The Lindenwood gymnastics program celebrated Senior Night for its inaugural class on Friday night at Hyland Arena. That senior class put on a memorable show, helping the Lady Lions to a win over Centenary.
Lindenwood had six seniors performing in 13 routines in the team's final tuneup before the MIC Championships. The senior class averaged a score of 9.71, had 10 routines of 9.7 or higher, and five routines of 9.8 or higher.
Valeri Ingui and
Rachel Zabawa led the way, with each winning two events in the dual meet. Ingui was first in the vault with a 9.850, and the bars with a 9.800. She also scored a 9.775 on the beam. Zabawa won the beam with a 9.800, was first on the floor with a 9.850, and she also scored a 9.775 on the vault.
Alicia Floyd competed in one event and had a 9.800 on the beam, which tied Zabawa for first overall.
Courtney Heise,
Trystien Charles, and
Lauren Cartmell all competed in two events. Heise's best score was a 9.775 on the bars, Charles had a 9.700 on the floor, and Cartmell scored a 9.700 on the beam.
Lindenwood also celebrated two other members of its inaugural team in
Daniela Fumagalli and
Katie Kuehl. Fumagalli did not compete due to injury, and Kuehl is a student coach this year after also having injury issues.
The Lady Lions won the dual by a score of 194.825-189.250. Lindenwood's score was the second-highest regular season score in program history. The Lady Lions had top-five all-time marks on the vault (48.750), beam (48.825), and floor (48.900), and they scored a 48.350 on the bars.
Two other top performances on the night both came on the floor as
Kayla McMullan and
Katey Oswalt both scored a 9.825, and tied for second overall.
Andavea Alexander and
Aubree Horn both finished with 9.750 scores on the bars.
Lindenwood will next be at the MIC Championships which will take place on Saturday, March 19, at 4 p.m. at Southeast Missouri. The Lady Lions will look to be the first team to repeat as conference champions since 2008.
