2025 Season Preview: Centenary Gymnastics
The Centenary gymnastics team opens its 2025 season on Sunday as a very special and exciting season begins with the Ladies taking on the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers in a Midwest Independent Conference Championship meet at 2 p.m. inside Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas.
Shreveport – The Centenary gymnastics team opens its 2025 season on Sunday as a very special and exciting season begins with the Ladies taking on the Texas Woman's University Pioneers in a Midwest Independent Conference dual meet at 2 p.m. inside Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas.
Live results and live video are available for meet at the links below:
LIVE RESULTS: https://virti.us/session?s=XTEEhUx31z
"It's an exciting season here in the Gold Dome as Centenary is the host for the Midwest Independent Conference Championship and the WCG National Invitational Championship, plus you'll have four regular season meets to catch the Ladies live and in action at the Gold Dome," said third-year head coach Meg Crowley.
Crowley is a former Centenary gymnast (2009-13) who helped lead the Ladies to a third-place finish at the 2013 USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals, also finishing third on floor and served as team co-captain her senior year. She will be assisted by Joseph Hodges, who is also in his third season with the program.
Hodges was named the division III Region Nine Assistant Coach of the Year last season by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association. He helped the Maroon and White to a successful season in which six Ladies qualified for the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships.
"Joseph and I are looking forward to this season," said Crowley. "We brought in eight new freshmen this year with a lot of talent. Historically speaking, bars has been one of our lower scoring events, but we have had a lot of growth over the past year from returners and our newcomers. We have a strong senior class with competition experience who will be leading the charge this season."
As far as returners, we are excited to welcome junior Amy Foret (Bedford, Texas) back to floor, after a year off recovering from her knee injury, and junior Claire Flores (Oklahoma City, Okla.) is looking to be a staple in line-ups for multiple events this year.
Three of the six Ladies who qualified for nationals last season are back this season- Foret, junior Sophie Schmitz (Trophy Club, Texas), and sophomore Olivia Williams (Cape Coral, Fla.).
Centenary finished fifth at the MIC Championships last season and have the pleasure of hosting the event this season, on Friday, March 21 inside the Gold Dome at 5 p.m. The Ladies will be joined by Illinois State, SEMO, and TWU.
The Ladies' highest team score in a meet last season was a 190.325 on March 17 to finish second in a dual meet against TWU in Denton, Texas and it is their highest team score since posting a 192.475 on March 11, 2023 against Lindenwood at home.
Foret qualified for the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships on beam after another impressive season in which she competed in 13 meets on both beam and vault. She recorded a new career-high 9.8 on beam on Feb. 9 versus Alaska and Talladega at home and posted a season-high 9.625 on vault on March 8 against West Chester and William & Mary. She was the recipient of the MIC Coaches' Choice Award on Jan. 17 as she earned one of the four individual honors that the conference chooses on a weekly basis after recording Centenary's best individual score of the Ladies' season-opening meet against SEMO with an impressive 9.675 on beam to finish third, also the Ladies' highest finish of the meet.
Flores competed in 11 meets on bars and on floor last season and recorded a season and career-high 9.55 on bars on Feb. 26 at home against Bridgeport and posted a season and career-high 9.65 on floor on March 23 at the MIC Championships. She was named a Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Academic All-American and a MIC Scholar-Athlete.
Schmitz turned in a stellar season as she qualified for and competed at the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships on bars and vault. She competed in 13 meets during the season in all four individual events (bars, beam, floor, and vault) and in the All-Around and set season and career highs on beam, floor, vault, and in the AA during the course of the season. She tied for sixth place on vault with a new career-best 9.65 on March 8 against West Chester and William & Mary and posted season and career highs on floor (9.55) on March 10 against Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Schmitz was the recipient of the MIC Coaches' Choice Award on March 14 and received it for the first time in her career after her impressive performances a pair of meets on March 8 and 10. She tied her career-high on bars (9.775) on March 10 to finish second as she finished second in the AA with a new season and career-best 37.925 on March 10 and then set a new career high (38.175) in the AA the following weekend (March 17) in a meet against Michigan State and Texas Woman's University. She competed in the AA for the first time in her career on March 8 against West Chester and William & Mary and later she set a new season and career-high score on beam (9.60) on March 23 in the MIC Championships. Schmitz was an outstanding student as well as she was named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Women's At-Large team, named a Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Academic All-American, and a MIC Scholar-Athlete.
Williams is back after a sensational freshman season in 2024 as she put the finishing touch on an impressive rookie campaign with an appearance in the finals at the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships. Williams was named a First-Team All-American as she finished 13th on floor with a 9.66 as she put a cap on her outstanding season for the Ladies after recording a career-high 9.75 on floor in the opening session of nationals to qualify for the event finals. Her previous career high on floor was a 9.725 at the MIC Championships and she competed in 13 meets during the season on bars, floor, and vault. Her season high on bars was a 9.375 which she recorded three times (Feb. 11, 26, and March 10) and she was also named an MIC Scholar-Athlete.
Sophomore Hayden Cagle (Austin, Texas), senior Emma Lavelle (Mandeville, La.), sophomore Emily McClung (Athens, Ga.), sophomore Brooke Murdock (Garland, Texas), sophomore Cecilia Paredes (Rockwall, Texas), junior Olivia Stratmann (Houston, Texas), and senior Mylia Vidtor (The Colony, Texas) are all back this season.
Cagle competed in five meets in both the beam and vault and her season-best score was an 8.825 on beam on Feb. 9 at home against Alaska and Talladega. She was named a Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Academic All-American and a MIC Scholar-Athlete. Lavelle competed in 11 meets on bars, beam, and floor as she turned in another solid season. Her season high on floor was a 9.25 on Jan. 12 in the Ladies' season-opening meet versus SEMO, she posted a season-high 9.5252 on bars on Feb. 9 versus Alaska and Talladega, and she had a season-best 9.675 on beam on Feb. 16 against Air Force and UC-Davis. She was named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Women's At-Large team, named a Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Academic All-American, and a MIC Scholar-Athlete.
McClung competed in eight meets in her first season with the Ladies after transferring, competing on both floor and vault during the season. She posted a season-high 9.3 on vault four times (Feb. 11, 26, March 17 and 23) and also posted a season-best 9.375 on floor on Feb. 9 against Alaska and Talladega. Murdock competed in 11 meets on bars, beam, and floor and recorded a season and career-high 8.85 on bars on Feb. 11 at home in a tri-meet against Alaska, Greeneville, and Talladega. She set season and career highs (9.625) on beam twice during the season – on Feb. 26 home against Bridgeport and then again on March 17 against Michigan State and Texas Woman's University. She also set season and career highs (9.55) on floor on Feb. 4 against Lindenwood and Simpson and was named a MIC Scholar-Athlete.
Parades was injured and did not compete last season and is eager to compete in 2025. Stratmann competed in five meets before her season was cut short due to injury as before then she competed on both bars and vault. She recorded a season and career-high 9.65 on vault on Feb. 4 against Lindenwood and Simpson and posted a season and career-best 9.15 on Jan. 21 against TWU. She was named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Women's At-Large team, named a Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Academic All-American, and named a MIC Scholar-Athlete
Vidtor competed in 12 meets on beam and vault last season and competed on beam in all 12 of her meets and recorded a season and career-high 9.575 on March 8 against Westchester and William & Mary. She competed once on vault during the season and it was that same meet on March 8 as she posted a season and career-best 9.45.
The eight freshmen that are joining the Ladies' roster this season are – Peyton Burford (West Monroe, La.), Skyla Cruz (El Paso, Texas), Molly English (Newnan, Ga.), Chloe Gilbert (Pflugerville, Texas), Anna Ichiba (Murphy, Texas), Olivia Montgomery (Willard, Mo.), Erin Pinder (Bridgetown Barbados), and Aria Roberts.
The Ladies will host four home meets this season, with their home opener set for Monday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. against SEMO and Westchester. Their other home meets are on Friday, Jan. 31 against Greeneville University (6 p.m.), Saturday, Feb. 22 against TWU at 4 p.m., and finally on Saturday, March 8 against Fisk University on Senior Night at 5 p.m. The Feb. 22 meet will also be the annual Sylvia Keiter Memorial Meet and the alumnae meet. The Ladies will compete in four road meets during the regular season.
As Crowley mentioned with excitement in her thoughts as the Ladies begin the season, the program will serve as host for both the annual MIC Championships and the USAG Collegiate Nationals April 11-13.
See the Ladies' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/gymnastics/2024-25/schedule
Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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