Enjoy the full recap of all Division 3 meets from week one of collegiate gymnastics competition! Full results are linked to last week’s schedule.

UW Lacrosse 186.875, UW Stout 183.4

Reigning D3 national champions Lacrosse began their journey to defend their title with a win at Stout, though it was a super close match after the first two rotations, and Stout still came out with the best opening score in program history. Vault was the strongest event for both teams, with UW-L scoring a 47.625 and UW-S right on their tails with a 47.475.

Lacrosse’s Dani Barmore took home the vault title with a 9.675, with Stout’s Kaylee Jondahl right behind her with a 9.65. Bars was uncharacteristically low for both programs, and the winning score was a 9.375 by Stout’s Kenzie Hyde. Lacrosse really pulled ahead in the final two rotations. Though floor was a point or so lower than what we usually see from them (Savanna Kettner led the pack with a 9.55), they absolutely killed it on beam with a huge 47.5, which included a 9.7 from Kari Willett. Stout also did very well on beam, with Callie Counts earning a 9.6 and second place beam finish.

Unfortunately, the Blue Devils did not have a very strong floor showing; with 3 scores in the low-mid 8s, they barely squeaked above a 44. Hyde earned herself an AA title with a 37.675, just edging out Barmore’s 37.65.

Central Michigan 193.6, UW-Whitewater 186.7, UW-Eau Claire 184.375, Winona State 183.525

D1 Central Michigan opened up their season with an easy win over D3 teams Whitewater, host Eau Claire, and Winona State. CMU was very consistent on all four events, including going 6-for-6 on beam. The Chippewas took first place finishes on bars (Karly Teet’s 9.825), beam (Katy Clements’ 9.8), floor (Taylor Bolender’s 9.825), and all-around (Kasey Janowicz’s 38.625).

UW-W looked very strong in their first meet of the season, hitting the 47 mark on vault and beam. What is probably most impressive is that the highest vault score of the night (9.75) went to Whitewater’s Chloe Rehberg, beating out all the D1 vaulters at the meet. See what we mean about how badass D3 can be?

Eau Claire gave Whitewater a run for their money on beam, outscoring them by 0.075, led by strong routines from Liz Stubbs (9.65) and Becca Wilcox (9.55). Winona State held their own, falling to Eau Claire by less than a point. The Warriors competed 3 in the all-around at this meet, including Eboni Jackson, whose 36.925 earned her second place overall, while she led her team on vault (9.525), bars (9.45), and beam (9.7).

Springfield 182.85, Rhode Island College 176.1

In this east coast D3 matchup, Springfield may have come out on top, but RIC definitely made a statement with their 24-member team, reaching the best opening score in over 13 years, and showcasing a level of difficulty that is unprecedented in their program.

Springfield’s Marissa DeAngelo had a huge first meet, winning every single event (a pair of 9.475s on vault and bars, and a pair of 9.55s on beam and floor) and the all-around by a landslide with a 38.05. Springfield’s strongest event by far was vault, scoring a 47.075 and counting 4 scores of 9.4 or better, though they struggled considerably with falls on floor.

RIC is a very young team this year; nearly 75% of their lineups are made up of freshmen and sophomores. That, coupled with some last minute lineup substitutions caused maybe a few nervous jitters to get the best of them, resulting in them having to count falls across all four events. Standout performances came from Courtney Osborn, who took 3rd in the all-around (35.975) and 3rd on floor (9.1), Victoria Costello (3rd on vault with a 9.4), and Emily Murphy (3rd on beam with a 9.25).

Utah State 194.375, Centenary 184.225

Recent Division 3 addition Centenary made the voyage from Louisiana to Utah to face the D1 Aggies. Utah State was led by a stellar all-around performance from McKinzey Martinez, who led the team on vault (9.75), bars (9.85), and floor (9.775). Martinez also captured the all-around title with a 39.15. Melanie Oster’s 9.825 was the best beam score of the day, and Bailey McIntyre, JoAnna Cuba, and Emily Briones also contributed scores of 9.8 or better, all of which were on bars and beam.

Centenary only put up five athletes on bars and floor, and thus did not have the luxury of dropping the lowest score on these events, however, they showed great strength on vault and beam. Aspen Hattley, Noel Stubbs, and Ashley White all scored 9.425s on vault. Stubbs also led the team on bars (9.475) while Elizabeth Sander had the highest beam score for the team (9.5). White competed in the all-around, scoring a 37.35 for second place, and she also had Centenary’s highest floor score of 9.55.

UW-Oshkosh 176.975, Gustavus Adolphus 176.25

Of all the D3 meets this weekend, this one had the closest score between the opponents, but ultimately it was Oshkosh’s beam that really separated them from Gustavus. Both teams were neck-and-neck on vault, with Oshkosh just barely edging Gustavus by 0.15, but both teams struggled on bars, with only two scores in the entire meet being above a 9, and Oshkosh having to count two scores in the 7s.

They rebounded nicely though, with a strong floor rotation that outscored Gustavus by 0.5, and a beam rotation that was nearly two points higher. Gustavus seemed to struggle on beam, but recovered well on floor to finish on a high note. This is Gustavus coach Aryn Bell’s second year at the helm, and she’s looking to lay a solid foundation for the future of the program.

Oshkosh’s Krystal Walker had a killer meet, taking home the all-around title with a 37.325, the bars title (9.325), and the beam title (9.4). Gustavus’ Alex Kopp won vault with a 9.375, and Amanda Malo earned 3rd on vault (9.2), 3rd on floor (9.25), and 2nd in the all-around (35.275).

UW-Whitewater 188.3, Hamline 179.75

Whitewater competed for the second time last weekend on Sunday, improving on Friday’s score by nearly two full points. They remained very consistent between these two meets, scoring within 3 tenths of their previous vault, beam, and floor scores, but they improved their bars total by over a point.

Whitewater’s Katie Fiorilli was the only all-around competitor for both teams, taking the AA title by default but improving on Friday’s score by a point. She also tied with teammate Destiny Patrick for the vault title (9.6). Whitewater swept the top 4-6 scores on every event, and currently sits atop the Division III rankings in total score, bars, and floor.

Hamline showed strong potential and with nobody doing all-around, incredible depth. All their vaulters scored between a 9.125 and 9.275 (talk about consistency!), Brianna Bridgeford led the squad on bars with a 9.25, and Meghan Webb had the highest placement for the Pipers with her 5th place beam finish of 9.4. Webb also led the Pipers on floor with a 9.275.

Brockport 185.55, Cortland 181.975

In this upstate New York battle, host Brockport defeated rivals Cortland in their season opener. Brockport was fairly consistent throughout the meet, with all of their event totals in the 46 range. Their strongest event was vault, where their 46.975 was led by a 9.55 from Stephanie Mager, and a 9.525 from Bridgette Schaal. Cortland’s Rachel Filipski tied Mager’s 9.55 for the vault title.

Bars was a bit more of a struggle for both teams, with the winning bar score of 9.375 coming from Brockport’s Maddie O’Braitis. Beam was Brockport’s weakest event of the day, but it was Cortland’s second best, though both teams had to count falls. The anchors for both teams, Brockport’s Lily Jagodzinksi and Cortland’s Amanda Scanlon, tied for the winning score of a 9.55. Brockport did fairly well on floor, counting 3 scores of 9.4 or better, with Brittany Vasile leading the pack with her 9.5.

Cortland had some falls and OOB struggles on floor, but Scanlon was able to win the floor title with a score of 9.525. Neither team had anyone compete in the all-around, which goes to show what kind of depth these programs have this season.

West Chester 188.8, Ursinus 187.4

This was a pretty close meet, and for D3 Ursinus to come just under a point and a half from tying D2 West Chester in their first meet just shows how strong this program is, even with the notable absence of last year’s star, Kaelin Ruoss, who did not compete.

West Chester had a huge vault rotation, with a team total of 47.875 and 4 scores of 9.5 or better, led by a 9.625 from Samantha Engle. Ursinus held their own on vault with a 47.25, and Kristina Steffenhagen just barely edged out Engle for the vault title with her 9.65. Ursinus actually bested West Chester on bars by just over 0.2, with the winning score of the day coming from Ursinus’ Vanessa Scalora with a 9.7 (yes, a 9.7 on bars in division 3!).

Beam was the weakest event for both teams, though West Chester’s Majesta Valentine earned the beam queen title of the day with her 9.675, the best beam score of the day by just over 0.2. Steffenhagen led the Ursinus beam rotation with a 9.45. Both programs had some really solid floor performances. West Chester’s top 3 floor scores were Lindsey Knapp’s 9.675 (the winning score of the day), and a pair of 9.525s from Selena Swanger and Valentine. Steffenhagen led Ursinus on floor (making her the top scorer for the Bears on all 3 events she competed) with a 9.625, followed by a pair of 9.6s from Monique Brooks and Kelsey Jewell.

West Chester’s Valentine and Swanger were the only two all-arounders in the meet, scoring a 37.975 and a 37.525, respectively.

Article by Sarah Chrane