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Gymnastics Season Preview

Story by: WSU Sports Information Office


When talking with Winona State University gymnastics coach Beckie Rolbiecki about her gymnastics program someone would get the impression she is extremely proud of her program. This is because Coach Rolbiecki IS extremely proud of her program. Recent results show Rolbiecki should be proud of her gymnasts and their accomplishments both in the gym and the classroom.

Rolbiecki is entering her fourth year as head coach of the Warriors’ gymnastics program, which is coming off a season where the Warriors qualified for nationals for the first time in 14 years and also set some very high academic standards. This has created some excitement for Rolbiecki and her team, which returns the entire squad from last season and has hopes of another trip to the nationals and a higher finish in the final standings.

“The seniors built this team,” said Rolbiecki of Alexandra Nugent, Eileen Strube, Renae Lee and Missy Vodvarka. “We are hoping to return to nationals to close out their collegiate careers.”

The collegiate careers of the four seniors have all had some shining moments. Nugent, Strube and Vodvarka are all three-time scholastic All-Americans, while Lee earned scholastic All-American honors twice. In gymnastics competition, Strube is a two-time balance beam All-American, while Nugent earned All-American honors last year on the vault, beam, floor exercise and All-Around.

With the academic showing of the four seniors, the Warriors have shown more than a modicum of success in the classroom. The team boasts the highest grade point average (GPA) of all the athletic teams at Winona State and has earned national ranking also. In the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches’ list of Scholastic All-America teams, the Warriors ranked second out of 64 teams from all NCAA divisions with a cumulative GPA of 3.7550. Individually the Warriors were also remarkable, as 12 of the 22 team members earned Scholastic All-American honors with four (Nugent, Lee, Jory Waldron and Melissa Baudhuin) scoring 4.0 GPAs on a scale of 4.0.

 “I am very proud. These young women worked hard to maintain their status (academically),” said Rolbiecki. “This team is a perfect picture for ideal student-athletes. I have always told them to prioritize academics.”

The competitive season for the Warriors is set to start January 8 at home against Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Gustavus Adolphus. The schedule also includes meets against the WIAC and national power University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the greatly improved WIAC program at UW-Whitewater. According to Rolbiecki, the WIAC will be as strong as ever with UW-Whitewater improving its program and UW-La Crosse continuing to be a powerhouse. Still Rolbiecki sees the schedule as a great competitive challenge.

“We have some events to work on like our vault values and our bar values,” explained Rolbiecki. “We want this team to be better than last year.”

Rolbiecki also points out that Nugent is the top all-around scorer on the team with Baudhuin a close second. Team captains Strube and Vodvarka add to that all-around success and there are high expectations from sophomores Amanda Cotter and Katie Gregory, who are both recovering from injuries. Add to this the top efforts of Lee, who is a three-event specialist (vault, beam, and floor) and that gives the Warriors a solid nucleus for the coming season.

No matter the outcome of the season one aspect is certain, the pride Rolbiecki has of her team.

“I really enjoy what I am doing,” said Rolbiecki. “I am lucky to have this team. I have a team which gets along with each other great. We go to meets and get stopped by people who give us compliments about our team cohesion. This team is made up of good people and good athletes.”

Rolbiecki went on to say, “As we build this program it is important for me to have the talent and strength of this team recognized and appreciated. The level of performance from this team is incredible and one that should not be missed.”

 

Last Modified: Monday, October 06, 2008 12:55 by Mason Rebarchek