WINONA, Minn. - While finishing third in Winona against Winona State and UW-Eau Claire on Friday night, the Gustavus gymnastics team had multiple career and season bests, finishing with season-high team scores in the vault and uneven bars. 

In the first rotation of the night, the Gustie took to the beam, where the lineup stayed the same form last week except the addition of first-year Zara Reboks (Thunder Bay, Ont.), which set the lineup at Cara Wong (So., Sacramento, Calif.), Mollie Ruch (Fy., Bath, Pa.), Autumn Schmidt (So., Lakeville, Minn.), Megan Gille (So., Stoughton, Wis.), Reboks, and Kate Clairmont (So., Grand Rapids, Minn.). Wong, who won the all-around last week in a duel against UW-Eau Claire, started with an 8.400. From there, Ruch would score an 8.775, and Schmidt added an 8.55 through the first three. Gustavus turned up the scoring from there, with Gille scoring a 9.200, just 0.4 under her starting value, and Clairmont finished the scoring strong for the Gusties with a 9.5, only 0.5 under her 10.00 starting value. The top five scorers for Gustavus finished the balance beam with a score of 44.425, while Winona State scored a 47.425 on the vault and UW-Eau Claire finished the uneven bars with a score of 45.825. 

The second rotation of the night, the floor, held the same lineup as last week, with Wong, Makenna Aldrich (Fy., Colorado Springs, Colo.), Ella Nash (Sr., Jackson, Wyo.), Reboks, Gille, and Ruch. Wong scored a 9.175 to start the event for the Gusties, followed by Aldrich and Gille with a 9.400 and 9.300, respectively. Gille, after a 9.200 last week, scored higher in the second week with her score and the highest score of her career at Gustavus. The next two scorers were Zara Reboks, who rebounded after her score on the beam with a 9.500, the highest score of the event for the Gusties and Ruch, who scored an 8.800. This ended in a 46.175 for Gustavus, just under their score from last week and in the second rotation, Winona scored a 47.100 on the uneven bars and the Blugolds scored a 48.025 on the balance beam. 

Halfway through the meet, Winona State stood in first with a score of 94.525, UW-Eau Claire in second at 93.850, and Gustavus in third with a 90.600. 

In the third rotation of the night, the vault, the Gusties had their best score of the season in the event, scoring a 46.575 compared to last week's 46.200. Once again, Gustavus had the same six in the lineup and the same five scored as well. Malia Narciso (So., Eugene, Ore.) started off the event, finishing with a 9.250 compared to last meet's 9.125, followed by Ella Nash with a 9.200, higher than her previous score of 9.150 last week. Reboks continued for the Gusties, matching Nash's 9.200. Clairmont scored her season-best as well with a 9.450, tied for the second best performance of her career, only behind a 9.500 at the Rhode Island Triangular last season. Rounding out the vault with the best score of the night for Gustavus was Wong, scoring a 9.475, also higher than her score last week of 9.325. Four of the five scoring Gusties had their best performance of the season so far and overall ended at 46.575, which was also good for the team's season best after a 46.200 score at UW-Eau Claire last week. 

The Gusties finished the meet on the uneven bars, which was where the Gusties had their lowest score last week, marking a 43.525. Clairmont subbed in this week for her first meet action of the year in the uneven bars, joining Aldrich, Reboks, Mariah Sikon (So., San Antonio, Texas), Wong, and Schmidt. Aldrich improved on last week's performance, finishing the meet with an 8.850 and Reboks followed with a 9.000, a massive step forward from last week for her season and career best. Sikon marked an 8.475, a career best for Gustavus and Wong and Schmidt finished the meet for the Gusties with scores of 9.550 and 9.500, respectively. Wong and Schmidt also both finished with season highs, meaning all scorers on the uneven bars registered season bests in Winona to finish with a team-best score of 45.375. 

Wong finished with team best performances in vault and the uneven bars to help finish first in the all-around event, while Clairmont scored a team-best 9.500 on the balance beam and Reboks led the Gusties on the floor with a 9.500 as well. 

Wong and Clairmont finished in a tie for sixth and eighth respectively on the vault, Wong finished fourth on the uneven bars, Clairmont finished tied for eighth on the balance beam and Reboks finished 10th in the floor. Wong's performances in the all-around earned her first-place in the all-around with a score of 36.700. The Gusties finished third in the team competition tonight, behind Winona State in first place with a 190.625 and UW-Eau Claire in second with a 188.650.

Next weekend marks the first home meet for the Gusties, hosting UW-Oshkosh on Friday, January 23rd at 6:00 p.m. in the Sponberg Gymnastics Studio.