All sports involve a certain level of skill, but the pros are known for making it look easy. Gymnastics is one of the few sports where no matter how effortlessly the athletes seem to be performing, the skills always leave viewers in awe. UW-Stout was able to host the national gymnastics championship for the Division III qualifiers this year, and the sights were far beyond the skill I would have expected from any D-3 competitors. Obviously it wasn’t Olympic-level, but it was way closer to it than I anticipated.
For those who have not been to a live gymnastics competition, it is unbelievable. At this meet all four events—floor, vault, uneven bars, and beam—were going on at the same time, with different teams competing on each event. At first, you’re overwhelemed with trying to figure out what you want to watch because so many amazing things are happening at once. For me, there wasn’t really a decision of what to watch, but a compromise between the two events I was sitting closest to: beam and floor. We did end up switching about halfway through to get a view of Stout competing on the uneven bars. Though it was overwhelming at first, that element of the competition ended up being kind of cool because there was always something interesting to watch.
Even to an untrained eye, UW-Whitewater was the best overall team to watch. They ended up winning the championship with a total score of 191, three points ahead of the second place finishers, UW La Crosse. Three points may not seem like a lot, but in gymnastics scores go out three decimal points and are often very close. Teams in third, fourth, and fifth place were all separated by less than one point. Brockport took third with 186.800, Ursinus just barely behind with 186.750, and Stout in fifth place with 186.475. Springfield College finished last with 184.775. This was the fourth nationals win in Whitewater’s history, with the previous three occurring in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Stout may not have won the championships on the team level, but it was a banner competition season for them. It was the seventh time in Stout history that the team qualified for nationals, which they did in 1984, 1985, 1986, 2001, 2011, and 2015. In these previous nationals trips, the team commonly placed sitxh or seventh, with their highest placement being fourth in 1984. Finishing in fifth place this year makes it the team’s highest placement since taking fourth in 1984. Individually, some records were broken as well. It was also the first time Stout qualified as a team for nationals since 2011. Senior Kaylee Jondahl and freshman Mikala Bugge earned All-America Honors in the all-around competition. Jondahl finished fourth in the all-around, tying for first place with her floor routine that earned 9.7 points. Congrats to all the Stout gymnasts for their performance in this year’s National Championships!