SAINT PETER, Minn. – After a record-breaking 2023-24 season, the Gustavus gymnastics team is ready to take the floor on Saturday, Jan. 4, hosting UW-Eau Claire for its home- and season-opener at the Sponberg Gymnastics Studio.

Reigning NCAA Regional and WIAC Coach of the Year Aryn DeGrood '09, in her 11th season leading the program, is looking forward to a season featuring new faces, new teams, and the return of the Division III Championship to Saint Peter. 

DeGrood's 2023-24 squad broke five records and set 18 individual career-high scores last season, with two athletes – Maddox Lee (Jr., Hugo, Minn.) and Kendra Smaby '24 – qualifying for the NCGA National Championships. The Gusties broke the program team record score twice (UW-Oshkosh - 188.550, Winona State - 188.875 ), set a new team vault (47.5) and beam (48.05) record, and a new individual beam record (Lee - 9.775).

"We want to build off the confidence we gained last year and really push to make an impact in the conference and really be a threat this season," said DeGrood. "We know we're a strong team that often gets overlooked, but we know how capable we are. We have a new look with nine freshmen this season and we are really running with that mentality."

In addition to nine first-year athletes, the 2024-25 roster features one sophomore, three juniors, and a graduating class of eight. Lee and Marley Michaud (Sr., Sartell, Minn.) both earned WIAC All-Conference honors last season, and return as two of the team's seasoned leaders. 

Lee posted the top three beam scores in school history last year, with her best mark a 9.775 in against Winona State. She finished fifth in the All-Around competition at the NCGA West Regional/WIAC Championships with a score of 37.125. Michaud, meanwhile, took sixth in the All-Around competition with a 36.350, just behind her teammate, for the first All-Conference selection of her career. 

Michaud led last season's team on the vault, posting a team-, season-, and career-high 9.550 against UW-Oshkosh. Graduated senior Smaby was the highest performer on the bars last year, posting a 9.675 to lead her team, followed by Lee, who added a season- and career-high 9.575. Lee eclipsed a 9.700 three times on the beam last season in a span of just four meets, while Olivia Jahnke (Sr., Hanover, Minn.) added a season- and career-high 9.675 as well. On the floor exercise, Michaud and Jahnke shared the top score of 2023-24, each posting a 9.675.

"We have a strong group of returners and experience in Maddox and our senior class," added DeGrood. "We will certainly rely heavily on their competition experience to stay calm and get the job done in high-pressure settings. We return almost our entire line up from the beam program record last season, and we're also looking forward to fresh faces – returners and newcomers – to fill in gaps and push for spots on every event."

Among those new faces are first-year athletes Cara Wong (Fy., Sacramento, Calif.) and Kate Clairmont (Fy., Grand Rapids, Minn.), who DeGrood anticipates will make an immediate impact in their first season of collegiate gymnastics. 

"Our team has such a different look this year, and it's been really fun to see it progress so far. It's given us an opportunity to build our team into the unit we want it to be. We expect many of our freshmen to make an impact this year, and it has been amazing to see the depth they've added on events already. The added competition in the gym to make the line-up is a really positive thing for our program, and fans should expect to see many join the line-up throughout the season as well."

After Saturday's season-opener, the Gusties hit the road for four consecutive away meets, highlighted by a trip to Providence, R.I. for a triangular with Rhode Island College and Utica. Three of the team's last regular season competitions will take place in Saint Peter, with the lone away meet in February at Simpson College, a new addition to the WIAC in the 2024-25 season. 

"We have a big road season ahead of us, and it can be difficult to start the year with that kind of stretch. We will see the benefit later in the season, as we historically compete well at home, and it will be great to close out our season with three of four home meets while we're peaking in our performance.

"It's always exciting to add a new conference opponent to the schedule, and we're looking forward to traveling to Simpson later this season. It's always a wonderful bonding experience to travel to meets as a team. We are very much looking forward to traveling to RIC and seeing our Division III counterparts on the East Coast. It will be a great opportunity for the whole team to see Division III gymnastics thriving in another part of the country."

The NCGA West Regional/WIAC Championships will be hosted by UW-La Crosse on March 8, with the season culminating two weeks later at the NCGA Division III National Championships, which will be hosted in Saint Peter the weekend of March 22. Gustavus last hosted the national meet in the 1998-99 season, finishing second overall as a team, and earning seven All-America honors between four athletes. Katie Kortuem '00 HOF '15 finished as the All-Around, vault, and beam national champion, and was named the NCGA Gymnast of the Year.

"We are incredibly excited for the Division III National Championship to return to Saint Peter for the first time since 1999. It is a big undertaking, but we look forward to putting on a fantastic event in March. The team is certainly motivated by us hosting, and is pushing themselves in the gym in the hopes of earning the right to represent Gustavus at our home national meet."

Competition begins Saturday at 6 p.m. against the Blugolds for both team's season-opener, the first WIAC gymnastics meet of the season, and the first Gustavus home event of 2025.

RECORD WATCH

After breaking five school records last season, here are a few more the Gusties are chasing in the new year.

SEASON OF FIRSTS

Meets against Simpson, Utica, and Rhode Island College are all program firsts for the Gusties. Simpson added gymnastics as an official sport in the 2022-23 season, and officially joined the WIAC in 2024-25. The Storm collected their first and second program wins over Hamline University in each of their first two seasons. Utica sponsored gymnastics in 2022, competing in its first official season last year. The Pioneers took seventh at the NCGA East Regional last season, sending one athlete to nationals who became the program's first All-American. Rhode Island College has a storied history since the program's inception in 1986, and have competed against the Gusties only in the national meet. The Anchorwomen went 3-0 in dual meets last season, winning a triangular, and qualifying three athletes to nationals.

HOSTING LIKE IT'S 1999

It's been 24 seasons since Gustavus hosted the NCGA National Championship in Saint Peter. The 1999 squad finished as national runners-up, led by the performances of Kortuem, Michelle Pekel '02, Molly Nemes '01 HOF '16, and Sara McKiernan '00, who all earned All-America honors. Gustavus boasts eight national titles, with the most recent in 1994. The Gusties claimed five in a row from 1990-94, with the 1991 championship earned at home. 

CHASING THEIR OWN RECORDS

The Gusties broke the program record for team score twice last season. The previous record was set in the 2022-23 season against UW-Stout, a mark of 187.675. A total of 10 Gusties on the 2024-25 roster have now contributed to a new team high score three times in their careers. Five of the program's top six scores have come in the last two seasons. 

ON THE BEAM

Maddox Lee owns three of the top beam scores in program history, all set last season. She's the only Gustie to achieve a 9.775, and is joined for the second-best score by Annie Corbett '23 and Katie Kortuem with a 9.750. Overall, the junior is featured four times in the program's top-10 beam scores, and could write her name into the record books further in 2024-25.