Issued: March 28, 2003
LA CROSSE CLAIMS THIRD STRAIGHT NCGA TITLE
EAU CLAIRE - The UW-La Crosse gymnastics team scored a 183.950 en route to winning the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship title for the third consecutive year here tonight at the NCGA Championships held at the McPhee Physical Education Center.
SUNY-Cortland finished in second place with a score of 183.775. The Red Dragons also took second place at last year's NCGA Championships. Ursinus won third place honors with a score of 181.325 while Gustavus finished in fourth place with a 180.900. UW-Eau Claire took fifth place with a 180.500, the best score in school history, while UW-Oshkosh took sixth, scoring a 178.175. Ithaca and SUNY-Brockport finished in seventh and eight with scores of 177.975 and 177.675 respectively.
The Eagles from La Crosse also claimed the 2001 and 2002 NCGA titles with scores of 182.52 and 184.925. The 2003 Eagles won the title by winning both the uneven bars and floor exercise competitions. La Crosse scored a 46.075 while Eau Claire finished second with a 44.325.
The NCGA champion Eagles also took first place in the floor exercise, posting a score of 48.275 while SUNY-Cortland finished in second place with a 47.950.
Runner-up Cortland took first place overall in the vault competition with an overall score of 46.050. Gustavus finished second in the event with a score of 45.625. Ursinus won the balance beam crown with a score of 46.325 while Cortland finished in a close second with a mark of 46.150.
La Crosse was led by the duo of Michelle Saxton and Nina Schubert who took first and second place in the uneven bars event. Saxton took first with a 9.500 while her teammate finished with a 9.425.
UW-Eau Claire gymnast Lynn Morris scored the highest mark on the balance beam with a 9.525. The score is the highest in school history. Cassie Johnson, participating in the 2003 NCGA Championships as an individual from UW-Stout, claimed the second highest score on the beam with a 9.500.
Gustavus took first and second place in the vault as Alyssa Cox and Amanda Parker provided the one-two punch. Cox scored the highest mark on the evening with a 9.500 while Parker finished with a 9.400.
Brianna Lentz of Oshkosh shared the high score in the floor exercise with a 9.750. Jordan Christian of SUNY-Brockport matched the score.
The 2003 NCGA Championships will conclude tomorrow with the individual competition. Amanda Parker of Gustavus will look to win the all-around competition for the second straight season while she will also look defend her 2002 vault title. Danin Squires of SUNY-Cortland will look to repeat as balance beam champion from one year ago.
Competition is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. with the awards ceremony to begin at approximately 6:00 p.m.
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