Alaska Tri Meet
at Alaska Anchorage with Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Meet Information 
Date: Friday, Jan. 10, 2020
Time: 10 p.m., CT (7 p.m. Alaska Standard/Daylight Time)
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Venue: Alaska Airlines Center
Series: SEMO leads All-Time Series with Alaska Anchorage 6-0;
SEMO leads All-Time Series with Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2-0
Coaches: Ashley Lawson (Second Season at SEMO);
Tanya Ho (Third Season at Alaska Anchorage);
Danielle Schulzetenberg (Second Season at Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
 
Alaska Dual Meet
at Alaska Anchorage 
Meet Information 
Date: Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020
Time: 5 p.m., CT (2 p.m. Alaska Standard/Daylight Time)
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Venue: Alaska Airlines Center
Series: SEMO leads All-Time Series 6-0
Coaches: Ashley Lawson (Second Season at SEMO);
Tanya Ho (Third Season at Alaska Anchorage);
 
Media Coverage
Live Stats
Video
 
Follow the Redhawks on Twitter @SEMOGymnastics for in-meet updates.
 
Meet Notes: Southeast Missouri
 
Redhawks Trek to The Last Frontier for a Pair of Weekend Meets
Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics travels to The Last Frontier for a pair of weekend meets against Alaska Anchorage and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Redhawks face Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Alaska Anchorage in a tri meet on Friday at 10 p.m., CT (7 p.m. Alaska Standard/Daylight Time) at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska, before wrapping up their trip with a dual against Alaska-Anchorage on Sunday at 5 p.m., CT (2 p.m. Alaska Standard/Daylight Time). 
 
The Redhawks are on the road for the first four weeks of the season before consecutive home duals on Jan. 31 against Illinois State and Feb. 7 against Lindenwood.
 
Looking at the Opponents
Alaska Anchorage
The Seawolves return seven gymnasts from last year's team that set 17 school records, including NCAA beam qualifier and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation beam champion Sophia Hyderally, along with fellow seniors Mackenzie Miller and Kennedy Green. Junior Isabelle Fox, the 2018 MPSF Freshman of the Year, is expected to be a major force in the all-around again, while freshmen Kenadi Brown and Mackenzie Robinson should be contributors right away.
 
Alaska Anchorage finished 2019 with a school-record 194.200 score at the MPSF Championships to finish fourth. Hyderally produced UAA's best-ever finish at NCAA Regionals, placing fourth on beam, while she and Fox earned first-team All-MPSF awards.
 
Southeast last competed against the Seawolves in 2014 when UAA visited Cape Girardeau. SEMO overcame Alaska Anchorage, 194.08-190.32 on Feb. 9 in the tri meet with UIC. 
 
Wisconsin-Eau Claire 
Division III program Wisconsin-Eau Claire will join UAA and SEMO for Friday's opener, taking part in its only competition this season against D-I opponents. The Blugolds averaged 183.355 last season with a high of 185.725. Wisconsin-Eau Claire placed eighth at the 2019 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship/National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) West Regional. Kiya Bjorge and Amelia Moorehouse tied for third on floor at the Championship. Bjorge finished as the national runner-up on the floor exercise at the NCGA Championship.
 
Missouri Tri Meet Recap
Southeast surpassed its 2019 season-high team score with 191.275 in SEMO's season opener last Saturday at #16-ranked Missouri's tri meet. The Redhawks opened with a 46.600 on beam before dropping a 48.525 on floor. In the third rotation, SEMO added a 47.700 and concluded the meet with a 48.450 on bars. The #27-ranked Illini captured the team title with a score of 195.850. Missouri was second with 195.600.
 
The Redhawks notched a season-best team score of 190.275 at the 2019 Midwest Independent Conference Championships last March (3/22/19) and overcame that mark by a point in their 2020 opener. 
 
We SEE You Bars!!
Southeast totaled its best bars mark in over two years with a 48.450 last Saturday at #16-ranked Missouri's tri meet. The score was SEMO's first 48.000 plus total since the 2018 MIC Championships (3/23/18, 48.250). 
 
The Redhawks top-five scorers posted a 9.550 or higher on bars. Southeast topped Missouri on the event, 48.450-48.150. Molly Maxwell led off with a 9.550 before Jolie Miller compiled her first-career 9.700. Lindsey Bates followed with a personal-best 9.775 for fourth overall at the meet. Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso added a 9.750 and Anna Kaziska concluded the meet with a score of 9.675.
 
Meet Our All-Arounders
Southeast utilized three gymnasts in the all-around competition at their season opener last Saturday at Mizzou. Anna Kaziska, the 2019 MIC Newcomer of the Year, finished third in the all-around competition with a total of 38.875. In their Redhawk debuts, freshmen Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso was fourth (38.675) and Molly Maxwell was sixth (37.675).
 
Welcome Back Lindsey Bates!!
Lindsey Bates registered a personal-best bars set of 9.775 in her first meet back from injury since the 2019 opener, a year ago to the day at Alabama (1/4/19), last Saturday at #16-ranked Missouri's tri meet. The mark tied for fourth overall at the meet.
 
Redhawk Debuts
Six Redhawks made their debuts in the season opener last Saturday at Missouri. Sophomore Makenzie Marciniak tallied a 9.450 on vault after missing 2019 with an injury suffered in the preseason. Freshman Jolie Miller competed on bars (9.700) and beam (9.400). Lindsey Moffitt made her collegiate debut on floor (9.725), vault (9.475) and beam (8.900). Mallory Desch appeared in the floor lineup (8.800). Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso (38.675, fourth) and Molly Maxwell (37.675, sixth) both were all-arounders.
 
2019 Signees
Southeast signed four gymnasts during the early signing period on Nov. 14. Anna Speller (St. Louis, Missouri), Sophia Studdard (Blue Springs, Missouri), Lydia Test (Plano, Texas) and Lydia Webb (Wylie, Texas) will join the team this upcoming fall for the 2021 Redhawks season.
 
Lawson Headed to Hall of Fame
Head coach Ashley (Godwin) Lawson will be inducted into Southeast Missouri's 18th Hall of Fame class on Feb. 7, 2020 at the Show Me Center. Lawson holds school records in the All-Around (39.550), Uneven Bars (9.925), Balance Beam (9.975) and Floor Exercise (10.000) and is in her second season as head gymnastics coach. Godwin was a MIC Champion four times in her career, winning the uneven bars in 2002 and the balance beam, floor exercise and all-around in 2003. She was an NCAA Regional qualifier in the all-around each of her final three seasons at SEMO (2002, 2003, 2004). Godwin's highest NCAA Regional finish was an 11th-place showing in 2002. 
 
Roster Breakdown
Southeast returns 10 student-athletes from 2019. Seniors Kendra Benak and Mackenzie Slee along with juniors Gabrielle Adams, Alana Fischer and Michael Sanders were regular contributors to lineups last season. Anna Kaziska also returns for her sophomore season after competing as an all-arounder in every meet in 2019. Kaziska, Adams, Slee and junior Lindsey Bates have all won individual event titles at Southeast. 
 
The 2020 Redhawks team also features eight freshmen in Catherine Costantini (Centerton, Arkansas), Mallory Desch (Lenexa, Kansas), Taylor Fishkin (Manlius, New York), Jordan Jones (Buford, Georgia), Molly Maxwell (Milton, Wisconsin), Jolie Miller (Aurora, Colorado), Lindsey Moffitt (Ferris, Texas) and Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso (Courtice, Ontario, Canada) who will all vie for lineup spots. Junior transfer Ashley Albrecht (Everett, Washington) from Illinois-Chicago rounds out the newcomers.
 
New Coaches, Who Dis?
Head coach Ashley Lawson also added a pair of new coaches ahead of the 2020 season in Jason Collins and Andavea Alexander. Collins will coach the bars team while Alexander will serve as the beam coach and team choreographer. 
 
Collins was previously an assistant coach at Yale in 2019 and prior to that he served as the vice president, chief athletic officer and director of men's gymnastics, and was the women's elite team coach at EVO Athletics in Sarasota, Florida. Alexander was a standout gymnast at Lindenwood who was a seven-time USA Gymnastics All-American and a seven-time All-MIC performer. She also helped Lindenwood win their fifth consecutive MIC Championship and third USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championship in the last five years in 2019.
 
Fischer Competes for Team Canada
Junior Alana Fischer competed for Team Canada at the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy, this past July. Fischer, a Georgetown, Ontario, Canada native, and Team Canada earned fourth in the women's artistic gymnastics team event. Fischer along with her teammates Denelle Pedrick and Jessica Dowling totaled a team score of 97.700 for fourth in the seven-team competition. 
 
What a Freshman Season for Kaziska?!?
Anna Kaziska led the Redhawks in 2019 with 33 scores of 9.700 or higher and totaled 11 individual event titles while earning MIC Newcomer of the Year after being awarded MIC Newcomer of the Week six times during her freshman campaign. The Louisville, Kentucky native, competed as an all-arounder at every meet and finished as the runner-up on floor at the MIC Championships. She also was awarded Second-Team MIC All-Conference laurels for vault and represented SEMO at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on floor (9.825).
 
Kaziska capped her inaugural collegiate season with second place finishes on both beam (9.875) and floor (9.875) at the 2019 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships to earn First Team All-American honors for all-around (39.025, fifth), beam and floor and garnered Second Team All-American laurels on bars.
 
2019 MIC Vault Champion
Senior Mackenzie Slee was crowned the 2019 MIC Vault Champion at the conference Championships in Shreveport, Louisiana, with a career-best 9.825 to earn First-Team MIC All-Conference honors. The event title marked the first for Slee who hails from Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand.
 
USAG All-Americans
Three Redhawks were named USA Gymnastics All-Americans in 2019. Gabrielle Adams (vault), Mackenzie Slee (vault) and Anna Kaziska were all awarded All-America honors at the 2019 USA Gymnastics National Championships. They are the second Redhawks trio to earn the accolades after Alexis Brawner, McKinzie Jones and McKenna Stanley recorded the achievement at the 2018 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships. Alana Fischer also represented Southeast at the 2019 USA Gymnastics National Championships.
 
2019 in Review
Southeast posted a season-best 190.275 for sixth at the 2019 MIC Championships at the Gold Dome in Shreveport, Louisiana. Mackenzie Slee tied for the vault crown with a personal-best 9.825 for her first career individual event title and Anna Kaziska, the 2019 MIC Newcomer of the Year, was second on floor with a mark of 9.875 as both earned First-Team MIC All-Conference honors. Slee and Kaziska also captured Second-Team MIC All-Conference accolades for floor and vault, respectively. Slee tied for 10th overall on floor with a 9.800 and Kaziska had a vault score of 9.700 (17th).  
 
Redhawks Crushing it in the Classroom 
Southeast ranked 13th overall in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) for team grade-point averages (GPAs) for the 2018-19 academic year. The Redhawks registered a 3.67 GPA during the spring and had a cumulative GPA of 3.65 for the 2018-19 academic year. The Redhawks ranked 35th in the WCGA during 2017-18.
 
Eleven members of the 2019 Redhawks team earned WCGA Scholastic All-America Awards. Lindsey Bates, Allyson Bell, Kendra Benak, Megan Dennis, Alana Fischer, Samantha Gallet, Anna Kaziska, Makenzie Marciniak, Michael Sanders, Kenna Skepnek and Mackenzie Slee each posted GPAs of 3.5 or higher during 2018-19 to garner the award.
 
Looking Ahead
After this weekend's trip to Alaska, Southeast continues its road swing with a pair of away meets. The Redhawks open their MIC conference schedule at Illinois State on Friday, Jan. 17 before competing in a tri meet at Ball State with Bowling Green and Wisconsin-La Crosse on Sunday, Jan. 26. SEMO then hosts consecutive home duals on Jan. 31 against Illinois State and Feb. 7 against Lindenwood.