Two of the top teams in Division III gymnastics competed against one another Friday as UW Oshkosh hosted third-ranked UW-La Crosse and the Eagles came away victorious 179.35 to 175.80.
These two teams are consistently on top of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference each year, and both have continued their success this season.
Both are in the top 12 in the country for average team scores per meet with La Crosse ranking third at 182.955 and Oshkosh 11th with 175.845.
Head coach Lauren Karnitz was pleased with her team's effort and response to the four-time defending national champion Eagles.
"I thought the women would be a little intimidated coming in but that was not the case," Karnitz said. "They really held their own out there and rose to the challenge when Lacrosse faltered."
The uneven parallel bars competition had three of the conference's top 10 gymnasts competing against one another. Lacrosse's Morgan Shene, ranked third in the WIAC, won the event with a score of 9.300.
Oshkosh freshman Leane Blais, the fourth-ranked gymnast, took second place as she tallied a score of 9.275.
The Eagles' Christa Booman, the second-ranked gymnast, finished with a score of 8.975 to round out the top three.
Blais said she feels she and her teammates proved themselves against one of the nation's top teams and was happy to do so in front of their home crowd.
"This meet gave us a lot of confidence and we showed our ability to compete with the best and that you can really never count us out," she said. "It's awesome competing knowing we have people behind us supporting us no matter what, like my family from North Carolina who came to watch me."
The lone victory for the Titans came in the balance beam event in which senior Jill Lindberg tied with La Crosse's Taylor Cochran both scoring 9.175 to share first place. Freshman Leah Herchenbach scored a 9.00 to add a third place finish for Oshkosh.
Lindberg, in her final season at Oshkosh, understands the importance of having depth during a long and grueling season such as this one during which her team has been battling injuries.
"People have started to recover and more girls are being placed into our lineup so now that we have more competitors to choose from, which helps out tremendously," she said.
Karnitz said she realizes there is always room for improvement, but feels her team is strong, and is eager to watch them compete at regionals in March.
"I think we still have some work to do for where I want to be before Regionals but this team has proven they can overcome adversity," she said. "I think they have what it takes but only time will tell."
The Titans will continue their season against Hamline University (Minn.) and fellow WIAC member UW-Whitewater on Feb. 17 in Milwaukee at 7 p.m.
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