This Week in the NCGA
In the EAST: Ithaca College became the first Division III school to break the 190 point barrier, scoring a record 190.45 at a quadrangular meet at Division I Cornell University. The Bombers compiled a 47.90 on beam led by Stephanie Smith's 9.80. Kelly Stevison matched that 9.80 on floor and she shared top team score on vault with Crescent Danziger at 9.625. Brockport finished out it's season with a Thursday night meet at Cortland and a 186.275 to 184.20 loss. The Golden Eagles did not employ any all-arounders and Red Dragons Danin Squires and Lindsay Marranca finished with 37.675 and 37.65 respectively. Ursinus hosted Temple and put up a strong 187.075 to solidify their position heading into the regional championships. Rhode Island College hosted Springfield, but the meet had to be cancelled because of faulty equipment. MIT and Wilson had the weekend off.
In the MIDWEST: UW-La Crosse hosted the 31st annual WIAC Conference Championships. The Eagles walked away with eighth straight championship scoring a 186.70. UW-Eau Claire finished a distant second with 181.55, followed by UW-Oshkosh 176.50, UW-Whitewater 174.175 and UW-Stout 171.725. La Crosse to the all-around with Ashley Koechel's 37.35, bars with Nina Schubert's record tying 9.675, beam with Jennifer Houle 9.50 and floor with Houle and Nancy Peterson at 9.55. Eau Claire's Alison Eagles won the vault at 9.65. Eagle coach Barbara Gibson was named the Coach of the Year and her senior Angela Erato was the Judy Kruckman Scholar Award recipient. Hamline and Gustavus had a rematch of the previous week and Gustavus came out on top again 182.35 to 181.10. Golden Gustie Alyssa Cox put up another 9.45 on vault.
In the MIDWEST: UW-Stout hosted the John Zuerlein Invitational on Friday the 27th with all of the Wisconsin schools in attendance. UW-La Crosse came out on top 184.20 followed by UW-Eau Claire 180.025, UW-Whitewater 174.775, UW-Stout 173.775 and UW-Oshkosh 173.025. Eau Claire's Alison Eagles and Lynn Morris went 1-2 on vault. La Crosse took 1-5 on bars with Nina Schubert's 9.65 leading the way. Lynn Morris took beam with a 9.625 followed by Oshkosh's Amanda DeJardin and floor was won by the host's Rhian Paulson tied with Nancy Peterson from La Crosse. Morris took the all-around with a 37.10. Hamline University was away at Gustavus Adolphus and the Golden Gusties took the meet 179.80 to 176.65.
In the EAST: SUNY-Brockport hosted a quadrangular meet featuring a showdown of three of the top teams in the region. Ithaca College won the meet with a 186.45 followed by the host at 183.60. Ursinus College was third at 181.825 and Wilson rounded out the field at 169.05. Golden Eagle Carrie Santore took first on three events and broke her own school record in the all-around with an NCGA high 38.475. Ursinus' first-year sensation Jessica Furman took the beam with a 9.60. Springfield College hosted MIT and took a step forward by breaking the school record with a 186.65. A strong 47.875 floor set helped the Pride while MIT amassed a 184.075 led by Merritt Tam's 37.575 all-around. Cortland and Ithaca met on a mid-week battle and they edged the Bombers 184.65 to 184.60. Defending NCGA All-Around champion Lindsay Marranca posted a 37.225. Rhode Island College had the weekend off.
In the EAST: MIT joined the record setting performances by the East teams by setting a new team mark of 185.275 in a tri-meet at Brown University. Competing with just 7 individuals and 5 all-arounders, the Tech made up for the absence of two key performers with 4 individuals besting the 37.00 mark in the all-around. Springfield became the 7th out of the 8 East teams to set a new school record this season. They hosted 2 Division II schools and posted a 186.35 on the strength of newcomer Keriann Hart's 37.45 and senior Jenny Romano-Joseph's 37.40. Ursinus bested their school record again this year with a 187.35 at home with Jessica Furman and Kristen Grimmel topping the 38 mark as a tandem. They head into a weekend showdown with Brockport which should shed a lot of light as to how these teams match up. Ithaca hosted and won it's Harriet Marranca Invitational for the first time since 1998 with a 186.475 mark followed by Cortland - 184.425, Brockport 183.80, Rhode Island 171.675 and Wilson College 170.95. Bombers Kelly Stevison and Chelsie Veilleux shared the floor title at 9.575 while Stevison took the vault at 9.525. Golden Eagle Carrie Santore competed only on bars and won the event with a 9.55. Fellow teammate Kristin Sheerin won the balance beam with a 9.65.
In the MIDWEST: UW - La Crosse flexed some serious muscle in setting an all-time NCGA high mark of 189.60 away at Division I SEMO. They scored a 48.30 on floor no having to count anything lower than a 9.60. Ashley Koechel was the lone Eagle all-aruonder at 37.70 and new top-ranked Jennifer Houle on floor, put up a 9.725. Hamline traveled to UW - Eau Claire where they narrowly won the meet 179.90 to 179.275. Blugold Lynn Morris scored a 37.25 to win the all-around, she also won beam, floor and tied for bars. UW - Oshkosh finished third with a 175.825 and UW - Whitewater rounded out the quad meet with a 172.25. Ann Kingsnorth of Whitewater took second in the all-around with a 36.125. Hamline's Jackie Wurst won vault and teammate Brittany Ehlis tied for bars. UW - Stout hosted Gustavus and put up their best performance of the year with a 174.95. The Golden Gusties though, also put up their best team effort of the year with a 183.925.
In the MIDWEST: UW-Oshkosh traveled to Division I SEMO to post a season high 181.85. Wendy Wiederholt posted a 9.60 on floor Brianna Lentz hit beam for a 9.625 on her way to a 37.25 all-around. Gustavus hosted UW-Eau Claire and recorded a season high 182.875 score to the Blugolds 177.175. Alyssa Cox was high score on vault for the Gusties with a 9.375, but not enough to overtake Alison Eagles' 9.525. UW-La Crosse traveled to Whitewater and won the meet 183.875 to 174.10. Nina Schubert recorded a 9.70 on bars to help the Eagles to a 46.425 event total. It was the Warhawks highest team total of the year. UW-Stout traveled to Hamline were another strong effort by Rhian Paulson (V-9.325, BB-9.4, FX-9.55) helped the team to a 171.375. The Pipers posted a 181.875 with Caitlin Goodin leading the way on floor with a 9.45. Winona had the weekend off.
In the EAST: Something must have been in the air in the East Coast this weekend as four teams either tied or set new school records. Ursinus College duplicated last week's 186.225, but this time, it was junior Kristen Grimmel who established a new school record in the all-around with a 38.225 mark. Ithaca, Cortland and Brockport attended the Big Red Invitational at Cornell and had a meet for the ages in which, it seems, everyone hit. The Bombers posted a new NCGA season high 188.85 followed closely by the Red Dragons at 187.925 and the Golden Eagles at 187.50. Cortland's Danin Squires won the meet outright in the all-around with a 38.075 score including a team high 9.75 floor score to aid Cortland to a 48.125 set. Stephanie Smith led the Bombers 47.475 attack on the balance beam with a 9.625. Brockport welcomed back NCGA defending floor champion Jordan Chrsitiano to the line-up for the first time this season to the tune of 9.425 vault, 9.4 balance beam and a 9.70 floor to go along with Carrie Santore's 38.025 and Sarah Bulka's 37.375. Rhode Island College put up a season best 175.65 on the strength of Caren Normandin's 9.55 balance beam routine and Springfield College went 183.425 at Brown with Keriann Hart setting a personal best 37.375 in the all-around. MIT had the weekend off.
In the EAST: Wilson College traveled to Rhode Island College were the Anchorwomen won the meet 173.375 to 162.35. The Phoenix have been hurt by the loss of sophomore Sarah Massey for the rest of the season due to injury. Caren Normandin posted another solid all-around score for RIC with a 36.40. Ursinus College competed at the University of Pennsylvania and posted a new school record 186.225 on the strength of a record all-around performance by first year student Jessica Furman - 38.10. Teammate Kristen Grimmel also posted a season high 37.80 to aid the Bears. SUNY-Brockport hosted and beat Division II University of Bridgeport 184.50 to 183.0. Senior standout Carrie Santore broke a school all-around record with an impressive 38.15 mark. Springfield College hosted a quad meet which included Ithaca College, Cortland and MIT, and that is precisely how the teams stood at the end of the day. The Pride hit a season high mark of 183.80 followed by the Bombers 182.125, the Red Dragons 181.60 and the Engineers 180.575. Each school won or tied for first on at least one event and an individual from each school took first place honors on the four different events - Vault - Luisa Gutierrez, Cortland 9.575, Bars - Keriann Hart, Springfield 9.425, Beam - Cindy Chung, MIT 9.45 and Floor - Kelly Stevison, Ithaca 9.60.
In the MIDWEST: Winona, Gustavus and Hamline all met with the Gophers in the anual Best of Minnesota competition. For the newly inducted NCGA member, it was a fourth place finish at 178.975. Hamline finished third at 181.60 and Gustavus took second at 182.70. Amanda Parker continues her torrid season for the Gusties with a 37.975 all-around including a 9.60 on uneven bars. UW-Stout hosted in-state rivals, La Crosse and Eau Claire. The Eagles won the meet with a 178.05 total followed by the Blugolds at 176.625 and the Blue Devils coming in at 169.90. Eau Claire went 1-2 in the all-around with Lynn Morris 36.65 and Alison Eagles 36.50. Jennifer Houle of La Crosse took the floor with a strong 9.625 followed by Rhian Paulson's (Stout) 9.575. UW-Whitewater traveled to Oshkosh and was sent home 173.175 to 164.625.
In the MIDWEST: UW-La Crosse hosted and won the 23rd Annual Gershon/McLellan Invitational. The host Eagles scored a season high 184.65 on the strength of a 48.225 floor event total. Floor was led by a pair of 9.7s from Angela Erato and Jennifer Houle. Teammate Nina Schubert took the Bars event with a 9.325. Gustavus Adolphus finished second with a 183.40 being carried there by junior standout Amanda Parker. Parker won Beam (9.65), Floor (9.725) and the All-Around (37.875). Teammate and NCGA vault defending champion Alyssa Cox won the event with a 9.575. UW-Eau Claire and Winona State tied for third place with identical 179.950 scores and UW-Oshkosh finished in fifth place with a 170.20. In other action, Hamline University traveled to Division I Southeast Missouri and posted an NCGA high 187.725 with a terrific 47.70 beam total and a 48.475 floor score. The Pipers are flexing some muscle this season. Emily Ament scored a 9.825 on floor and Caitlin Goodin posted a 9.775. Beam was lead by Kristen Driscoll's 9.700. UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater matched up head-to-head in a close meet won by Stout 167.925 to 166.325. Tracy Cummings from Whitewater won the all-around with a 33.975.
In the EAST: SUNY-Brockport traveled to Cortland for a quad meet with Springfield College and Rhode Island College. The Golden Eagles beat the defending champion Red Dragons for the second week in a row and improved their record to 7-0 this season with a 182.05 score. Carrie Santore took the All-Around (37.55), vault (9.625), bars (9.45) and balance beam (9.55). Cortland's Colleen Shanahan, who is currently nationally ranked in first place, won the event with a 9.65. The Red Dragons also established a new school record for vault with a 46.975, but fell short overall with a 181.700. The Pride were close behind with a 181.600 winning beam with a 44.00. Jenny Romano-Joseph posted a team best 9.45 on vault. Rhode Island posted a 174.025 with Caren Normandin posting a team high 9.40 on beam and 36.10 in the all-around. Ursinus College hosted and beat Ithaca College 184.10 to 182.325. Kristen Grimmel had a good meet for the Bears, winning the all-around with a 37.55 but followed closely by Jessica Furman 37.425 and Megan Hollern 36.925. The Bombers posted a 46.875 on floor led by Kelly Stevison's 9.55. MIT hosted Division II University of Bridgeport and a club varsity team from Boston University. The Tech posted a 178.325 with floor being their best event at 47.30 and led by Jennifer Sauchuk's 9.70. Wilson College traveled to UPenn and scored a 174.475 while Michelle Bourque went 36.20 in the all-around with a strong 9.70 on balance beam.
In the EAST: SUNY-Cortland and SUNY-Brockport hopped on a bus together and traveled to Springfield College for a tri-meet. It was the Golden Eagles that came out on top with a 184.80 score, followed by the Red Dragons at 182.875 and the host Pride at 181.125. Carrie Santore tumbled the first full-in/back-out in NCGA history and scored a 9.75 to lead Brockport to a 47.40 floor set and en route to a 37.60 all-around. Cortland's Luisa Gutierrez posted another strong vault score of 9.575 and Springfield's Larissa Tabin and Jenny Romano-Joseph posted 9.625s on floor. The following day, Cortland was hoping to flip-flop the results as they traveled to Rhode Island College for a quad meet that included MIT. The day got as far as the second rotation warm-ups, when the bar's base broke beyond repair and replacement. The meet had to be cancelled and while the New York schools headed home, MIT traveled to the other side of Providence to join a scheduled meet at Brown University which included Ithaca College and Cornell. The other teams were very accommodating in allowing MIT to jump in on short notice and the Tech made the most of their chances even though they finished 4th with a 181.375. Merritt Tam broke a 5 year school record on bars with a 9.75 leading to a personal best 37.975 in the all-around. The Bombers finished third with a 184.70 on the strength of a 47.80 vault set in which the lowest score was a 9.40 and Crescent Danziger was awarded a 9.75 from the officials. Wilson College competed at Towson University where they scored a 167.85. Ursinus College had the weekend off.
In the MIDWEST: Hamline University made it 2-0 head-to-head vs UW-La Crosse as they hosted the Eagles and came out on top 181.475 to 179.10. A solid 46.05 beam set propelled the Pipers while Nina Schubert returned to the Eagles' lineup to post a 9.50 on bars. UW-Eau Claire hosted almost everybody else at their invitational with the following results: Gustavus 181.00, UW-Eau Claire 177.150, UW-Oshkosh 171.900, UW-Whitewater 168.775 and UW-Stout 168.75. Justine Russell (Osh) and Rhian Paulson (Stout) tied for vault at 9.300. Golden Gustie Amanda Parker won the bars 9.375, beam 9.40 and all-around 37.225, and Ashley Brett of Eau Claire won the floor with a 9.45. Winona State competed twice in a three day period against Centenary College in Louisiana. They scored a 181.225 on a Friday and a 185.550 on a Sunday in which they posted 10 individual career best scores as well as a solid 47.675 on beam.
In the MIDWEST: UW-Eau Claire opened up the season with a new school record 185.525 and served early notice that last year's 5th place finish is not going to be good enough for them. All individual school records fell as Junior Alison Eagles posted a 37.875 in the all-around a 9.45 on bars and 9.575 on vault. Teammates Ashley Brett (FY 9.700 on floor) and Kelly Settle (Sr 9.750 on beam) set the other two new standards. The Blugolds competed at the Rocky Mountain Open against 3 Division I schools and Division II Texas Woman's University and are now led by former UW-River Falls coach Jean DeLisle. Defending national champion UW-La Crosse has had two competitions already. They placed 2nd at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on January 9th where the results were as follows - 1. Hamline University 173.55, 2. UW-La Crosse 171.975, 3.UW-Oshokosh 171.000 4. UW-Stout 164.850. The Eagles followed that up with a win against Gustavus Adolphus at home 182.075-178.900, posting a strong 46.725 on beam lead by sophomore Jenny Houle. After missing the NCGA championships as a team for only the 2nd time in the history of the NCGA, the Hamline Pipers came out of the gate strong with a win over UW-La Crosse on January 9th and a 2nd place finish (178.475) at their quadrangular meet, coming in only behind Division I Southeast Missouri State. The Pipers are currently 5-0 over NCGA competition. Newly accepted Winona State started off the season with 173.525 win over UW-Stout - 169.775 and finished behind Hamline at the quadrangular with a 176.00. Gustavus Adolphus opened the season with a win over UW-Whitewater 176.475 to 170.950 and were tripped up by UW-La Crosse on Friday the 16th. Junior standout Amanda Parker put up a 37.225 against the Eagles. A deeper and healthier UW-Whitewater opened up the season with a couple of losses against Gustavus and at the Hamline Quad, but their outlook is much more positive under second year head coach Jennifer White. UW-Oshkosh is under new coaching, and last year's assistant Nadalie Walsh has taken over the reins. They placed third at their invitational and then traveled to UC-Davis where they competed against the Aggies and fellow NCGA school Springfield College, coming in third with a 176.125.
In the EAST: Regional Champion and two-time NCGA bridesmaid SUNY-Cortland is looking to capture the elusive NCGA crown. The Red Dragons opened up by soundly defeating Division II - Bridgeport by a 185.05 to 178.775 margin and establishing a new floor record score of 47.275. Sophomore Luisa Gutierrez nailed a 9.60 vault and was named Cortland's athlete of the week for her performance. SUNY-Brockport traveled to Ithaca and took out the Bombers 183.525 to 182.775. Senior Carrie Santore and newcomer Sarah Bulka both posted 9.55s on vault to lead a 46.675 effort by the Golden Eagles. For the Bombers, it was newcomer Kelly Stevison who led the way with a 36.70 all-around performance. The Engineers of MIT traveled to the opposite coast to compete with University of Alaska at Anchorage on January 9th and 10th. MIT posted it's highest season opener ever with a 178.075 to Alaska's 189.00. Junior Ashley Rothenberg was awarded a 9.50 on bars and sophomore Chandler Hatton posted a 9.55 on floor. The second meet wasn't as successful as the Tech amassed a 176.30. A week later they traveled to Wilson College and finished third at a quad meet with the following results: 1. Ursinus College 180.575, 2. Rhode Island College 171.250, 3. MIT 170.250, 4. Wilson College 165.40. It was the season opener for the Ursinus Bears who got a 37.30 performance from newcomer Jessica Furman. The Anchorwomen of Rhode Island were paced by junior Caren Normandin's 36.725 and, even though the Wilson Phoenix have a much larger and deeper team than ever before, the suffered a tough loss of their best all-around athlete Sarah Massey, who will miss the season with a back injury. Wilson opened the season with a 176.125 away at Kent State and a 173.60 at U-Penn.