On Sunday, Feb. 4, the Lindenwood gymnastics team hosted their home alumni night and took on Simpson College and Centenary College.
The Lions took victory with a final score of 194.825. Centenary scored, 187.950, and Simpson scored 186.075.
“I think [the meet] went really well, [and] was a great step in our progress this season,” senior Savannah Newsome said. “I think there were some really good things and a lot of things we can work on. So I think that we’re in a really good spot heading into the rest of the season.”
Among Lindenwood’s top performers was Gayla Griswold on the vault with a first-place score of 9.850, and a floor routine score of 9.925. Hannah Appleget reached her all-time high score on the bars at 9.900, and an AA score of 39.075. Hannah Moon claimed a first-place finish on the beam at 9.750.
“[Today’s meet was] different just [with] us building [off] each [previous] meet,” senior Madison Rush said. “Every meet is a little bit different based on things that happened behind the scenes and whatnot, but I think we just responded really well to anything that may have gone wrong, any little tiny thing, [as] we just leaned on each other really well today.”
Being Alumni Day for Lindenwood, 32 Lion alumni gymnasts were in the gym, and a big crowd was in attendance as a whole, Hyland Arena had an abundance of energy all throughout the meet. That provided tremendous motivation and confidence to the Lions the whole time, allowing Lindenwood’s gymnasts to compete vigorously in every one of their events, score high, and ultimately proclaim the win.
“I think with this season, we just take it one step at a time, and this one being our last one, we really are living in every single moment,” Rush said. “Taking all the small moments, taking nothing for granted, and really just being one team, and honoring all the alumni and the people that came to root for us.
