Jan. 27, 2016
By Kali Schmieding
The national champion runner-up UW-Whitewater women’s gymnastics team started the WIAC season with a win against UW-Eau Claire, UW- Oshkosh and UW- Stout last Saturday.
The ’Hawks tallied 190.000 points which was the 10th highest score in program meet history.
“The team’s goals are to be better than we were last meet or last practice,” senior Steffi Heuer said. “It’s the little things that we need to focus on. Obviously it would be amazing to win a national championship, but our goal is to take this season one meet at a time, one routine at a time and one skill at a time.”
UW-Eau Claire scored 184.625 points for second place. UW-Oshkosh came in third place with 184.200 points. UW- Stout took fourth place with 181.075 points.
“The meet was amazing,” Heuer said. “I feel like the team kept a great energy throughout the meet and continued to build off of each event. Every girl put everything they had to offer into the meet. We were truly one huge unit. I could not have been any prouder than I am about how the meet went.”
The ’Hawks started the meet off by scoring 47.200 points in the vault event. Junior Katie Fiorilli finished first in the event with a score of 9.550. Freshman Destiny Patrick finished second with a score of 9.525. Senior Hannah Lee, junior Courtney Pickett and sophomore Chloe Rehberg all tied for seventh place with a score of 9.375.
With a total score of 47.700, the ’Hawks took the top five spots on the uneven parallel bars which was the No. 6 score in program history. Freshman Lisa O’Donnell took first in the event with a score of 9.675 which is tied for 20th in program history.
“Lisa O’Donnell competed extremely well,” Heuer said. “She ended up winning two events individually, which is huge.”
Senior Amanda Quinn took second place with a score of 9.600. Fiorilli took third place with a score of 9.525. Junior Mackenzie Smith took fourth place with a score of 9.500, and senior Megan Love had a score of 9.400 for fifth place.
Senior Kristin Shackleton took second place overall on the balance beam with a score of 9.725, which is tied for the fifth-best score in program history. Pickett took seventh place with a score of 9.575. Freshman Franchesca Hutton placed eighth with a score of 9.500. Senior Megan Love took ninth place with a score of 9.475. Heuer scored 9.100 points for an 11th-place tie.
“I performed to the best of my ability for the night,” Heuer said. “I am proud that I went for a new troubling pass on floor. It was one of the hardest difficulties you could do. I might have ate it on the landing, but it’s the little steps that get you to where you need to be in the end. [I] just need to improve and gain confidence so I can help out my team. This is not really a sport about yourself, it’s a sport about the team and pushing yourself for your team.”
The ’Hawks finished the balance beam with a score of 47.375, which is the ninth-highest score in program history.
On the floor, O’Donnell took first place overall with a score of 9.650. Pickett scored 9.600, which was good for second place. Lee took third place with a score of 9.575. Fiorilli took fourth place with a score of 9.525 and Love placed seventh with a score of 9.375.
Pickett was the winner of the all-around competition with a score of 37.900.
The ’Hawks will continue competition Friday with a dual meet in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, against Division I Southeast Missouri State.
