Our Division II and Division III teams wrapped up the regular season last weekend with Conference Championships, and while some teams ended their seasons at these meets, other teams and a handful of individuals have qualified to move on!

The post-season works a little differently with non-Division I teams, and it might be a little bit confusing. First, you have NCAA regional championships, the bids for which were just announced a few days ago, and yes — it is possible for Division II (and even Division III) gymnasts to qualify. Quite a few made it, actually, but I’ll get to that later.

Then, you have USAG Collegiate Nationals. This is DIFFERENT from the NCAA Championships you’re thinking of. You see, because Division II is so small, the NCAA dropped its funding, and to save it, USA Gymnastics picked it up. The teams that are eligible to advance to USAG Nationals include all the Division II teams as well as Division I teams that do not give athletic scholarships, like the Ivy League and Air Force. Centenary, despite technically being Division III, is also part of this group, not the NCGA.

What is the NCGA you ask? The National Collegiate Gymnastics Association is the governing body of Division III gymnastics, since the NCAA doesn’t financially sponsor them anymore either. There are two conferences that make up the NCGA: the WIAC (all the D3 schools in Wisconsin and Minnesota) and the NCGA East (formerly ECAC-3 back in my day, basically comprising all of the D3 schools on the east coast). The NCGA has its own national championships for D3 teams only.

So, in a nutshell, it is possible for a gymnast to qualify for both the NCAA regional as a D2 or D3 gymnast (or team if ranked in the top 36), as well as for the national championship meet specific to each team’s division.

Lindenwood, Texas Woman’s, and Centenary competed at the MIC Championships, and despite being Division II programs, as I predicted, Lindenwood won the meet (194.675) for a third-straight MIC title, while TWU took second (194.000), beating the three Division I teams in their conference. Centenary (Division III) was sixth with a 190.350.

Lindenwood’s Kierstin Sokolowski and Katey Oswalt tied with TWU’s Schyler Jones for second place finishes on vault with scores of 9.85. Lindenwood’s Aubree Horn and TWU’s Bria Northrop tied for third on bars with 9.8s. Sokolowski won beam with a 9.85, and Oswalt tied with TWU’s Mallory Moredock for third place on floor with scores of 9.875. Centenary was led by strong performances from Ashley White on vault (9.8) and beam (9.625), Evelyn Harris on bars (9.625), and Navia Jordan on floor (9.825).

At the ECAC-2 Championships, Bridgeport won the meet (194.925), with West Chester second (192.875), and Southern Connecticut third (190.05), as I predicted last week.

Bridgeport absolutely dominated vault here, earning the top four scores on the event from Kim Stewart (9.825), Kelsey Campbell (9.775), Nina Whittaker (9.75), and Maya Reimers (9.7). Bridgeport’s Christine Liautaud won bars with a 9.825, and UB’s bar squad counted all scores of 9.675 or higher.

Brianna Comport won beam with a 9.9, but West Chester actually outscored Bridgeport on this event by half a point! They counted all scores of 9.775 or higher from Rose Wortman (9.775), Meghan Chan (9.775), Cassandra Hagerman (9.8), Selena Swanger (9.85), and Majesta Valentine (9.85). Valentine and Comport (ah, my two faves!) tied for the floor title with 9.875s, and Reimers was second with a 9.85.

Southern Connecticut’s Alexandra Avendano led the team on vault (9.625) and floor (9.825), Kathleen Aberger contributed strong performances on bars (9.625) and beam (9.725), and Rotem Porat posted SCSU’s best beam score (9.8).

The all-around title went to Campbell with a 39.15, while Valentine placed second (39.0), Reimers third (38.825), and Swanger fourth (38.45).

Seattle Pacific was the lone Division II competitor in the MPSF Championships and took fifth with a 192.775. Ariana Harger tied for third on vault (9.775) and scored 9.825s on beam and floor. Harger was part of a SPU trio that contributed top scores on all events. Darian Burns contributed a 9.725 on vault, and 9.8s on bars and floor, while Lauren Glover contributed a 9.7 on vault, 9.8 on beam, and 9.775 on floor.

Moving on to Division III, we’re going to add some checkmarks into the “predictions Sarah was WRONG about” column. For the WIAC Championships, I predicted Whitewater winning, followed by LaCrosse, Winona State, Stout, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Hamline, and Gustavus.

The results ended up being Whitewater (191.85), LaCrosse (188.7), Stout (188.75), Winona State (186.75), Eau Claire (186.525), Oshkosh (185.9), Gustavus (185.625), and Hamline (183.775).

Whitewater’s Lisa O’Donnell won vault (9.7), but Stout had two gymnasts in the top three: Kaylee Jondahl (9.675), and Mikala Bugge (9.625). LaCrosse’s Abby Ostrovsky won bars (9.725), followed by O’Donnell (9.675) and Gustavus’ Samantha Ardy (9.625). Oshkosh’s Baylee Tkaczuk won beam (9.675), with Whitewater’s Mackenzie Smith and Franchesca Hutton tying for second with 9.625s.

Floor was super tight, with five of the eight teams scoring between 47.4 and 47.775! Whitewater of course was miles ahead with a 48.625, and took the top two floor scores of the day with a 9.825 from Courtney Pickett and a 9.775 from O’Donnell. O’Donnell also won the all-around (38.525) with Jondahl in second (37.925).

Moving on to the NCGA East Region, where I totally nailed it, predictions-wise. Brockport won with a 191.85, followed by Ursinus (189.45), Springfield (188.825), Cortland (186.975), Ithaca (185.525), and Rhode Island (179.1).

Brockport put up some impressive, D1-quality team scores on vault (48.8) and floor (49.05). The team swept the top three vault scores with a 9.85 from Stephanie Mager, 9.8 from Candis Kowalik, and 9.775 from Jen Sklenar, who tied with Cortland’s Rachel Filipski. Brockport also swept the top three floor scores with a 9.9 from Brittany Vasile (say WHAT), 9.875 from Kowalik, and 9.825 from Sklenar. Sklenar also won the all-around (38.575).

Cortland’s Sydney McConnell won bars (9.75), followed by 9.625s from Springfield’s Jessica Clemens and Ithaca’s Baylie Trammel.

The Beam Queens of Ursinus blew everyone away (again) and posted the best team beam score of the day by over a point (47.65). It was a rough scoring day for everyone else on that event. Kaelin Ruoss won beam with a 9.7 while Springfield’s Marissa DeAngelo and Kowalik tied for second (9.65).

NCAA Regional Qualifiers from Division II and Division III

Athlete	Team	Events	Regional
Brianna Comport	Bridgeport	BB, FX	Morgantown
Ariana Harger	Seattle Pacific	VT, FX	Seattle
Schyler Jones	Texas Woman’s	VT	Fayetteville
Maya Reimers	Bridgeport	FX	Morgantown
Kierstin Sokolowski	Lindenwood	VT, BB	Fayetteville
Kim Stewart	Bridgeport	VT	Morgantown
Majesta Valentine	West Chester	AA	Morgantown
Ashley White	Centenary	AA	Champaign

Teams Advancing to USAG Collegiate National Championships

Seed	Team	Conference	RQS
1	Bridgeport	ECAC-2	194.440
2	Lindenwood	MIC	194.440
3	Texas Woman’s	MIC	194.370
4	Cornell	ECAC	193.885
5	Air Force	MPSF	193.680
6	Yale	ECAC	193.435
7	Brown	ECAC	193.340
8	West Chester	ECAC-2	193.095
9	Seattle Pacific	MPSF	192.180

* As the host team, Seattle Pacific received an automatic team bid. Other teams qualified based on RQS.

Individuals Advancing to USAG Collegiate National Championships

Athlete	Team	Events
Kathleen Aberger	Southern Conn.	UB, BB, FX
Isabella Antonangeli	Southern Conn.	VT
Delia Ardoin	Centenary	BB
Cami Bea Austin	Centenary	VT, FX
Alexandra Avendano	Southern Conn.	VT, FX
Abigail Bensley	Southern Conn.	FX
Keylea Brothers	Southern Conn.	FX
Tiffany Coleman	Southern Conn.	VT
Emma Cullen	Pennsylvania	VT, UB
Kylyn Dawkins	Southern Conn.	VT, BB, FX
Tiffany Elliot	Southern Conn.	VT, FX
Kellie Flavin	Pennsylvania	VT, UB, FX
Rachel Graham	Pennsylvania	BB, FX
Evelyn Harris	Centenary	UB
Alex Hartke	Pennsylvania	FX
Aspen Hattley	Centenary	VT
Olivia Hirsch	Centenary	FX
Navia Jordan	Centenary	FX
Kasey Kilmurray	Southern Conn.	UB
Alex Kothe	Pennsylvania	UB
Taylor Le Moal	Centenary	VT
Alexandra Lesperance	Southern Conn.	VT
Kyra Levi	Pennsylvania	UB, FX
Tara Mills	Pennsylvania	VT
Caroline Mitsch	Pennsylvania	UB
Caroline Moore	Pennsylvania	VT, BB, FX
Ally Podsednik	Pennyslvania	VT, BB
Rotem Porat	Southern Conn.	UB, BB
Allison Scates	Centenary	UB, BB
Tavia Smith	Centenary	AA
Nicole Swirbalus	Pennsylvania	VT, BB, FX
Kelly Tan	Pennsylvania	BB
Ashley White	Centenary	AA

* Individuals qualify based on RQS.

Teams Advancing to NCGA National Championships

Seed	Team	Conference	RQS
1	Brockport	NCGA East	191.420
2	Whitewater	WIAC	191.390
3	Ursinus	NCGA East	190.460
4	La Crosse	WIAC	190.290
5	Springfield	NCGA East	188.580
6	Stout	WIAC	187.345

* Teams qualified based on conference championships scores.

Individuals Advancing to USAG Collegiate National Championships

Athlete	Team	Event(s)
Jessica Ahrens	La Crosse	BB
Samantha Ardy	Gustavus	UB
Kendra Balcerak	Ithaca	BB
Dani Barmore	La Crosse	BB
Jessica Bernardo	Oshkosh	AA
Heather Brubaker	Ursinus	VT
Mikala Bugge	Stout	VT, FX
Meghan Cash	Brockport	UB, FX
Lauren Chavis	Ursinus	UB
Jess Clemens	Springfield	UB
Marissa DeAngelo	Springfield	VT, BB
Allie DeBiase	Rhode Island	AA
Caitlin Elsadek	Brockport	UB
Amy Enright	La Crosse	UB
Rachel Filipski	Cortland	VT
Bailey Finin	Oshkosh	FX
Katie Fiorilli	Whitewater	VT
McKenzie Foster	Whitewater	UB, BB
Bailey Gildemeyer	Cortland	VT, BB, FX
Skylar Haas	Ursinus	BB
Allison Hester	Brockport	UB
Kelly Huseman	Stout	VT
Franchesca Hutton	Whitewater	BB
Eboni Jackson	Winona	AA, BB, FX
Kelly Johnston	Winona	BB
Kaylee Jondahl	Stout	VT, FX
Taylor Keough	Brockport	BB, FX
Briana Kerr	Springfield	UB
Lauren Kershener	Gustavus	AA
Candis Kowalik	Brockport	VT, BB, FX
Alex Kopp	Gustavus	AA, VT
Dana LoCascio	Oshkosh	VT, BB
Stephanie Mager	Brockport	VT
Sidney McConnell	Cortland	UB
Kate Mierow	Whitewater	UB, FX
Miranda Murphy	Rhode Island	AA
Carolyn Nichols	Ithaca	VT
MacKenzie Nicholson	Stout	UB
Maddie O’Braitis	Brockport	UB
Lisa O’Donnell	Whitewater	VT, UB, BB, FX
Erin Olson	Eau Claire	FX
Abby Ostrovsky	La Crosse	UB
Amanda Palladino	Ursinus	BB
McKenna Passalacqua	Cortland	FX
Courtney Pickett	Whitewater	BB, FX
Katie Pipp	Winona	UB
Alexandra Puryear	Ursinus	FX
Chloe Rehberg	Whitewater	VT
Erica Roth	Brockport	BB
Kaelin Ruoss	Ursinus	UB, BB
Vanessa Scalora	Ursinus	BB
Bridgette Schaal	Brockport	VT, FX
Nicole Silva	Springfield	FX
Jen Sklenar	Brockport	VT, BB, FX
Mackenzie Smith	Whitewater	UB, BB
Elsa Spitzmueller	La Crosse	FX
Casey Sullivan	Brockport	VT
Lily Szafranski	Cortland	VT
Baylee Tkaczuk	Oshkosh	UB, BB
Baylie Trammell	Ithaca	UB
Tali Twomey	Springfield	FX
Brittany Vasile	Brockport	FX
Samantha Wiekamp	La Crosse	VT
Kari Willett	La Crosse	VT, BB, FX
Lauren Wilson	La Crosse	UB

* Individual competition at NCGA nationals is separate from team competition, so the majority of individual qualifiers are also part of fully qualified teams. All individuals qualify based on RQS.

Article by Sarah Keegan