Meg Crowley Named 2025 WCG National Invitational Championship Coach of the Year
Meg Crowley was named the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championship Coach of the Year, it was announced at the official team welcome banquet on Thursday evening.
Shreveport – Meg Crowley was named the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics National Invitational Championship Coach of the Year, it was announced at the official team welcome banquet on Thursday evening.
Crowley and her 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.
Crowley, who is in her third season at the helm, is a Spring, Texas native, is a former Centenary gymnast (2009-13) who 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. Crowley was coached by longtime head coach Jackie Fain, who retired after the 2022 campaign after 11 successful seasons at the helm.
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.
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.
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).
Crowley led the program to one of its most successful seasons in the division III era in 2023- her first season as head coach. Eight Ladies qualified for the 2023 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships, marking the most Centenary gymnasts to qualify for the prestigious event since 2017. Four Ladies received All-American honors following the event as sophomore Carissa Martinez (Albuquerque, N.M.) and senior Taylor Ann Wilson (Memphis, Tenn.) each received First-Team All-American honors following their impressive performances in the event finals.
Crowley led the Ladies to another successful season in 2024 as they finished fifth at the annual Midwest Independent Conference Championships, and six Centenary gymnasts qualified as individuals for the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships.
Crowley led the program to one of its most successful seasons in the division III era in 2023. Eight Ladies qualified for the 2023 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships, marking the most Centenary gymnasts to qualify for the prestigious event since 2017. Four Ladies received All-American honors following the event as sophomore Carissa Martinez (Albuquerque, N.M.) and senior Taylor Ann Wilson (Memphis, Tenn.) each received First-Team All-American honors following their impressive performances in the event finals.
Eleven Ladies were named MIC Scholar-Athletes and four had perfect 4.0 GPA's. Five Ladies earned a spot on the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Women's At-Large Team – Huff, Lavelle, Stephens, and Wilson were joined by junior Isabel Plaza (San Antonio, Texas), The prestigious team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom. Crowley was selected as Coach of the Year at Centenary Athletics' annual end-of-the-year banquet in April.
Crowley trained at Bannon's Gymnastics under Luis Brasesco and Olympic coach Aimee Boorman prior to being recruited to Centenary as a student-athlete. She completed her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Texas Woman's University in 2016 and was previously a level 10 rated gymnastics judge.
Crowley spent six years in Chicago working as a physical therapist, where she worked in an outpatient orthopedic clinic treating a wide range of patients with a special interest in women's health and female athletes.
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