The UW Oshkosh Gymnastics team won their second meet in a row in their competition against Winona State University 188.100-181.900 at the Kolf Sports Center on March 18.

With the win, UWO holds a 2-1 record and had conference representation with sophomore Trinity Sawyer being named best Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) specialist of the week.

The team is pleased with their performance in what has been a peculiar season plagued with safety restrictions and changes to accommodate for the pandemic.

“We have faced a lot of adversity this year due to the pandemic and numerous injuries on the team,” senior Paige Mayhew said. “However, we have worked hard and have given our all. I would say we started out strong with a lot of potential. It is safe to say we had a great deal of confidence.”

The pandemic is not the only instance where the Titans have had to overcome some obstacles, as the team has lost a few of its athletes early in the season due to injury.

“Unfortunately, we had a lot of girls go down with injuries in a very short amount of time in the beginning of our season, and it affected us,” Mayhew said. “It took some extra work and support from all of our teammates to persevere and regain our confidence”

Mayhew herself is currently nursing an injury, but she is hoping to return before the season’s end.

Sawyer set a season record on the vault, scoring 9.775 to win that event for the defending WIAC champions.

Freshman Emily Buffington took first place in three separate categories. She won the uneven parallel bar event with a score of 9.625, the balance beam event with a score of 9.575, and had the best all-around score at 37.850.

The main challenge that UWO is focusing on to finish their season strong is addressing any small wobbles or imperfections in each event. By polishing up the fundamentals, the team believes that the sky’s the limit for them.

“We have impressive routines, but they would be unstoppable if we can get rid of those small wobbles that cost us deductions,” Mayhew said. “It is a major focus for us this week, so I am confident you will see big scores from us.”

UWO’s fourth and final meet of the year will take place against UW-Whitewater, and the Titans acknowledge that they have a sizable challenge in trying to end their season on a win.
UWW is also 2-1 on the season with wins against UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse, and its lone loss was against the very Winona State squad that UWO just defeated.

“Our last meet is against Whitewater, a very talented gymnastics team, so we know it will be a battle,” Mayhew said. “The girls and I feel very prepared and are ready to put all our hard work to the test.”