2003 WIAC Women's Gymnastics Championship Preview

With some of the top non-athletic scholarship gymnasts in the country competing in UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center on Friday (Feb. 28), the 30th Annual Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Gymnastics Championship should feature strong races for the team title as well as the five individual event crowns.

Adversaries battling for this year’s WIAC team title are UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater, with UW-Oshkosh hosting the meet for the first time since 1997.

UW-La Crosse will attempt to win its seventh straight WIAC title, a streak only surpassed by UW-Oshkosh when it claimed nine consecutive league championships from 1979-87.

The Eagles enter the WIAC Championship ranked ninth in the latest National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) poll. UW-Oshkosh is ranked 10th, while UW-Eau Claire is 11th, UW-Stout 13th and UW-Whitewater 15th.

UW-Oshkosh's Jennifer Williams looks to repeat as the balance beam and uneven bars champion. Her score of 9.575 in the balance beam on February 14 currently ranks second in the league. UW-Eau Claire's Erin Henrich returns this season after claiming a share of the balance beam title last year. Williams and Henrich will get a strong push from UW-Stout's Tiffany Reber, who owns the top mark in the league this year with a 9.625 on February 14 and was a seventh-place finisher in the event last year.

On the uneven bars, UW-La Crosse's Michelle Saxton will look to upend Williams. Saxton established a league-best score of 9.325 on February 14 and finished seventh in the event last year.

UW-Stout's Reber will look to defend the vault title that she claimed last season as a member of the UW-River Falls squad. Reber owns the top score in the league with a 9.45 performance on January 17. UW-Oshkosh's Melissa Cummins will look to regain the vault championship that she won in 2000 and 2001. UW-La Crosse's Leslie Stewart has the third-highest mark in the league at 9.35, while her teammate Nancy Petersen placed third in the event last year.

UW-La Crosse's Angela Erato returns after claiming the floor exercise crown last season. UW-Whitewater's April Hubmann placed second last year, while UW-Oshkosh's Williams finished third and UW-La Crosse's Petersen seventh.

Among the top contenders for the all-around title are Brianna Lentz of UW-Oshkosh, Alison Eagles of UW-Eau Claire, Reber of UW-Stout and Ann Kingsnorth of UW-Whitewater. Lentz posted a league season-best of 36.675 on January 24, while Reber finished fourth in the all-around competition a year ago.

Next year’s meet is scheduled to be hosted by UW-Stout.