Following its historic 2019 season, Lindenwood gymnastics is set to begin the 2020 campaign as a nationally-ranked program for the first time in its eight-year history. The Lions earned the 36th and final spot in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Preseason Poll, which was released on Wednesday afternoon.
The WCGA poll ranked the nation's top 36 programs across all levels, with Lindenwood being the only NCAA Division II program to earn the distinction of being ranked. The Lions totaled 82 points in the poll, landing ahead of NCAA Division I programs such as Kent State (71 points), Michigan State (69 points), Pittsburgh (57 points), and North Carolina (54 points). Oklahoma received 36 first-place votes to finish atop of the rankings, with LSU, Florida, UCLA, and Utah rounding out the top five.
Lindenwood had the most successful season in program history in 2019, establishing a new conference record by securing its fifth consecutive MIC Championship and also capturing their third USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championship in the last five years. The Lions set a new program record in 2019 with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 195.400, the highest mark in program history. Based on its RQS, Lindenwood ranked 36th nationally, and became just the third-ever NCAA Division II program to compete in an NCAA Regional.
The Lions will open the 2020 season on January 9, 2020 during a tri-meet with Illinois and Temple from Champaign, Ill. Lindenwood will have its first home meet of the year on February 2, 2020 when it hosts Eastern Michigan at 1:00 p.m. from Hyland Arena. In all, the Lions will compete against a total of eight teams ranked in the WCGA Preseason Poll in 2020.
| 2019 WCGA PRESEASON COACHES POLL |
| Rank |
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Oklahoma (36) |
1,813 |
| 2 |
LSU* (11) |
1,755 |
| 3 |
Florida (2) |
1.680 |
| 4 |
UCLA |
1,671 |
| 5 |
Utah |
1,559 |
| 6 |
Michigan |
1,515 |
| 7 |
Denver (1) |
1,493 |
| 8 |
Georgia |
1,438 |
| 9 |
California |
1,315 |
| 10 |
Alabama |
1,306 |
| 11 |
Oregon State |
1,271 |
| 12 |
Kentucky* |
1,240 |
| 13 |
Auburn |
1,213 |
| 14 |
Minnesota* |
1,196 |
| 15 |
Nebraska |
1,137 |
| 16 |
Missouri* |
1,000 |
| 17 |
Washington |
925 |
| 18 |
Boise State |
900 |
| 19 |
Arkansas |
798 |
| 20 |
Iowa State* |
765 |
| 21 |
Arizona State |
749 |
| 22 |
Stanford |
746 |
| 23 |
BYU |
742 |
| 24 |
Ohio State* |
654 |
| 25 |
Penn State |
638 |
| 26 |
Southern Utah |
559 |
| 27 |
Illinois* |
544 |
| 28 |
North Carolina State* |
497 |
| 29 |
Iowa |
427 |
| 30 |
West Virginia |
425 |
| 31 |
Arizona |
365 |
| 32 |
George Washington |
317 |
| 33 |
Maryland |
301 |
| 34 |
Central Michigan |
233 |
| 35 |
New Hampshire |
204 |
| 36 |
Lindenwood |
82 |
| * indicates 2020 opponent |
