In what is scheduled to be their final home meet, the Lindenwood gymnastics team took first place in the Midwest Independent Conference championships.
It’s the seventh time in the program’s 12-year history that the team took home the honors of first place in the Midwest Independent Conference
Lindenwood took on four other universities at the meet, including Illinois State, Southeast Missouri State, Texas Women’s, and Centenary College. Lindenwood took home a score of 196.075, narrowly beating out Texas Women’s, who scored 195.875. Illinois State took home third place with a score of 195.100, with SEMO fourth at a score of 194.275. Centenary College rounded up the tournament with a score of 188.550
As for independent scores, both Reese Baechle and Gayla Griswald tied for Lindenwood’s best score on the vault, each taking home a score of 9.825. Nya Kraus led the way for the Lions on both the bars and the beam. She took home a score of 9.875 on the bars, and 9.900 on the beam to lead the team. On the floor routine, Baechle again led the way with a score of 9.900, tying teammate Jaly Jones in that particular category. As for an all-around score, Jones led Lindenwood with a total score of 39.125 For Baechle, her all-around score marked her second-best in competitions this season.
The Lions were also awarded interconference awards at the banquet, as Kraus was named to the All-Midwest Indepdent Conference team, with teammates Hannah Appleget and Hannah Moon also being named to the team with their scores on the bars.
On the beam, Jordan Kassuth set a personal best score of 9.875 and was named to the All-Midwest Independent Conference second team for her efforts. On their floor routine, three more Lions were named to the all-conference teams, with Jones and Baechle both taking home first-team honors, and Kraus being nominated to the second team.
To round out the team’s final season, they will now travel to the NCAA Regional competitions on April 4-6, then to the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships on April 12-14, and the NCAA National competitions on April 18-20.
