At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, one gymnast has stood out above the rest. Paige Magel, a junior from Cary, Illinois, has made her mark on the gymnastics team through resilience, passion for the sport and long-term dedication.
Magel’s journey with gymnastics started young. She quickly realized that the sport was for her and she fell in love with it. Gymnastics stood out to Magel because she excelled at it from a very young age.
“I always had it in my head that I would be competing in gymnastics at the collegiate level,” Magel said. “That pushed me to keep going.”
However, the recruiting process was difficult with gymnastics being so competitive as well as having to navigate the post-COVID-19 struggles. An opportunity came for Magel when assistant coach Chloe Edgren reached out and invited her to visit Whitewater. After that visit, Magel was drawn to the campus and felt that this program was the right fit for her.
Head coach Jennifer Regan emphasized just how much Magel has grown since her initial visit.
“Throughout her career at Whitewater, Paige has demonstrated significant growth as a student-athlete and has accomplished numerous milestones,” Regan said.
Since her freshman year, Magel went from a shy freshman to a rising junior who earned a national title in the beam routine as a sophomore. As a junior, Magel is now competing as an all-around gymnast and is currently adjusting to the vault.
“Paige competes in all four events and is the only gymnast on the team to do it,” junior gymnast Juliette Rider said. “Not many competitors can do that and she is so strong in every category.”
Rider is a transfer student who joined the gymnastics team this year. Magel took Rider under her wing and they have become really close on the team. Their relationship speaks to Magel’s leadership capabilities.
“Paige welcomed me with open arms,” Rider said. “She is so much more experienced than I am and she’s taught me so much.”
In a meet this year at UW-Stout, Magel posted the best all-around score in Division III so far this season with a final score of 38.800. She not only finished in the top two in three of her events, but also has the third-highest all-around total in program history.
With this being Magel’s junior season, she still has time to accumulate more accomplishments.
“My biggest goal is to win a national title and share that moment with my team,” Magel said. “All of my hard work would pay off at that moment.”
The next UW-Whitewater gymnastics meet is the NCGA Nationals meet March 20 in Cortland, New York.
