UW-L Places Second at Gershon/McLellan Invitational; LaFleur Finishes Second in All-Around

For Immediate Release: Friday, Feb. 6, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW- La Crosse gymnastics squad placed second at the 28th Annual Gershon/McLellan Invitational Friday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles finished with a team score of 183.325 while NCAA Division I member Illinois State University took first at 189.200. Winona (Minn.) State University placed third with a score of 180.750.

UW-L's Jackie LaFleur placed second in the all-around (37.075) while Kelsey Matula was third (36.575) and Mackenzie Howard sixth (36.050). LaFleur finished tied for third on the balance beam (9.450) Friday night while being tied for seventh on the vault (9.150) and uneven parallel bars (9.150).

Matula tied for fifth on the floor exercise (9.475) and tied for seventh on the uneven parallel bars (9.150). Howard tied for seventh on the vault (9.150) and placed 10th on the uneven parallel bars (9.000).

The Eagles' Gabi Hooper finished third on the vault (9.425) Friday night and tied for 10th on the floor exercise (9.350) while teammate Erin Sommer tied for third on the balance beam (9.450) and seventh on the floor exercise (9.450).

Other top finishers for UW-L included Courtney Gonzales third on the floor exercise (9.600) and Rachel Budelier ninth on the balance beam (9.325).

Illinois State's Hannah Deutsch set a Gershon/McLellan record with a winning score of 9.775 on the balance beam.

For complete results, click here.

UW-L returns to action Friday, Feb. 13 hosting UW-Whitewater at 6:30 p.m.