Well, that’s a wrap folks. A new national champion has been crowned. Overcoming the pressure of La Crosse nipping at its heels, Oshkosh weathered the storm on beam to claim the title to become back-to-back champion. Beam was the game-changing event across the board with multiple teams having to count falls. Brockport was the most affected by the big stage, looking like a shadow of itself, counting falls on multiple events. Tia Ravara shocked the competition by claiming the all-around title following the final meet of her career. She wasn’t the only individual competitor to shine, either, with multiple claiming positions on the podium.

Superlatives

The Suspense… It’s KILLING me!

The scores were stuck here after the fourth of six rotations, never to change again. As the competition got hotter in the last two rotations, the identity of the winner was left a mystery until the commencement of the awards ceremony.

Most Festive Hair

And the tie goes too… pic.twitter.com/7tqrRF8Eho
— Tavia Smith (@tavia_smith15) March 26, 2023

This one is a tie between all those who participated in the glittery-school-letters trend. This week’s entries came from Zoe Kyriakopoulos of Ithaca College and UW-Oshkosh.

Leotard of the Week

Fav leo of the weekend goes to Hamline pic.twitter.com/u9kXbKRtwM
— Tavia Smith (@tavia_smith15) March 26, 2023

Danielle Jaworski finished her gymnastics career in style with a throwback leotard that stole the show. Who doesn’t love a full out silver moment? In case you missed the warm up, it was matching, too.

Freshmen We’re Excited to Watch Grow

While we say goodbye to seniors, there are some notable freshmen that we can’t wait to see back in action after they exploded onto the scene this year: Gianna Mirigliano and her outstanding all-around quest, Grace Murray’s reliable and swoon-worthy floor, Morgan Lunn’s cool-as-ice beam, Sage Kaplan’s dynamic vault and floor, the unstoppable Sidney Schreiber, Ashtyn Gagner’s reliability and rise on beam, Reanna McGibboney’s rising star, Jessica Miley putting it all together in the all-around, Elaine Copeland putting on a put-me-in-coach-I-can-hit clinic, and Carleigh Moore carving out her place as a memorable vaulter and floor worker.

Final Standings

Place	Team	Nationals score
1	UW-Oshkosh	192.525
2	UW-La Crosse	192.325
3	UW-Stout	190.275
4	Springfield	190.100
5	Brockport	189.225
6	Ithaca	187.925

Top Scores

Gymnast	Team	Event	Score
Kelsey Gates	Rhode Island	Floor	9.825
Devon Rosier	Springfield	Beam	9.825
Kara Welsh	UW-Whitewater	Vault	9.825
Christina Wygonik	Springfield	Floor	9.825
Rachel Chesley	UW-La Crosse	Bars	9.800
Sarah Knetzke	UW-Whitewater	Beam	9.800
Kelsey Kollhoff	UW-Whitewater	Floor	9.800
Reanna McGibboney	UW-Oshkosh	Floor	9.800
Grace Murray	Ithaca	Floor	9.800

Results

Click and expand the events below to see results from each meet, as well as individual career highs and team program records.

25 March

3:00 pm

NCGA National Championships

Recap

Full Results		UW-Oshkosh: 192.525	UW-La Crosse: 192.325	UW-Stout: 190.275
Full Results		Springfield: 190.100	Brockport: 189.225	Ithaca: 187.925
VT: Welsh 9.825	UB: Chesley 9.800	BB: Rosier 9.825	FX: Gates, Wygonik 9.825	AA: Ravara 38.100

Records: UW-Stout set a program record on beam with a 48.325.

Team Competition

Highlight of the Meet: The meet came down to the final rotation as Oshkosh and La Crosse went back and forth fighting for the title. Ultimately Oshkosh could not be denied for the second year in a row. The Titans won the battle of the beam, keeping their competition at bay.

An Underrated Moment: Can we talk about Ithaca’s 48.600 on floor? Or perhaps Springfield with several champions atop the podium for the first time since 1996, and Annie Kiley setting another new program record on vault? Did we mention that Stout broke its beam record, too? While these teams flew largely under the radar, their performances were making some serious waves.

A Way-Too-Early Look Forward: This national championships will leave all the teams talking and planning for the 2024 season. Brockport’s going to need to fix those beam and bars demons, ignoring the uncharacteristically off floor score this meet. Unfortunately, two hours down the road at South Hill, the Bombers have the same demons to fight on bars and beam, a worry with Cameryn Nichols and her records graduating and the senior class being a vital part of the lineups in every single meet. Springfield? The Pride just needs to stay the course, as it hit season highs across the board, save for bars. In the West, Oshkosh is graduating a big class, including Buffington, as is La Crosse, while Stout won’t need to worry as much about losing too many. What we’re saying is, 2024 nationals has a chance at being just as unpredictable as always.

Individual Event Recap

Vault

The dominance of Kara Welsh’s career on vault continued, where she nailed her Yurchenko full the same way she has week after week. This time, it was good enough for a national title, just ahead of Sydney Schumaker’s one and a half.

Bars

A program record holder from a year ago, Glynis Curcoine made her name known at the national championships. With her crisp Maloney to Pak combination, the judges could not deny her a spot atop the podium.

Beam

While beam was an event where quite a few gymnasts struggled, Sarah Knetzke shined for the second year in a row. She made difficulty look easy and claimed yet another spot on the podium.

Floor

Stand outs on the day were Kelsey Gates and Dani Jaworski. Gates earned a share of the title with her unique Rudi to back full leaving everyone speechless, while Jaworski left her mark on Hamline gymnastics by becoming an All-American in the final routine of her career.

All-Around

UW-Eau Claire’s Tia Ravara snuck in and took the title. While other competitors grew shaky under the bright lights, Ravara steadily chipped away, earning a career high along the way.

Preview

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Article by Allison Freeman and Tavia Smith

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