WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University gymnastics team closed out its home portion of the 2019 schedule with a win over UW-Eau Claire on Tuesday night in McCown Gymnasium, 183.100-182.350. It marked the first head-to-head dual meet victory of the season for the Warriors while performing in front of their home crown for the final time.

WSU opened competition with a slight lead after rotation one and continued to have a solid showing from there. The Warriors posted a team score of 45.975 on the vault and were led by Leah Messelt and Kaitlyn West (9.225) who tied for second individually in the overall standings.

The Warriors posted a season-high score of 46.10 on the uneven parallel bars to further distance themselves from the Blugolds in rotation two. Anna Hiller (9.3) placed second in the event while Shelsea Zehr and Alexis Burton (9.275) tied for third.

In her final home meet as a Warrior, senior Natalie Koehler (9.350) paced Winona State on the balance beam, registering a first-place tie with teammate Kelly Johnston in the event. 

WSU had to come from behind on the team scoreboard in the final rotation, leveraging their expertise on the floor. Despite the Blugolds taking the top two individual spots, the Warriors collected a team total of 46.275 to edge out UW-Eau Claire in the final score. Messelt posted the top Warrior mark with a score of 9.350 to place third overall while helping seal the team victory.

Zehr set a new personal record in the meet with her performance on bars while Hailey Bryant matched her PR on floor exercise (9.250).

Winona State concludes the regular season on Sunday, March 3 as the Warriors travel to St. Paul to take on Hamline University. Competition is set to begin at 1 p.m.