Best of the best

Women’s gymnasts Devon Rosier and Christina Wygonik won national titles in the balance beam and floor routine respectively at the NCAA Division III National Championships on March 25.

___ By Carley Crain @carley_crain12

Heading into the season, the Springfield women’s gymnastics team did not have a permanent full-time head coach. Nobody knew what to expect. But the team was ready to tackle the year ahead. Emily Bellin stepped up from assistant coach to interim full-time head coach – and that decision certainly paid off.

For the second year in a row, the women’s gymnastics team qualified for The National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championships. The Pride shined bright on the big stage and had a historic competition. Springfield finished fourth overall, with a season-high team score of 190.100 points. The Pride beat all of their competitors from the East at Nationals, as Brockport tallied 189.225 points and Ithaca with 187.925 points.

“Nationals was such an exciting experience! Getting to travel with the team and compete in a place that was completely new to us all was so special and definitely brought up the excitement,” said senior Devon Rosier. “Last nationals didn’t go exactly the way we planned, so I was definitely expecting the team to come this year with some added drive and excitement, which we definitely did.”

The Pride also had two student-athletes earn national titles, Rosier on the balance beam, and fellow senior teammate Christina Wygonik with the floor title. This was the second time ever in program history that the team had multiple national champions at this competition. Graduate student MacKenzie MacLeod placed sixth overall in the floor exercise, which was enough to become an All-American in the event.

“Winning a national title was such a surreal experience, I’m not sure I’ve even totally processed it yet,” said Rosier with a smile. “Growing up I had a lot of mental blocks and struggled a lot with fear in gymnastics so an accomplishment like this was really out of the cards for me before coming to Springfield. Having my team and family there with me was super emotional and I feel so grateful to be able to close out my college career with such an exciting meet, both individually and as a team.”

Sophomore Maya Belog also finished as an All-American as well, placing sixth in her best event, the balance beam.

Junior Annie Kiley, who has had an incredible season leading the Pride on the vault, finished second overall and also broke the school record for the second time this year. Both the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams at Springfield have had some of their best seasons in program history this season. Bouncing off of each other’s success has been a huge motivator for each squad.

“There is so much talent and depth on the team and I’m extremely excited to see some new people breaking into lineups next season,” said Rosier. “I think coming in fourth at nationals was a super big accomplishment for the team as a whole that will definitely be a motivator for next season and seasons after.”