Scoring in the 180s for the second consecutive meet, the UW-Oshkosh women's gymnastics team finished second at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championship held Friday and Saturday (March 23-24) at UW-Stout's Johnson Fieldhouse in Menomonie.

UW-La Crosse compiled a score of 182.525 to win its sixth NCGA title, while UW-Oshkosh finished second with a mark of 180.35. UW-Oshkosh, which also finished second in 1990, 1991 and 1993, entered this year's NCGA Championship as the fifth seed. UW-La Crosse is the only team to defeat UW-Oshkosh during the Titans' last four meets of the 2001 season.

Rounding out the team scores were third-place State University of New York-Cortland at 178.50, fourth-place Ursinus College at 176.575, fifth-place Gustavus Adolphus College at 175.475, sixth-place Ithaca College at 174.10, seventh-place UW-Stout at 173.60 and eighth-place Springfield College at 173.225.

The Titans had four athletes received All-America accolades at the meet, including Melissa Cummins who won the vault with a score of 18.750. Cummins, who entered the finals as the top qualifier, held off the 18.725 second-place score of UW-La Crosse's Becky McDonnell.

Other UW-Oshkosh athletes gaining All-America recognition were Kristine Arquette and Sarah Reeb in the all-around and Sabrina Ashton in the floor exercise. Arquette finished sixth in the all-around with a score of 36.175, Reeb ninth in the all-around with a tally of 35.875 and Ashton third in the floor exercise with a count of 18.650. Ashton was the defending floor exercise champion.

UW-Oshkosh also was represented in the event finals by seventh-place Reeb, 11th-place Cummins and 12th-place Arquette on the balance beam, 11th-place Maria Reiser on the uneven bars and 11th-place Leah Gehr on the vault.

In addition to Cummins, other individual champions were Angela Erato of UW-La Crosse with a score of 19.20 on the balance beam, Molly Nemes of Gustavus Adolphus College with a score of 18.875 in the floor exercise and Melissa Stanton of Hamline University with a scores of 37.20 and 19.025 in the all-around and on the uneven bars, respectively.

Sonja Ellefson of Massachusetts Institute of Technology was named the 2001 NCGA Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Barb Gibson of UW-La Crosse was named the 2001 NCGA Coach of the Year.

UW-Oshkosh had two athletes named to the NCGA Academic All-America Team, seniors Leah Gehr and Carrie Taylor.

The UW-Oshkosh women's gymnastics team will be one of eight entrants at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championship following its second-place finish at the NCGA Midwest Regional held Saturday (March 10) in St. Paul, Minn. The NCGA Championship is scheduled for March 23-24 in Menomonie, with UW-Stout serving as the host school.

UW-La Crosse won the NCGA Midwest Regional with a score of 183.00, barely escaping UW-Oshkosh's second-place tally of 180.875. UW-Oshkosh's score was the second-highest of the season and marked the fourth consecutive meet that it had bettered its count from the previous meet. At the WIAC Championship held Feb. 23 in Whitewater, the Eagles defeated the Titans for the league title by a 180.825-178.825 score.

Completing the team standings at the NCGA Midwest Regional were third-place Gustavus Adolphus College with a score of 178.375, fourth-place UW-River Falls with a score of 177.70, fifth-place UW-Stout with a score of 177.65, sixth-place UW-Whitewater with a score of 172.75, seventh-place UW-Eau Claire with a score of 169.20 and eighth-place Hamline University with a score of 133.25. UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh will be joined at the NCGA Championship by Midwest Regional competitors Gustavus Adolphus College and UW-Stout.

Sophomore Jennifer Williams led UW-Oshkosh's effort with three top-six finishes, including a first-place score of 9.625 on the balance beam. She also had a second-place score of 9.15 on the uneven bars, a fifth-place score of 9.55 in the floor exercise and a sixth-place score of 36.20 in the all-around. Also placing in multiple events for the Titans was sophomore Melissa Cummins who finished second on the vault with a score of 9.35 and third in the floor exercise with a score of 9.60.

UW-Oshkosh's performances were rounded out by a junior Kristine Arquette's fourth-place score of 36.45 in the all-around and sophomore Maria Reiser's second-place score of 9.15 on the uneven bars.

UW-Oshkosh will be making its eighth appearance as a team entrant at the NCGA Championship. The Titans have placed in the top three five times, including a first-place finish in 1989. UW-Oshkosh finished seventh with a score of 145.225 at the meet last year. The Titans trek to Menomonie returning two All-America performers from last year's NCGA Championship, junior Sabrina Ashton who won the floor exercise and placed sixth on the balance beam and Cummins who placed fifth on the vault.

Sophomore Melissa Cummins won the vault as the UW-Oshkosh women's gymnastics team finished second at the WIAC Championship held Friday (Feb. 23) evening in UW-Whitewater's Williams Center.

UW-La Crosse compiled a score of 180.825 to win its fifth consecutive WIAC title. UW-Oshkosh counted a score of 178.825, its second-highest mark of the season, to finish second at the event for the fifth straight year. UW-Stout finished third in the six-team meet with a score of 176.90. With exception of a third-place finish at the 1994 WIAC Championship, UW-Oshkosh has finished first or second at the meet every year since 1979.

Cummins repeated as vault champion by recording a score of 9.60, narrowly finishing ahead of the 9.55 second-place tally of UW-La Crosse's Tricia Clark. Cummins won last year's vault championship with a score of 9.325.

Another highlight for the Titans was the performance of sophomore Jennifer Williams, who finished second in the all-around, balance beam and uneven bars and third in the floor exercise. Williams compiled scores of 36.35 in the all-around, 9.15 on the balance beam, 9.125 on the uneven bars and 9.325 in the floor exercise. She was a third-place finisher on the balance beam a year ago.

Sophomore Kristine Arquette also had a strong meet for UW-Oshkosh, with fifth-place finishes in the all-around (35.625) and balance beam (9.025), a sixth-place finish on the uneven bars (8.80) and a seventh-place finish on the vault (9.35).

Concluding UW-Oshkosh's top efforts were a third-place finish by freshman Wendy Wiederholt on the balance beam (9.10) and a sixth-place finish by senior Leah Gehr in the floor exercise (9.15).

In addition to Cummins, other individual champions at this year's WIAC Championship were UW-La Crosse senior Becky McDonnell in the floor exercise (9.50), UW-Stout sophomore Tasha Pasch in the all-around (36.70) and balance beam (9.40) and UW-La Crosse sophomore Michelle Saxton on the uneven bars (9.30).

UW-Oshkosh's next competition is March 9 at the NCGA Midwest Regional in St. Paul, Minn.