TWU gymnastics team celebrates seniors in regular season finale

The seniors — Maddie Griffith, Mara Johnson, MacKenzie Kunzman, Beth Lazarus, Alix Pierce, Kyla Podges and Daisy Woodring — were honored with their senior banner presentation during march-in and, following the meet, they were escorted by their family and friends as they received mementos from their years at TWU. 

The joy and celebration extended to the competition. TWU, showing off brand-new leotards, started the afternoon out on vault and vaulted to a new season high, 49.075, on the event.

In the opening rotation, Woodring tied her career high of a 9.900 to lead the way for the Pioneers. Matching career highs seemed to be a trend, as Steelie King hit her career mark of 9.850 for the third time. Madeline Gose kept the high scores rolling in, scoring a 9.825 on the event. Beth Lazarus scored a season-high 9.775 to help guide the Pioneers to the season-high finish. Maddie Griffith and Mara Johnson started off their senior day well, scoring a 9.725 and 9.700 respectively on vault.

Rotating to the uneven bars, TWU continued to perform strong, just narrowly missing their season-high mark with a 48.775 on the uneven bars.

On bars, Griffith led the Pioneers, matching her career high with a 9.850. Pierce performed strongly on bars and scored a 9.800. King, who competed all-around for just the second time in her career, scored a 9.750 on the bars. Freshmen Brooke Ferrari with a 9.700 and Kami Zarlengo scored a 9.675 to notch the final top five scores for the Pioneers.

With a great tone set in the first two rotations, TWU moved over to the balance beam. Gose led the Pioneers on the event with a 9.800, and Kunzman matched her season high with a 9.775. In her third event of the day, King scored a 9.725. Podges scored a 9.725, and Pierce anchored the Pioneers with a 9.675.

TWU ended its final regular-season meet in KMA with fantastic floor routines. On floor, the Pioneers recorded their second rotation of the day with a 49, hitting a 49.025 in their final rotation. Once again, the seniors led TWU on floor. Johnson brought Pioneer fans to their feet with her season-high 9.850, and Woodring ignited the fans with a season-high 9.850. Gose and King kept the energy level high with a pair of 9.800s. To round out the top five scores, Podges flipped to a 9.725.

King, who competed all-around, scored a career-high 39.125 to tie for fifth all-around.

"It was an electric atmosphere in KMA today and a great way to close out our regular season," TWU coach Lisa Bowerman said. "We are looking forward to a quick week ahead before conference championships on Friday."

As the Pioneers wrapped up the regular season this afternoon, they will go on the road for the Midwest Independent Conference Championships on Friday at 5 p.m., hosted by Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.