2016 WIAC Women's Gymnastics Championship / NCGA West Regional Preview

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will aim for a second straight first-place finish at the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Gymnastics Championship (presented by Culver’s) at UW-La Crosse’s Mitchell Hall on March 4. This year’s championship will mark the 43rd meeting of league teams.
 
The Warhawks captured the fourth conference title in program history a season ago with a score of 191.750 to exceed UW-La Crosse’s second-place score of 190.875. UW-Stout placed third with a score of 187.825, while Winona State University (Minn.) was fourth with 187.675, Hamline University (Minn.) fifth with 187.100, UW-Eau Claire sixth with 184.475, UW-Oshkosh seventh with 181.625 and Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) eighth with 180.025.
 
The conference meet will also serve as the West Region qualifier for the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) championship that will be hosted by State University of New York-Brockport March 18-19. The top three teams from the WIAC event, along with qualified individual gymnasts, will advance to the NCGA meet.
 
NCAA Division III SAS rankings distributed on Feb. 29 include the following conference entrants: UW-Whitewater first; UW-La Crosse third; Winona State seventh; UW-Eau Claire eighth; UW-Oshkosh ninth; Hamline 11th; UW-Stout 12th; and Gustavus Adolphus 13th.
 
This year’s championship features seven individuals that have claimed titles at previous WIAC championships. UW-Whitewater junior Courtney Pickett is the defending champion in the all-around, while classmate Katie Fiorilli was victorious in the vault a year ago after securing the all-around in 2014.
 
Warhawk sophomore Kate Mierow won the balance beam as last year’s meet after junior McKenzie Foster captured the event in 2014.
 
UW-La Crosse senior Sheree Romesburg posted back-to-back first-place finishes in the floor exercise in 2013 and 2014. She also added the vault title in 2014. Sophomore Amy Enright is the defending champion in the uneven bars.
 
UW-Stout junior Kaylee Jondahl won the floor exercise at last year’s championship.
 
This year’s competition features student-athletes that represent 28 different states and one each from Argentina and Canada.  Following is the breakdown by state:  Minnesota (43); Illinois (26); Wisconsin (24); Michigan (6); Missouri (6); Colorado (5); Tennessee (5); Washington (5); North Dakota (4); Virginia (4); California (3); Georgia (3); Oklahoma (3); Arizona (2); Florida (2); Indiana (2); Iowa (2); Nebraska (2); Oregon (2); Pennsylvania (2); South Dakota (2); Texas (2); Connecticut (1); New Mexico (1); New York (1); North Carolina (1); Ohio (1); and South Carolina (1).
 
The top-six finishers in each event receive All-Conference designation.
 

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