WC Wisconsin News

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire freshman gymnast Andrea O'Connell will be showing her strengths as the Blugold's lone representative at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) meet later this month, according to a university announcement.

O'Connell will be among the teams and student-athletes who will compete at the 2022 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association National Meet on March 26, the first NCGA national meet since before the pandemic. The national meet will be at the host institution, Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.

"Andrea has quite a few strengths as she trains all-around," UW–Eau Claire Head Women's Gymnastics Coach Jessie DeZiel told WC Wisconsin News. "She is an extremely powerful gymnast, making floor and vault her best.

O'Connell was an individual qualifier on floor, according to information on the NCGA's website.

"She does a great job as a floor competitor having both the tumbling and the dance to go with it," DeZiel said. "Watching her perform her routine is a lot of fun!"

Fun is what DeZiel said she hopes O'Connell has at Nationals, "and take in the experience."

"Going to nationals as a freshman is a great accomplishment," DeZiel said, and then recalled O'Connell's performance at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). "The routine she did at WIAC Championships was a great routine, I want her to do the same thing and have a little more fun!"

DeZiel, one of the most decorated gymnasts ever at University of Nebraska where she subsequently became a volunteer assistant, was hired as UW-Eau Claire head women's gymnastics coach in September, according to the school's website.

O'Connell, a graduate of Mount Horeb High School in Blue Mounds, has been scoring high of late. Last month, during the Blugolds meet with Gustavus Adolphus College in their fourth competition of the year, O'Connell took first place on the floor which, combined with Tayla Thome's first place finish on the beam, gave the team its first victory in more than three years, according to the school's website. About a week later, during their final home meet of the season in the WIAC Quadrangular, the Blugolds posted their season's highest score, 185.225, to finished in third place. During that event, O'Connell finished fourth on floor with a 9.575.

It was that score on the floor that earned O'Connell a spot at the national meet, according to the university's announcement issued March 8. Her team personal best, along with her season high score, tied O'Connell for fourth during the WIAC meet among 48 other entries.

Individual gymnasts who place first through sixth, including ties, in event categories become part of the All-America First Team while those who finish seventh through 12th, including ties, become All-America Second Team members.

O'Connell will be the lone BluGold gymnast at nationals during a historic moment, the first nationals meet since before COVID-19 shutdowns in the U.S.

"There is a national meet every year," DeZiel said. "Due to COVID, the past two years they haven't had a national meet. In a usual year, athletes get the opportunity to either qualify as an individual or place in the top three as a team to qualify as a team."