The Texas Woman’s University Gymnastics team hosted and competed in the USAG Collegiate National Championship on April 6-8.
TWU faced Lindenwood University, Southeast Missouri State University and The United States Air Force Academy earnestly in hopes of claiming a 13th national title.
According to team members, TWU felt extra confident going into nationals because the competition was being hosted by Texas Woman’s in Kitty Magee Arena.
“We absolutely loved competing at home for nationals this year,” student-athlete Daisy Woodring said. “It was such a special opportunity to be in KMA and have our home crowd and just feel so supported by everyone there.”
In order to advance to finals TWU had to place in the top four of the eight teams.
The competition opened on Thursday, April 6 for the preliminary round. The Pioneers’ rotation began with vault to set the tone for the night with a 48.000. Moving on to bars, Texas Woman’s scored a strong score of 48.550. The third rotation was the balance beam. A score of 48.925 helped boost the overall score to send the Pioneers to finals. A final rotation on floor with a season high of 49.200 concluded the round.
Texas Woman’s advanced to the finals after scoring a 195.475.
“There’s eight teams that are wanting to advance to the top four and anything can happen,” Woodring said. “We were very thankful to be there because not every team gets that opportunity.”
The competition continued on Friday, April 7, starting off strong with a 48.000 on the beam. A 48.650 in the second rotation, the previous day’s strongest event, brought the Pioneers to the lead with a 97.450. After four TWU gymnasts scored above a 9.775 on the vault, the third rotation concluded with a score of 48.625. The Pioneers finished the day with a 48.825 on the uneven bars.
“We really kept our minds sharp and had a lot of mental toughness throughout the meet, especially going into that fourth rotation on night two,” Woodring said. “We didn’t hold back and I’m just super proud of the way everyone fought.”
Texas Woman’s finished in second place with a final score of 194.900. Lindenwood claimed first with a 195.325.
“We were pretty excited about it, but at the same time, we wanted first really bad. That’s always the end goal is to win.” gymnast Steelie King said.
Featured Image TWU gymnast Daisy Woodring salutes to judges after vaulting in the Kitty Magee Arena on April 7, 2023. Photo by Hannah Everett.
Hannah Everett can be reached via email at heverett1@twu.edu.
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