UW-La Crosse Season Outlook

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 7, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. – The 2008-09 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse gymnastics team looks to repeat as National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) championships with a blend of 10 returning letter winners and 11 freshmen.

The Eagles captured their 12th NCGA title in school history last year, the most in NCGA history. UW-L has won seven of the last eight and 10 of the last 14 national titles overall. UW-L also won its 12th straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship in 2007-08 and finished 27-1 in overall competition.

Head coach Barb Gibson, who was named the 2008 NCGA Co-Coach of the Year, returns for her 24th season with the Eagles. She also selected the national coach of the year in 1989, 2001 and 2005.

Senior captains Mackenzie Howard, Jackie LaFleur and Erin Sommer are all three-year letter winners for UW-L. Howard and LaFleur each earned All-America honors in 2008. Howard placed third on the balance beam and 10th in the all-around to earn All-America awards while LaFleur was sixth on the vault. Howard also earned honors in 2007 with a fifth-place finish on the floor exercise.

LaFleur has three career All-Awards honors. Along with the sixth-place finish last season, she won the national title on the vault in 2007 and tied for fourth in 2006. LaFleur earned three All-WIAC recognitions last season, finishing second on the uneven parallel bars, third in the all-around and tied for fifth on the floor exercise.

Sommer competed in the floor exercise, balance beam and vault at the 2008 NCGA Team Championships after finishing fourth in the all-around at the WIAC Championships/NCGA West Regional. She has three career All-America honors, finishing seventh on the beam and ninth in the vault in 2007 and fourth on the beam in 2006.

Schaelyn McFadden is the fourth senior on this year’s roster. She is also a three-year letter winner and competed in the vault at the 2008 NCGA Team Championships. McFadden tied for ninth on the uneven parallel bars at last season’s conference/regional championships.

A strong group of three juniors are on the roster this season, including Gabi Hooper, who has won two straight national vault titles. She was also second on the balance beam at the 2008 NCGA Championships and second on the floor exercise in 2007. Hooper won the balance beam at last year’s WIAC Championships/NCGA West Regional and earned six first-place finishes on the vault for 2008. She also captured four floor exercise titles.

Chelsy Luck returns after competing on the uneven parallel bars at last year’s national team championships and was sixth on the uneven bars at the Hamline Triangular. Kelsey Matula is also back after seeing action on the balance beam and floor exercise at the 2008 NCGA Championships. She was also third on the beam at the conference/regional championships and will vie for a UW-L all-around spot as her skills on bars have greatly improved.

Three sophomores return after competing last year as freshmen. Katie Henning tied for fifth on the balance beam at the UW-Stout Triangular while Christina Manelli competed in the floor exercise at the WIAC Championships/NCGA West Regional. She tied for third on the floor exercise at the UW-L Triangular. Grace McCauley finished 10th on the uneven parallel bars at the UW-Stout Triangular.

A group of 11 freshmen join the squad in 2008-09. Rachel Budelier was a Level 9 regional qualifier with the Quad City Gymnastics Academy while Alyssa Fedor earned four letters at Stillwater (Minn.) High School where she holds the record on the uneven parallel bars.

Eliza Grosshauser was a four-year letter winner at William Fremd High School (Ill.) while Courtney Gonzales was a Level 10 regional qualifier for five straight years. Four-year letter winner Savannah Haririe finished fifth on the vault at the state championships at Menomonee Falls (Wis.) High School. She was team MVP three times and earned all-conference honors three years.

Kahlynn Hunt also brings top state finishes to UW-L after earning four letters at Muskego (Wis.) High School. She was second on the vault and fourth on the balance beam at the state championships. Kjirsten Jacobsen was named Eastview High School’s Female Athlete of the Year in Eagan, Minnesota. She lettered in gymnastics five times and was a two-year team captain.

Two more freshmen earned four letters in high school, including Chasey Rosen from Manakin-Sabot, Virginia and Hailey Sommer from Racine, Wis. Rosen was the regional all-around and floor exercise champion as a senior and was named the team’s MVP. Sommer lettered four times at Racine Horlick High School.

Jamie Shervey was a member of Deutsch’s Club Gymnastics and was a Level 9 state floor champion. A two-year gymnastics team captain, Shervey was a four-year letter winner at Rice Lake (Wis.) High School. Jenna Swails graduated with High Honors at Harry D. Jacobs High School in Algonquin (Ill.) and will compete in the all-around for the Eagles.

UW-L opens its season Friday, January 9 at the Air Force Academy Invite.