COLUMBIA, Mo. – Lindenwood gymnastics (0-0) begin their 2024 campaign traveling to the campus of the #12 Missouri Tigers where they will take on Missouri, Northern Illinois and Southeast Missouri State. The competition will begin on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Hearnes Center. 

Lindenwood returns an experienced group of gymnasts including the 2023 MIC Woman of the Year Gayla Griswold. During Griswold's 2023 season, she led the team with three 9.900 floor routines helping LU secure the #1 seed at the MIC Championships and helped the Lions with the USA Gymnastics National Championship.

2023 Highlights
Lindenwood began the season on a strong note in 2023, as the team posted a 193.125 in the first meet of the season at the University of Florida. It was the highest score in a season-opening meet in program history.

The Lions then took second at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic, posting a team score of 196.175, which was the highest score earned by Lindenwood since 2019. Just over a week later, Lindenwood hosted a tri-meet with Texas Woman's and Missouri at Hyland Arena. During that meet, the Lions set a new attendance record with 1,526 fans.

At the conclusion of the season, the Lions had 10 gymnasts earn all Midwest Independent Conference on their way to a USA Gymnastics National Championship where Kaylee Cooper (Uneven parallel bars) and Nya Kraus (Balance beam) earned first place in their individual events. 

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 return home to Hyland Arena on Sunday, Jan. 14 as they take on Greenville University at 1:00 p.m. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.