The Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championship (WCGNIC) kicks off this weekend replacing the old USAG nationals with a new name, an evolving field, and the same fierce competitive spirit. Eight teams have punched their tickets to the team competition.
If individual glory is more your speed, we have that covered too, with a preview of the athletes looking to claim national titles publishing tomorrow.
The Contenders
No. 48 Texas Woman’s University
Semifinal 2: Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Bars
Relevant Stats: 195.250 NQS | 194.575 average | 196.600 season high
Chance to Advance: 99.84%
Why It’ll Win: Texas Woman’s has the highest percentage of all eight teams in the team final to advance and is coming in ranked the highest in the national rankings at No. 48. TWU has shown the capability to score as high as that 196.600 mark the team achieved in early March and certainly has the ability to repeat.
Why It Won’t Win: TWU’s lowest-ranked event of the year is beam where the team has been up and down all year. The Pioneers have gone as high as 49.175, but have only gone above this 49 mark twice. In order to secure a win, TWU must hit beam.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: The Pioneers have come in second the past two seasons, so being able to get a win after two seasons of just missing the title would be the best end to an excellent season for TWU.
No. 58 SEMO
Semifinal 1: Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Beam
Relevant Stats:193.810 NQS | 192.910 average | 194.725 season high
Chance to Advance: 94.68%
Why It’ll Win: SEMO will have to have a lights-out day to top TWU, but, with a strong all-around competition, the Redhawks could sneak in and win this competition. SEMO’s event rankings are all within the same range of the mid 50s nationally, but the highest-ranked event for them has been beam, which they have been the most consistent on. If TWU has a shaky beam, this consistency could take the title.
Why It Won’t Win: SEMO has struggled to hit four for four, and it has only topped the 194 mark three times this season. Bars and beam have been up and down all season, so hitting these two events and getting these bigger scores to keep pace with TWU will be crucial.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: SEMO did not compete at a national championship last season, and in 2023, came in third in the USAG national finals. If SEMO could come in and pull off an upset after not being in a national last season, that would certainly be a headline story!
No. 61 Bridgeport
Semifinal 1: Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Floor
Relevant Stats: 193.325 NQS | 192.663 average | 194.000 season high
Chance to Advance: 92.71%
Why It’ll Win: Bridgeport has a big roster with great depth that could absolutely be used to its advantage in this competition. The Purple Knights have shown they can hold their own, recently coming in third at the GEC championships, but, similar to SEMO, will need to put together a complete competition. The team has shown it can hit high 48 scores across all events, and if this all comes together on the same day, Bridgeport could put itself in a position to take the win.
Why It Won’t Win: Beam is the lowest ranked for the Purple Knights, but the team does have the ability to put up a big number here if they minimize small deductions that add up on this event. The two all-arounders on this team, Lola Sepulveda and Abigail Kenney can both contribute eight big scores to the lineup, but both need to be like they have shown they can be to make the most significant impact in these lineups and boost the team score.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: Bridgeport has not won a national championship since 2014, but this could be the team to do it. This is also a team that did not qualify fully last season, so getting to this top spot is also a major win! After a significant rebuild since COVID and almost the end of the program, seeing this team win a championship would mean so much to the Purple Knight community as a whole.
In the Mix
No. 68 Alaska
Semifinal 2: Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Floor
Relevant Stats: 192.435 NQS | 191.866 average | 193.325 season high
Chance to Advance: 38.73%
Why It’ll Win: Alaska comes in only seven spots behind Bridgeport and could make a run for a top finish if it tops its season high of the year. Alaska can put up a big score on floor, going over a 49 team total this season, and has athletes like Montana Fairbairn and Ariana DeSouza who have shown they can each put up a big score to lead this event. Alaska also has the luxury of a larger roster and has been able to play with lineups throughout the year, so putting up the best six on each event after seeing what each athlete can do, is going to work to its advantage.
Why It Won’t Win: Alaska would need to hit higher scores across the board for this to become a reality. There have only been a handful of 9.85+ scores this season, and looking to keep pace with the top teams every tenth needs to be saved. The most up and down event has been bars where the team has gone as high as 48.900, but has a couple of event totals in the 46.500 range. This could be a make or break event for the team, where not all six are on, it could cost them a top place finish.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: Alaska is another one of those programs that was on the brink of being cut, so cutting to these top spots, and having potential to win, would be a story book ending for the team’s 2025 season.
No. 70 West Chester
Semifinal 2: Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Beam
Relevant Stats: 191.620 NQS | 190.942 average | 192.800 season high
Chance to Advance: 60.97%
Why It’ll Win: West Chester is coming off a top-four finish last season at the USAG national championships, so we know they can perform under pressure. West Chester put up a 192.275 at the GEC championships, one of its higher scores of the year, and looks to be on the rise with its team totals.
Why It Won’t Win: Bars is going to be the make or break event for a higher finish for the Golden Rams. The team is relatively consistent and can put up higher scores on floor and beam, but bars has yet to reach that 48 mark. If West Chester can have a lights-out bars day, this could absolutely be the boost it needs.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: West Chester has a large graduating class this year, so for them to win a championship or score higher than its historic finish last season would be an amazing send-off for this class. The upperclassmen are matched in numbers by the underclassmen, so having these freshmen and sophomores gain the experience of a championship and do well on a big stage will set this program up for what is to come.
The Dark Horses
No. 73 Southern Connecticut
Semifinal 1: Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Bars
Relevant Stats: 191.090 NQS | 190.608 average | 191.800 season high
Chance to Advance: 12.3%
Why It’ll Win: SCSU also has the luxury of a large roster to shift lineups and put up the best six to maximize its team total. SCSU is more of a power events team and has been the strongest on both vault and floor this season. If the Owls can capitalize on this, these two events might be what they need.
Why It Won’t Win: Southern has struggled on bars this season, and is another team to not yet break the 48 mark on the event. Having a season high on this event would be great for the Owls, but if this is a day like they have had in the past on this event, this could take the team out of contention.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: SCSU has been through a great deal in the past couple of seasons, so having a great ending to the 2025 year would not only mean a lot to the athletes on the team, but set the stage for great years to come for the program.
No. 78 Greenville
Semifinal 1: Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Vault
Relevant Stats: 189.055 NQS | 174.841 average | 191.175 season high
Chance to Advance: 0.06%
Why It’ll Win: Greenville is a young program in only its third season and has risen in the rankings by five spots since its finish in 2024. Greenville will be looking to match or beat its season high of the year and continue to build the foundation for hopefully years to come and even more success for this program.
Why It Won’t Win: Greenville is still a program that is building, but it has the capability to beat its season high if it has a four for four day. Greenville has struggled to get these higher scores, but athletes like Ellery Gilmer who has notched a 9.90 on floor this season shows the capability of this team. Greenville needs to hit a full lineup and build on momentum in order to get its best finish yet.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: This is one of the newer programs to NCAA gymnastics, so having this publicity and attention from the gymnastics community just by being at these championships is a win for the program. In its third season, this is already the best national finish Greeenville has had, so adding to this in any way will give the team more to build on in hopefully many years to come.
No. 80 Centenary
Semifinal 2: Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET
Starting Event: Vault
Relevant Stats: 188.110 NQS | 186.935 average | 192.175 season high
Chance to Advance: 0.08%
Why It’ll Win: Centenary is another one of these teams with a great number of athletes to choose from that could maximize its scoring at the last meet of the season. Centenary is consistently scoring in the same range on vault, so this will be an event they can count on for a solid event total, and one they should capitalize on as they have already shown their strength on this event moving forward.
Why It Won’t Win: Centenary is pretty consistent where it is at, but lacks these higher scores. There have been only a handful of 9.8 scores this season, and when keeping pace with the other teams, Centenary will have to fight for each tenth across all events to make sure they are still a name in the mix.
Why It Would Be Cool If It Won: This is a team with only two seniors, so having a great finish would be an amazing ending for these two. This rest of this roster is made up of twelve freshmen and sophomores, so, similar to that of West Chester, having a finish that gives the team confidence heading into next season would be a major win.
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Article by Julianna Roland and Rebecca Scally
what exactly is this championship? I was trying to find out more about it, but I can’t seem to find a good source.
What a great question! A lot of the precise details about eligibility aren’t public yet, but what we do know is that it’s the successor to the now-defunct USAG Championship, which used to include DII schools and some others who either didn’t give athletic scholarships or weren’t fully funded. It’s kind of a middle tier championship between the NCAA and NCGA titles, since gymnastics doesn’t have enough DII teams to justify a championship of their own.
The Ivy League schools and Air Force aren’t participating any more, and we’ve got some teams like Alaska that weren’t involved in the USAG meet. Like with USAGs, the HBCU schools, which run under NAIA not NCAA, are eligible to send individuals but not contest the team title.