After another exciting week of Division 3 competition, we saw a new season high score from Brockport with a HUGE 191.65 (which included a 48.5 on floor, by the way). Centenary and Ursinus scored 48+ on beam to beat a D2 and D1 team on that event, Whitewater’s Courtney Pickett and Brockport’s Meghan Cash scored 9.825s on floor (for Pickett, that tied a school record), Springfield’s Nicole Silva beat out all of Brown’s floor lineup with a 9.775, and Centenary’s Ashley White won vault over a D1 and a D2 team with a 9.7.

Eau Claire 182.85, Hamline 179.6

The BluGolds were victorious over the Pipers in this WIAC matchup, though interestingly enough, neither team had a single all-around competitor. Eau Claire’s Julia Stedman and Hannah Wendel tied for the vault title with scores of 9.425. Jessica Dhaene and Lauren Zurowski had the top two bar scores of the day, scoring a 9.225 and 9.2, respectively. Eau Claire was solid on beam, sweeping the top five scores of the meet with Tori Erickson’s 9.525 and Liz Stubbs’ 9.425 leading the way. Stedman and Stubbs tied for first place on floor with scores of 9.35. Hamline’s Danielle Dudley scored a team-high 9.3 on vault, while Morgan Bradford led the Pipers on bars with her 9.125. Hamline struggled considerably on beam, scoring only a 43.45 with all scores in the 8s, though their floor rotation bested Eau Claire’s by nearly .5, led by strong performances from Sela Fadness (9.3), and Rosie Giese (9.3).

Stout 179.675, Gustavus 179.625

This was the closest D3 meet of the season so far, with these teams being separated by 0.05 (that’s a toe point!). Stout was better on vault and floor, while Gustavus was better on bars and beam. Stout put up only 5 vaulters, where Kelly Huseman’s 9.45 was a team high and earned her a second place finish. The Blue Devils struggled on bars (putting up only a 43.675), but Huseman and Brittani Lehmen showed strong routines that each scored 9.2. Huseman won beam with a 9.375, while Kaylee Jondahl scored a HUGE 9.7 on floor to win the event. The Gusties continue to be led by all-around star, Alex Kopp, who won vault with a 9.475, took second on beam with a team-leading 9.2, took second on floor with a 9.6, and won the all-around with a 37.075. Gustavus’ Samantha Ardy won bars with a 9.25.

West Chester 190.875, Temple 189.575, Ursinus 186.925, Centenary 177.9

This meet had all three divisions represented, but guess which teams had the best beam scores? You guessed it! Division 3 Centenary continues to absolutely slay beam as they scored a 48.3 on the event, followed by fellow D3 team Ursinus with a 48.0.

D2 WCU won the meet, led by their top all-around competitor, Majesta Valentine, who won floor with a 9.8, took second on beam with a 9.75, and won the all-around with a 38.775. Lindsay Knapp won beam with a 9.8. D1 Temple was back in their first competition since their harrowing journey in the snow, led by strong performances from Briana Odom, who won vault (9.65), tied with teammates Breahna Wiczkowski and Sahara Gipson for the bars title (9.65), took second on floor (9.75), and second in the all-around (38.7).

Ursinus did not score as high as we’re used to seeing them score on vault. Monique Brooks scored a team high 9.45 on that event. Lauren Chavis scored a 9.625 on bars, which earned her a second place finish. The Bears counted all scores of 9.425 or better on beam, including a 9.7 from Jillian Casarella, 9.675 from Kristina Steffenhagen, and a 9.65 from Katherine Norris. Ursinus had a strong floor rotation, led by a 9.625 from Brooks and 9.6 from Steffenhagen.

Ashley White continues to be a strong all-around competitor for Centenary, leading the team on vault (9.6) and bars (9.4, a tie with teammate Noel Stubbs) while earning fourth place in the all-around with a 37.975. Centenary’s beam queens went 6-for-6, each scoring 9.5 or better with Stubbs leading the way with a 9.725, followed by a pair of 9.675s from Navia Jordan and Megan Desjardins. Unfortunately, Centenary had a last-minute injury and could only put up four floor competitors, forcing them to count a 0 and dropping their score from the 190s we saw last week to the 177 we see this week.

Southeast Missouri 193.9, Whitewater 189.175

Whitewater put up a good fight against D1 SEMO, posting their second highest score of the season, and scoring only 0.2 lower than SEMO on vault. Courtney Pickett scored a HUGE 9.825 on floor to tie Whitewater’s school record. Pickett’s all-around score of 38.1 earned her fourth place. Katie Fiorilli had the top vault score for the Warhawks with a 9.6, earning her a third place finish, while bars specialist Mackenzie Smith delivered a huge routine with a team high score of 9.725. Beam specialist Kristen Shackleton nailed her set for a 9.75 and a third place finish, while Lisa O’Donnell scored a 9.75 on floor. SEMO shined on bars and floor with matching scores of 48.85. Lauren Israel won bars (9.825) and the all-around (38.825), barely edging out teammate Alexis Brawner (38.8). Brawner also won vault (9.7), took second on bars (9.8), and third on floor (9.8). McKinzie Jones continues to be rock solid on beam and floor for the Redhawks, as she won beam (9.8) and floor (9.875).

LaCrosse 189.125, Winona State 185.375

LaCrosse rallied and scored a season high in their WIAC match-up with Winona. Leah Spankowski won vault with a 9.65, and posted the team’s highest beam score (9.4). The Eagles swept the top four scores on bars with Lauren Wilson winning the event with a 9.625, and counted four scores of 9.5 or better on floor from Chelsie Richards (9.55), Samantha Wiekamp (9.575), Amy Enright (9.625), and Savana Kettner’s meet-winning routine (9.725). Wiekamp won the all-around with a 37.95, followed by teammate Dani Barmore’s 37.6. Winona actually bested LaCrosse on vault by .125, and was only .2 behind them on beam, though they fell significantly short on bars and floor. Jade Donaldson led the team on vault and floor with a pair of 9.625s. Katie Pipp had the best bar score for Winona with a 9.375, while Eboni Jackson won beam with a 9.475 and took third in the all-around with a 37.25.

Brockport 191.65, Ithaca 183.775

Brockport put it all together at this meet and scored the new high score of the season for all of Division 3, blowing away Whitewater and Centenary’s 190s from last week by over a point. Though vault continues to be a comparatively weaker event for the Eagles, they still took the top 3 scores (9.575 from Stephanie Mager, 9.55 from Bridgette Schaal, and 9.525 from Brittany Vasile). Brockport hit a 48.0 on bars and counted all scores of 9.5 or better. Maddie O’Braitis and Miranda Shaine tied for the title with a pair of 9.7s. Brockport also swept the top 5 beam scores, with beam anchor Lily Jagodzinski winning the event with a 9.725. The Eagles then hit a HUGE 48.5 on floor with 4 scores of 9.725 or better from Jagodzinski (9.725), Vasile (9.775), Candis Kowalik (9.775), and Meghan Cash (9.825). Brockport’s team bars and floor totals are the highest of any Division 3 team this season.

Ithaca seems to be struggling for consistency this season with many of their lineups being made up of freshmen and sophomores. Freshman Carolyn Nichols had the best vault score for the Bombers with a 9.5, earning her fourth place. Mina Shernan led the team on bars (9.15), followed closely by a 9.125 from Kendra Balcerak. Ithaca had some major struggles on beam, with only one score in the 9s coming from Lara Haberle (9.2); however, the Bombers were able to have a strong floor showing with 3 scores of 9.5 or better coming from Nichols (9.5), Haley Lyons (9.575), and Valerie Cohen (9.6).

Air Force 188.55, Oshkosh 184.2

Air Force continues to struggle to post big scores this season, though the D1 squad pulled a decisive victory over D3 Oshkosh. Kara Witgen won vault (9.7), bars (9.625), and the all-around (38.0), while teammate Sarah Neumann nailed a beautiful beam set, scoring a 9.775 to win the event. Air Force dominated bars by posting the top four scores of the meet, though they struggled a bit on beam and had to count two scores in the mid 8s. Oshkosh had similar beam struggles, but was only 0.3 behind Air Force on vault and 0.45 behind them on floor. Krystal Walker led the Titans with a strong all-around performance, leading the team on vault (9.5), beam (9.625), and floor (9.625, which tied USAFA’s Jamie Lewis for second place) while she earned herself a second place all-around finish (37.5). Emily Ryan scored Oshkosh’s highest bars score with a 9.325.

West Chester 190.875, Penn 190.6, Centenary 186.35

This was the second battle of the weekend between West Chester and Centenary. West Chester remained very consistent, dropping from their previous score by only about .02. Majesta Valentine continues to be rock solid across all four events, winning beam with a 9.825, floor with a 9.775, and the all-around with a 38.925. WCU’s Meghan Brannon won bars with a 9.825. Penn put up a good fight and fell just short of a win over West Chester, though they bested the Rams on floor by .6. Kyra Levi contributed top scores for Penn on bars (9.725), and floor (9.75), while Kelly Tan and Rachel Graham each contributed scores of 9.775 on beam. Ally Podsednik scored a team-high 9.65 on vault. Centenary’s Ashley White had yet another solid meet, winning vault (over a D1 team and a D2 team) with a 9.7, leading the team on beam (9.7), and taking second in the all-around (38.025). Centenary struggled on beam, scoring a 47.225 (a far cry from their 48s from the previous meets), and a 44.325 on bars, though they were 0.05 away from Penn on vault and about 0.2 away from West Chester on floor. Centenary has competed in four meets in two weeks, and they’re about to make it six in three coming up this weekend.

Brown 192.575, Southern Connecticut 189.025, Cortland 187.275, Springfield 186.85

Springfield hosted their annual “Tumble for Teal” meet, a meet dedicated to raising awareness for gynecological cancers in honor of SC alumna, Maureen Duffy. All proceeds from the meet were dedicated to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and “Team Maureen,” a group founded in Duffy’s honor to raise awareness for cervical cancer.

D1 Brown ran away with the meet, including hitting 6-for-6 on bars and tallying a 48.65 on the event, with Caroline Morant’s 9.8 securing her a first place finish. All 6 of Brown’s bars competitors outscored everyone else in the meet on that event. Corey Holman won vault with a 9.75, while also scoring the team’s second highest beam score (9.775). Jorden Mitchell tied with SCSU’s Rotem Porat for the beam title with a 9.8.

The top two floor scores of the day were earned by a D2 gymnast (SCSU’S Nicole Pruchnik, 9.825), and a D3 gymnast (Springfield’s Nicole Silva, 9.775). Silva’s 9.775 is a career high. SCSU also saw top performances from Kylyn Dawkins on vault (9.575), Kathleen Aberger on bars (9.525), Jennifer Rochefort on beam (9.625), and Alexandra Avendano on floor (9.75).

D3 Cortland just barely squeaked by Springfield. Rachel Filipski continues to lead their 5 vaulters (9.625), while Amanda Scanlon led the Red Dragons on bars (9.325) and beam (9.7). Meghan Goyden had the top Cortland floor score with a 9.625. Springfield had their second best team score of the season. In addition to her 9.775 on floor, Silva contributed a 9.5 on vault and 9.575 on beam, matching her previous career highs. Marissa DeAngelo had SC’s top score on vault (9.575) while placing third in the all-around. Brianna Kerr led the Pride on bars (9.5).

Article by Sarah Chrane
Photo thanks to Brockport Gymnastics