted a season high 175.975.  Notable was a 9.70 from Krissy Thomsen on floor.  Whitewater had the weekend off but suffered some major injuries in their gym.  New coach Jennifer White hopes to be able to turn things around with the new month.

In the EAST: The third meet of the season marked the third school record set by Wilson College.  The Phoenix cracked 170 for the first time in their history at Cornell.  Newcomer Sarah Massey tabulated a season high 35.80 with a 9.40 on floor.  Cortland as also at this meet and they achieved their season high score of 182.625 behind the quiet leadership of ECAC Gymnast of the Week - Trisha Zappala.  In a mild upset of sorts, MIT beat Brockport 176.825 to 176.05 at a quad meet in Bridgeport, CT.  Merritt Tam and Cindy Chung of MIT posted personal best scores of 9.55s on floor and the Golden Eagles were without their top all-arounder - Carrie Santore.  Brockport turned around and scored a 177.65 at Brown University the next day in the middle of a 4 meet in 8 days stint.  Springfield College upped their season high to 179.175 at Ithaca, but still lost to the Bombers who seemed to have hit the lights out of floor and beam en route to a 183.075.  Springfield was lead by sophomore Jenny Romano-Joseph 36.025 as a first-time all-arounder.  Ithaca in the meantime posted an impressive 46.20 on beam and a 47.625 on floor.  Ursinus ran off a 179.975 at home against Division I Temple behind solid all-around performances from Kristen Grimmel 36.525 and Megan Hollern 36.50.  Rhode Island College had the weekend off.

Off to a little bit of a late start this year, so this report includes that last two weeks of competition in the NCGA.

In the EAST: It may be too early to tell whether there is a shift in the balance of power in the East Region, but one thing is clear in the early going - there is a lot more parity in this region then ever before.  Defending Regional/ECAC Champion Cortland opened up the season at home on Wed 1/15 by defeating Springfield College 175.05 to 172.45, they followed that up on the weekend with a 177.175 away and on the following weekend (1/25) they made the splash that is expected by giving Division I Cornell a run for their money 182.15 to 183.80 back home.  Ursinus opened up with a 178.85 at U-Penn and then went to MIT where they narrowly escaped the Engineers by .05 - 178.175 to 178.125.  At that same meet, Ithaca College opened up their season with a 178.775 (all three teams within 7 tenths) and Wilson College broke their school record with a 165.25 performance.  This past weekend Ursinus travelled to Division I Rutgers University and undoubtedly had a better meet - 183.175 which has propelled them to the top of the early national rankings.  MIT opened Rhode Island College's season on 1/22 in Providence where the Anchorwomen displayed signs that they will also be in the running by winning the meet 176.30 to 174.275.  RIC then traveled to Wilson on 1/25 and improved to 177.20 as did the Phoenix as they broke their school record again with a 166.025.  After opening the season at Cortland, the Springfield College Pride followed up with a 175.80 at Brown and a 177.225 at home.  The Pride finds themselves in the unfamiliar spot of 7th in the early regional rankings as they have never missed a National Championships as a team since joining the NCGA in 1996.  Last but not least is the young team from Brockport.  The Golden Eagles opened up with their highest opener ever, a 180.325 at Division I Towson.  Then they cam back home on 1/25 and upended Ithaca 178.125 to 175.275.  It is early in the season, but indications point towards a very tight battle brewing ahead.

In the MIDWEST: Many of the teams in this region competed in early December.  La Crosse is always tough and they tend to start slow, but they opened up with a 179.225 at Illinois State.  The followed that up with a win over Stout 177.35 to 174.20 at home but then went on to the Eau Claire Invitational where they finished third behind Gustavus 177.175, and Eau Claire 175.875 with a 175.50.  Gustavus has a strong team lead by defending all-around national champion Amanda Parker.  With 5 meets already under their belt, the Gusties will be looking to improve on a 175.7313 average so far.  Oshkosh was a bit slow off the blocks winning 170.425 to 167.125 over Whitewater away, losing to Gustavus 176.60 to 172.70 at home, but then they busted out a 180.95 away at Division I Ball State.  At that same meet, Stout posted a season high 174.90.  Stout has benefited from transfer Tiffany Reber who was River Falls' best gymnast before their program was discontinued at the end of 2002.  Eau Claire is off to a sterling start, breaking their school record and several individual marks on their third meet of the year.  Hamline University has really felt the departure of junior Melissa Stanton who transferred to Seattle Pacific.  Over the last two weeks they have posted scores of 166.70, 171.625 and 170.10.  And making an adjustment to a brand new coach is not always easy for the team or the coach.  Whitewater has struggled a little bit from the start with a 166.625, 167.05 and a 163.85 through the month of January.