Ladies Set To Host Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championships
The Centenary gymnastics program will serve as host for the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championships this weekend inside the Gold Dome as competition begins on Friday at 2 p.m.
Shreveport – The Centenary gymnastics program will serve as host for the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championships this weekend inside the Gold Dome as competition begins on Friday at 2 p.m.
Live results and video are available for all sessions of the meet at the links below:
WCGNIC '25: Session #1 Semifinals
WCGNIC '25: Session #2 Semifinals
WCGNIC '25: Session #4 Event Finals
TICKETS: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/la/shreveport/organization/69826/centenary-college-of/tickets
The prestigious event, formerly named the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships, will feature an afternoon and evening session on Friday, an evening session on Saturday for team finals, and then one session on Sunday afternoon which is the individual event finals.
"We are thrilled and honored to be serving as the host for the Championships this weekend," said Centenary head coach Meg Crowley. "This is a culmination of an exciting and memorable season here in the Gold Dome for our program after hosting the conference meet last month. We are excited and ready to compete."
The Ladies earned one of the eight spots and will be joined by the University of Alaska, the University of Bridgeport, Greenville University, Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), Southern Connecticut State University, Texas Woman's University, and West Chester University. Eight individuals will also be competing – Diamond Cook of Wilberforce University and seven Fisk University gymnasts.
TWU is ranked 48th in the latest Road to Nationals rankings and has a 195.250 NQS, SEMO (58) has a NQS of 193.810, Bridgeport (61) enters with a 193.325, and Alaska's NQS is 192.435 and is ranked 68th in the RTN rankings. West Chester (70) has a NQS of 191.620, Southern Connecticut State (73) qualified with a 191.090, and Greenville (78) qualified with a 189.055.
Session one on Friday at 2 p.m. features Bridgeport, Greenville, (SEMO), and Southern Connecticut State and the evening session (7 p.m.) is headlined by the Ladies along with Alaska, TWU, and West Chester.
The top two teams from session one and the top two teams from session two will advance to the team finals on Saturday at 7 p.m. For the individual competitors, the top five individual scores from each event will advance to the individual finals on Sunday at 1 p.m. The individual all-around results will be based off of Friday's sessions.
FULL MEET SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 11:
1:52 PM: March-In for Session 1
2:00 PM: Competition Begins
6:52 PM: March-In for Session 2
7:00 PM: Competition Begins
Saturday, April 12:
6:52 PM: March-In for Team Finals
7:00 PM: Competition Begins
Sunday, April 13:
1:00 PM: Competition Begins for Individual Event Finals
POST MEET: Grand March-In and Awards Ceremony
As this year's host site, Centenary was guaranteed a team spot but also qualified based on its overall NQS of 188.110. The Ladies are ranked 80th in the latest Road to Nationals rankings and are back in action after finishing fourth in the annual Midwest Independent Conference Championships on March 21 in the Gold Dome. The Ladies, serving as host for the event for the first time since 2019, earned a team score of 189.200.
SEASON RECAP & HIGHLIGHTS:
The Ladies finished with a 48.100 on bars, a 47.350 on vault, and an identical 46.875 on both beam and floor in the MIC Championships. Senior Sophie Schmitz (Trophy Club, Texas) finished third in the All-Around with a score of 37.900 and the Ladies' two best individual scores of the meet were 9.70 by senior Emma Lavelle (Mandeville, La.) on beam and junior Olivia Stratmann (Houston, Texas) on bars. Schmitz was named First-Team All-MIC Conference after her third-place finish in the AA
The Ladies' highest team score this season was a 192.175 against Fisk University on March 8 at home and Centenary's Senior Night. Centenary topped 190.00 for the first this season and its team score is the Ladies' highest since recording a 190.325 last season against TWU and the Maroon and White scored 192.00 or better for the first time since recording a 192.475 on March 11, 2023 at home versus Lindenwood University.
The Ladies earned season-best scores on vault (47.875) and bars (48.150) against Fisk, tied their season-high on floor (48.100), and recorded their second-best score on beam (48.050).
Centenary's highest event scores this season are as follows:
VAULT: 47.875 – March 8 vs. Fisk
FLOOR: 48.100 – Feb. 14 vs. SEMO/Northern Illinois & March 8 vs. Fisk
BEAM: 48.350 – Feb. 28 vs. ISU/Bowling Green & Central Michigan
BARS: 48.150 – March 8 vs. Fisk
Crowley, who is in her third season at the helm in 2025, is a Spring, Texas native, is a former Centenary gymnast (2009-13). She helped lead the Ladies to a third-place finish at the 2013 USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals, also finishing third on floor and served as team co-captain her senior year.
Emma Lavelle was named a finalist for the prestigious AAI Award sponsored by American Athletic Inc. (AAI) on March 4. Lavelle is the only division III gymnast of the 59 nominees in the country. The AAI Award is given annually and is voted on by NCAA women's gymnastics head coaches throughout the nation. The award, which is sponsored by the American Athletic Inc., is often likened to the Heisman Trophy for Women's Gymnastics and has become a symbol of excellence in the sport.
Five Ladies have been the recipient of the MIC Coaches' Choice Award this season, one of the four individual honors that the conference chooses on a weekly basis. The five Ladies are:
Sophie Schmitz – March 4
Junior Claire Flores (Oklahoma City, Okla.) – Feb. 25
Junior Amy Foret (Bedford, Texas) – Feb. 19
Emma Lavelle – Feb. 4
Sophomore Olivia Williams (Cape Coral, Fla.) – Jan. 28
Sophie Schmitz and Olivia Williams will compete at nationals for the second season in a row and were two of six Ladies who qualified last year. Williams was named a First-Team All-American following her appearance in the finals at the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships held at West Chester University. Williams finished 13th on floor with a 9.66.
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/gymnastics/2024-25/schedule
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