Winona State women's gymnastics hosts WIAC rival UW-Lacrosse, Friday night in McCown Gymnasium as the Warriors celebrate Parent/Senior night. As is tradition, the second to last home meet of the year will honor the achievements of the graduating seniors as well as recognize all WSU parents who continuously support their student-athletes.

The meet with UWL is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
 
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SCOUTING THE EAGLES: UW-La Crosse enters Friday's meet second in the WIAC. The Eagles most recently defeated UW-Oshkosh by a narrow score of 186.750-184.675. La-Crosse has yet to lose a dual meet this season, something Winona State is still searching for. The rankings are littered with UW-L gymnasts boasting at least two ladies in each of the top-10 of each discipline. Kacey Mortenson ranks eighth in the All-Around with an SAS of 36.013 and Ally Blixt is the highest ranked Eagle on any of the lists coming in second on beam with an SAS of 9.575.
 
SENIOR SEND OFF: Friday's meet against UWL will stand as the second-to-last home meet for Natalie Koehler as the Warriors honor their lone senior. Koehler has been a four-year fixture in the WSU lineup. She scored a career-best 9.65 on the beam as a sophomore and tallied a season-high score 9.575 earlier this season at Lindenwood. Koehler has scored at least a 9.5 on the beam three times this season. In addition to Senior Night, Friday will as serve as Winona State's Parents Night.
 
TRENDING UP:The Warriors are still seeking their first head-to-head dual meet victory this season, but the team continues to progress as they get closer to the WIAC Championship/NCGA Regional hosted by UW-Stout on March 9th. Winona State has totaled a team score of at least 180 in each of its six meets to date, including a season-high score of 183.675 last weekend at Stout.
 
CONSISTENCY IS KEY: A main contributor to the Warriors steady rise in scores this season has been the rising reputation of Kennedy Utz. The junior specialist has been a model for consistency through Winona State's first six meets posting scores of 9.35 or above in four meets on the floor exercise. In Utz other event, vault, she has averaged a 9.2 through the six meets this season. Fellow teammate Shelsea Zehr has also been a rock in the Warrior lineup posting an average of 9.34 on floor this season while posting four scores above 9.0 on uneven bars.
 
DANCING FEET: Boosting Winona State's scores this season has been the Warriors' collective performance on the floor. As a team, the Warriors average 46.35 on the floor with a season-high 46.8 coming against UW-Stout. WSU's high score on the floor came from Utz who posted a 9.575 against Lindenwood earlier this season.
 
RISING STAR: Freshman Kaitlyn West continues to stand out from the crowd in her rookie season. In the lineup since day one, West has shown continuous improvement this season much like the overall team. To kick off the season she posted a team-high 9.45 on vault at the U of M and after some mid-season struggles has worked her way back to where she was at the start posing a 9.325 against Stout. The Kansas native has also been a solid contributor on beam posting a season-high 9.4 and doing her part for WSU on the floor scoring at least a 9.0 in each meet this season.
 
HIGH HOPES: Despite not winning a dual meet so far this season, Winona State has much to be proud of, posting some pretty good numbers throughout the 2019 campaign. Vault started strong before pedering off through the midway point of the season, but the team score is back and better that ever posting a season-high 46.3 at Stout. The Warriors again started off strong on the uneven bars at the U of M with a 45.25 but have been in slight decline since. Winona State shows consistent scores on beam with three meets scoring 46 or higher with the highest score coming at Lindenwood (46.6). The bread and butter of the season has been the Warriors' ability to score on the floor, scoring at least a 46.0 all season with a season-high 46.8 at UW-Stout this past week.