UW-Whitewater's Ashley George won the uneven bars title at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship, hosted by Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota Saturday. UW-W teammates Justine Weyer, fifth on the balance beam with teammate Danielle Doll eighth, and Allison Nelson, sixth in the vault, also earned All-America honors in the final day of the national meet. UW-W finished third in the team competition, and Weyer earned All-America recognition with a fifth place finish in the all-around, Friday night in the opening day of the championship. Warhawk head coach Jennifer White was named NCGA Coach of the Year.
Saturday event results
National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship web site
George scored a 9.75 on the bars Saturday, with Jessica Bolduc of Ithaca College and Julia Zimmerman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology tied for second with a 9.65. George's score broke the school record of 9.70, set by teammate Danielle Crinzi at the 2007 NCGA Championship. George is the third gymnast in school history to win a national title, joining Nicole Hoida on the beam in 2000 and Justine Weyer in the vault in 2008.
Weyer, a junior, is on her way to becoming the most decorated gymnast in school history. Saturday she placed fifth on the balance beam with a 9.525. Alyssa Neely of New York-Cortland won the beam with a 9.60. Weyer, who placed fifth in the all-around competition Friday night, has a total of five All-America awards. She won the vault, placed third on the bars, and was also fifth in the all-around in the 2008 NCGA Championship. UW-W teammate Danielle Doll placed eighth with a score of 9.40.
Nelson's 9.50 was good for sixth place in the vault. Julia Zimmerman of MIT, who has earned more All-American honors than any NCGA gymnast in history (fourteen), won the vault at 9.775.
The four All-Americans UW-W had recognized in this meet, and the total of five All-America honors (Weyer twice) is the most that UW-W has ever had in a national gymnastics championship. The top eight finishers in each event, and top ten in all-around, earn NCGA All-America status.
George added NCGA Senior Scholar All-American honors in her last collegiate meet. She earned the recognition along with teammates Angel Simonini, Katie Cosentino, Allison Annala, and Danielle Crinzi.
White became the first gymnastics coach in school history to earn national coach of the year honors. It is the seventh time a coach of a women’s sport has earned the recognition in the history of the Warhawk athletic program.
Naomi DeLara of UW-Stout was the fourth individual event champion Saturday, scoring a 9.75 in the floor exercise.
For additional information: Jennifer White, UW-W coach