The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

    Gymnast takes 17th at nationals

    Freshman Kristina Reitzel was the lone Blugold gymnast to represent UW-Eau Claire at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championships held March 23 and 24 at UW-Stout.

    Junior Jessica Pink represented the Blugolds at last year’s competition.

    “I was seeded 19th going into it,” Reitzel said. “I was hoping to make the finals.”

    Reitzel needed to take 12th place in the preliminaries to move onto the finals.

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    Of the 56 gymnasts in the vault competition, Reitzel took 17th with a score of 9.025. She was a member of a group of six gymnasts who tied for 17th place. They finished just behind a group of four who tied for 13th place with scores of 9.05.

    The winning score of 9.325 on the vault came from Melissa Cummins of UW-Oshkosh.

    This was the sixth time in 11 meets this season that Reitzel has scored above a 9.0.

    She is Eau Claire’s record-holder in the vault, with a score of 9.4, which she achieved in a meet against Texas Woman’s University and the University of Oklahoma on Jan. 27.

    Although this was not her highest score of the year, Reitzel said she thinks she had her best vault of the season.

    “Nationals was a really good experience,” Reitzel said. “It was cool to see different competition.”

    Reitzel is already looking forward to next year.

    “I think I did pretty good for my first season,” Reitzel said. “I hope I can keep improving.”

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    Gymnast takes 17th at nationals