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The main gymnasium of Kolf Sports Center takes center stage for women’s gymnastics on Friday (March 3) as UW-Oshkosh hosts the 2006 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship and National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) West Regional.

Joining the host Titans in the quest for conference and regional titles are teams from Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), Hamline University (Minn.), UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater and Winona State University (Minn.). Friday's competition celebrates the 33rd anniversary of the WIAC Championship and the ninth reunion of the NCGA West Regional. It is the second time that the two meets have been held simultaneously.

Five-time defending NCGA national champion UW-La Crosse enters Friday's meet as the team to beat. The Eagles have won every WIAC Championship since 1997 and every NCGA West Regional since 2003. UW-La Crosse, which boasts a No. 2 national ranking, returns athletes who have combined to win four WIAC individual titles and a pair of NCGA West Regional individual titles the past two seasons.

The second through eighth positions in the standings will be a real tussle between the seven remaining teams. Leading candidates for finishing among the top three squads are seventh-ranked UW-Eau Claire, eighth-ranked UW-Oshkosh, ninth ranked Winona State University and 11th-ranked UW-Whitewater. The top three teams from Friday's scoring, along with several qualified gymnasts, will advance to the NCGA Championship on March 24-25 in Brockport, N.Y.

UW-La Crosse captured WIAC and NCGA West Regional titles a year ago with a score of 183.65. The Eagles were followed by UW-Eau Claire’s second-place score of 182.15, UW-Oshkosh’s third-place mark of 180.675 and Gustavus Adolphus College’s fourth-place listing of 180.15. Gustavus Adolphus College won the NCGA West Regional in 2002, while UW-Oshkosh claimed the WIAC title in 1996.

Returning to defend individual championships won last year are Gustavus Adolphus College’s Brittany Moore on the vault and UW-La Crosse’s Katie Krenz on the uneven bars. Moore, a junior, finished first on the vault with a score of 9.525, while Krenz, a junior, posted the highest listing on the uneven bars with a count of 9.35.

Other WIAC individual champions back are UW-La Crosse’s Jennifer Houle and Nina Schubert and UW-Oshkosh’s Brianna Lentz. Houle, a senior, won a pair of league titles in 2004 by scoring a 9.55 in the floor exercise and a 9.50 on the balance beam. Schubert, a senior, finished first on the uneven bars in 2003 with a WIAC-record score of 9.675. Lentz, a senior, took the floor exercise title in 2003 with a WIAC-record tally of 9.80.

Other NCGA West Regional individual title holders returning are Houle, UW-Eau Claire’s Lynn Morris and UW-Stout’s Rhian Paulson. All three gymnasts acquired championships in 2004 as Houle won the balance beam with a score of 9.65, Morris the all-around competition with a count of 36.925 and Paulson the floor exercise with a performance of 9.525. Morris and Paulson are both seniors.

Among the contenders for a first-place finish in the all-around competition tonight are Morris, Paulson and freshmen Mackenzie Howard of UW-La Crosse, Danielle Crinzi of UW-Whitewater and Melissa Vodvarka of Winona State University.

On the balance beam, a battle for first place is expected to be between Houle, Howard, Paulson and freshman Alexandra Nugent of Winona State University. Houle is the top-ranked performer on the balance beam in the NCGA.

On the uneven bars, Schubert is the top-ranked gymnast in the NCGA. She is expected to receive her stiffest competition from Crinzi, Krenz, Morris, freshman Kelly Busacker of UW-Oshkosh and sophomore Stephanie Mitchell of UW-La Crosse.

The vault competition is likely to come down to a debate between Howard, Moore, Morris, Nugent, Paulson and freshman Jackie LaFleur of UW-La Crosse.

Gymnasts predicted to be involved in a scramble for the floor exercise crown are Crinzi, Houle, Howard, Lentz, Nugent, Paulson, sophomore Theresa Lynch of UW-Eau Claire and freshman Kayla Sirmans of Hamline University.