By Alyson Kehn:

On Tuesday, Jan. 25, the University of Wisconsin–Stout women’s gymnastics team hosted a dual meet against University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in the Johnson Fieldhouse. Although UW–La Crosse took home the victory with a score of 185.550, this was the fourth meet in a row that Stout improved their team score, which is a huge accomplishment. The UW–Stout women received a score of 180.075.

UW–Stout coach Sean Hawkinson commented on the meet, “The home meet had some high and low points. From an individual standpoint, UW–Stout had some great routines, but as a team we didn’t reach the goals we were hoping for. UW-La Crosse is a huge competitor for Wisconsin along with many other teams in the conference. They had the victory, but we improved our team score during the meet and made it into the 180’s.”

Although the team did not reach the goal they were hoping for, Hawkinson said he was pleased with the results, and he would consider them to be a threat to UW–La Crosse in the future.

Success for these women is not all about winning the meets. It’s about working together as a team to build up the score and supporting each other improving their individual skills in their routines.

If the team keeps showing improvement every meet, they are in the running to qualify for nationals. One of the coaches stated that the team has enough talent this year to reach their goal of qualifying. If they continue to work hard, they not only could go to nationals, but they also have a good chance of placing at nationals as well.

UW–Stout has an All-American athlete on the team, Katherine Prouty. She has been a great competitor for the past three years and has gone to nationals several times. She recently took first place on the beam and placed high on the vault at the Hamline University dual meet.

Freshman Kaylee Jondahl has also stood out this season with her first place finish on vault and floor routines in previous competitions this year.

The team has several seniors that will be missed next year. Coach Hawkinson said, “While we may lose some great competitors and leaders, the team will continue to thrive. As more upperclassmen come, there will be leaders who will step up and lead the team just as others have done in the past. I believe there are great potential leaders for the team which will help lead to more success in the future.”

The team has a solid staff of coaches and good leadership base spread throughout the athletes, young and old. They will continue to be successful and strong even after they lose their seniors at the end of this year.

There are two home meets coming up. The gymnastics women will be hosting the John Zuerlein Invitational versus Hamline University and University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire on Feb. 7and Feb. 14, is the Pink Meet against Gustavus Adolphus. Both meets are at 6p.m. in the Johnson Fieldhouse. Go support your Blue Devils and watch these women show off their outstanding skills!

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