The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh women’s gymnastics team fell to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a score of 187.650-181.775 on Friday in La Crosse.

The Eagles, defending WIAC champions, had six of the top seven participants in the floor exercise and also had four of the top six participants in two other events.

Senior Danielle Turner led the Titans in the vault with a score of 9.275 and placed third in the event. Sophomore Dana LoCascio and freshman Jessica Bernardo came in sixth and seventh with scores of 9.225 and 9.175.

Freshman Karen King was next in the vault with a score of 9.1. Freshman Baylee Tkaczuk scored a 9.0 in the vault, giving UWO a final score of 46.325.

The Eagles claimed the top two spots in the uneven bars. Tkaczuk placed third in the event for the Titans with a score of 9.45. Junior Kasandra Stamopoulos came in fifth with a score of 9.350. Bernardo placed seventh with a score of 9.05.

Stamopoulos said confidence has been a big reason for her success in the uneven bars and balance beam.

“I’ve really focused on having confidence while doing my skills during practice, both mentally having it and physically portraying it,” Stamopoulos said. “That has really helped me to hit both of my events at every meet.”

Tkaczuk led the way for UWO as she was the lone all-around participant for the Titans and received a total score of 36.25.

Head Coach Lauren Karnitz acknowledged Tkaczuk and her impressive performance thus far this season.

“I think she is a very talented young lady,” Karnitz said. “She really stands out on the uneven bars and the balance beam. She really leads the pack.”

UW-La Crosse’s Samantha Wiekemp was the all-around champion with a score of 37.45 points. Wiekemp scored a 9.45 in the floor routine, a 9.35 in the beam, a 9.375 in the bars and finished the day with a 9.275 in the vault.

Karnitz said she thinks the team did a good job in vault, bars, and beam but struggled on the floor routine.

“We definitely had consistency on vault, bars and beam,” Karnitz said. “But we really let it go on floor.”

The Eagles only had two participants with a score lower than nine points on Friday evening. UW-La Crosse outscored the Titans by four points in the floor routine with a score of 44.10-47.825 as Abby Ostrovsky won the event with a score of 9.65.

Tkaczuk admitted the floor routine caused the Titans problems and said injuries were a big reason for why they could not get scores they wanted.

“The main issue gymnastics wise was our floor performance,” Tkaczuk said. “We didn’t have enough people in the lineup on floor to start the season, so a few people coming off an injury had to step up last minute, making it hard to have the solid routine we could count on.”

The best score for the Titans individually was Tkaczuk with a 9.55 in her beam routine.

The Titan gymnasts have a long break before their next meet against UW-Whitewater on Saturday, Feb. 18th.

Tkaczuk said the break will allow her team to get healthy before taking on the Warhawks.

“I honestly think this break couldn’t have been at a better time for us,” Tkaczuk said. “We can use this time to improve our floor and work on fixing up the little things on other events.”