OSHKOSH — The UW Oshkosh women’s gymnastics team took home their third straight NCGA championship this past weekend in Pennsylvania. The only way to label this group now: Dynasty.
- The Titans women's gymnastics program won their third straight national championship this past weekend.
- They set a D3 record with a score of 194.975,
- The title gives UW Oshkosh women's gymnastics their 7th title in program history
“This year it was kind of one of those things that if we could three-peat we could become a dynasty so that was really cool,” said head coach Lauren Karnitz.
An 06’ graduate of UW Oshkosh, when Karnitz took over the program 17 years ago she couldn’t envision ever having a run of three-straight titles
“Looking back and like on these last 3 years and knowing we did something I couldn’t have even imagined is pretty special,” she said.
Karnitz says thanks to in-state tuition being offered to out-of-state students who have good academics it allows her to make a super team. But it takes more than that to have success.
“We have talked about it all year that we want to be the hardest working team in the gym and wherever the chips may fall from there – then so be it,” said Karnitz.
“[Coach Karnitz] is amazing with motivating us,” said senior Anna Zoromski. “She’ll definitely tell us when she wants more, but I think that only adds fuel to the fire.”
This super team dynasty took their success to new heights when they won the championship. They set a D3 record with a score of 194.975, which is up there with Division 1 schools. But their goal was to hit 195.
“I think we were all super excited but we were all disappointed we missed that 195 by .25,” said senior Emily Buffington who won the all-around.
“It was something that we dreamed of, but didn’t really realize that we could make a reality,” Karnitz said of breaking the record.
For the seniors, their freshman year was wiped out by COVID-19, so for the head coach to see them persevere is extra special. She is holding out hope they’ll return for one last year thanks to that extra season of eligibility.
“Wouldn’t it be special if they could go home with a full set at the end of the day – full set of rings, four championships.”
Returning or not, this group has set an incredibly high standard for the Titans women’s gymnastics program
“It’s just kind of crazy that we’re the group that set this standard and sophomore year we thought we set a standard with the seniors we had and we set the standard at nationals of breaking the D3 record and we thought that was the standard, but coming into this year and breaking that record and setting a new one is crazy,” Buffington said.
The title gives UW Oshkosh its 50th national title in school history.
