ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood gymnastics (2-1) will host their first meet of the season on Sunday when they welcome the Panthers of Greenville University at 1:00 p.m. CT. This marks the first of four home meets this season for the LU gymnastics team.

Last Meet Recap
During the opening week of the season, Lindenwood took home a second place finish at the Mizzou Invite hosted by the University of Missouri. The Lions finished with an overall score of 194.000 finishing over MIC opponent SEMO and Northern Illinois who tied with a score of 192.775.

2023 All-MIC gymnast Gayla Griswold started out the season strong with a 9.975 during her floor routine. That was the third highest score of all gymnasts during the invitational. She also was the highest finisher of any LU gymnast last week.

Missouri transfer Reece Baechle made her Lindenwood debut back where she transferred from in Columbia. Baechle put up a 9.700 in both the vault and bars during her first meet in a Lindenwood uniform.

Coming off a second-team MIC selection last season, Trinity Caffey posted a 9.800 on her vault routine which is her second best of her career. She also earned a 9.775 during her floor routine.

Nya Kraus (38.725) and Hannah Appleget (38.300) were the only two Lindenwood gymnasts to post final all-around performances. Kraus' 9.825 score on the beam was the fifth best finish of the night.  Her bar routine also was sixth overall (9.775). Jaly Jones had an impressive opening night finishing in sixth in bars (9.775) and fifth on her floor routine (9.850).

Head Coach: Catelyn Branson
Catelyn Branson was named the gymnastics head coach in July of 2021, and will enter her third season with Lindenwood in 2023-24.  Orel is just the third head coach in program history.

The Lindenwood gymnastics team saw continued success in 2023, earning the top-seed at the MIC Championships, finishing in second place. Lindenwood took home the USAG National Championship for the first time since 2019. 

In her first season, the Lindenwood gymnastics team had yet another successful campaign, earning third at USAG nationals and advancing a student-athlete to NCAA nationals. Griswold became the first Lion in program history to qualify for the national event, as the junior capped her season on the vault in Fort Worth, Texas.

Branson comes to Lindenwood after serving two seasons on the staff at the University of Arkansas. She competed as a student-athlete at the University of Nebraska from 2015-19.  As a member of the Nebraska gymnastics program, Branson was named academic all-Big Ten twice, and earned scholar-athlete honor roll four times. 

Up Next
Lindenwood will hit the road once again next Friday, January 19 as they partake in the Tennessee Collegiate Classic hosted by Fisk University. For more information on all Lindenwood gymnastics' news, go to lindenwoodlions.com.