On Saturday, March 22, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse gymnastics team captured its 18th National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championship.
When commenting on the team’s attitude going into the meet, fourth-year Jessica Taylor said, “Going into nationals we all agreed that we felt like we had more to give…we all wanted to go out and do better than we had ever done.”
UWL accomplished just that. In a record-breaking meet, the Eagles not only took home a national title but also five individual titles, ten All-American awards and a new school record.
The team score of 194.925 smashed the old school record of 193.650 set the last time UWL won the NCGA Championships in 2016.
Taking home individual titles, UWL’s Grace Kehr captured the vault championship while Raina Christenson, Claire Robbins and Kyla Dickson tied for first on the balance beam. Taylor took the floor exercise championship with a new personal best.
When reminiscing with The Racquet Press about the NCGA championship, both Taylor and Dickson referred to the competition as a “perfect meet”, meaning UWL landed all 24 of their event slots with no immense errors. The lowest score of the day was an impressive 9.475.
“In my four years we’ve never had [a perfect meet] happen and it was really cool to see everything come together at that moment,” Dickson said.
Shedding some light on the behind-the-scenes efforts of achieving a national championship, Head Coach Kasey Crawford shared the keys to the team’s success.
Before the season begins Crawford prioritizes the camaraderie that comes with playing a team sport. In November, the team has a tradition of renting out a house in Bangor, Wis., where the gymnasts spend the whole weekend together.
“We spend two full days getting to know each other, cooking meals together and setting out goals for the season…by the following Monday we feel like a completely different team,” Crawford said.
This tradition started during Crawford’s first year as head coach in 2016. In addition to the close bond the gymnasts hold, Crawford said that the team’s drive to win a championship, led by a hungry upperclassman group, was undeniable this season.
Dickson echoed these thoughts by saying, “All of the teams I’ve been on have been amazing, but this team in particular wasn’t afraid to say what we wanted to get from this year and go forward and get it.”
The win on Saturday was especially impressive as the team had to bounce back after losing the WIAC championship to UW-Oshkosh Titans just two weekends before. Going into nationals the Eagles knew the Titans and UW-Whitewater would be some of their greatest competition.
With such a big title on the line, the Eagle’s maintained their cool with the mantra of ‘pressure is a privilege’.
Dickson expanded on this motto by explaining they, “…try to turn the anxiety into excitement and then once that clicks, especially for the underclassmen, it’s like a switch and you just get to watch everyone grow and thrive.”
The mantra proved to be successful as the Eagles finished with their record-breaking team score of 194.925. UW-Whitewater finished second with 194.025 and UW-Oshkosh finished third with 193.075.
The last few years, the Eagles have been on the cusp of a national title, taking third place last year and second the year before. The team used these near-misses as motivation, driving them to securing a national championship.
“I’m very thankful for the years we didn’t win because they helped us tune into what we needed to do,” Crawford said.
Relishing in the win, Dickson and Taylor told the Racquet Press this title is “only the beginning” for UWL gymnastics. Although they are sad to be leaving the program, the two gymnasts are excited to see what the future holds for the team.
The Eagles will return to competition next year as they aim to replicate their triumphant season.
