Southeast Missouri State's Westrick earns trip to national gymnastics meet

A career performance will extend the season for Southeast Missouri State gymnast Taylor Westrick.

Westrick matched her career-best with a 9.900 on balance beam Saturday during the NCAA South Central Regional in Champaign, Ill. She tied for first place to qualify for the national meet.

Westrick will compete in the NCAA Championships from April 20 to 22 at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga.

"I'm still a little shocked," Westrick said.

The bar for advancing to nationals as an individual is high. Event specialists need to finish in first place to make the cut if they are not a member of a qualifying team.

Westrick tied with Illinois' Alina Weinstein, Oklahoma's Megan Ferguson and Stanford's Amanda Spinner for the beam title.

"In a way, I am not shocked that Taylor did this," Southeast coach Kristi Ewasko said. "I know she's capable of competing at a national level. At the same time, I am very proud of her. To accomplish what she did in this type of setting, only competing in one event with only one teammate around is remarkable.

"This is a great honor for her, and she has worked hard for it. She has earned her spot in nationals."

Westrick tied the career best she set two weeks ago during her most recent meet when she won the beam at the Midwest Independent Conference Championships.

Westrick's beam consistency this season has been impressive. Her regional score marks the ninth consecutive week the Waterford, Wis., native has scored at least 9.800.

"My goal was to place on the podium," Westrick said about the honor that goes to the top three finishers. "It [qualifying for nationals] was in the back of my mind. I tried not to think about it, but I knew I had a chance if I hit it good.

"I knew I hit a good routine, then it just came down to waiting for the score. I didn't know how they would score it. It was exciting to see that 9.900. I was just waiting for the last rotation to end so I could see if it would hold up."

Westrick, who also qualified for regionals last year, is looking forward to continuing her training leading up to the national meet.

"I'm excited. I don't know how training is going to go because I've never done it before nationals," she said.

Sophomore Megan Fosnow also represented Southeast at the regional competition in the all-around.

Two falls on beam dug the Franklin, Wis., native into an early hole, but she finished her first career regional meet strong. Fosnow moved to floor and scored 9.725 and matched that mark on vault before posting a 9.700 on bars to finish with an all-around score of 37.500.

"Megan started a little slow on beam and kind of got the jitters out," Ewasko said. "She got back on track in her other three events. I'm proud of how she competed, and we hope to have the whole team with her and Taylor next year. This is a very valuable experience for Megan to have as a sophomore."