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University of New Hampshire Athletics
The UNH gymnastics team gets to compete in the EAGL championships Saturday for the first time since 2019.
Photo by: Makena Lee
Insider Report: 'Worth the Wait'
3/18/2022 1:54:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics, UNH Insider
Lui, Gorgenyi Get Chance to Lead 'Cats Back to EAGLs - Finally
DURHAM, N.H. – Finally.
Two years ago, the University of New Hampshire gymnastics team was denied the chance to defend its crown in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League when the entire championships were canceled in the earliest days of the pandemic.
Last season, the EAGL championships went on without the Wildcats. The day before an already- shortened roster of UNH gymnasts was due to depart for the event, COVID-19 test results came in that cut the squad down to just a few competitors and they had to stay home.
Thursday, the Wildcats headed south to finally once again compete for a league title.
They are at George Washington University for the 2022 EAGL Championships and will compete in the first of two quad meets Saturday at noon against Pittsburgh, defending champion Temple and Long Island University. The evening session at 6 p.m. includes North Carolina State, Towson, North Carolina and George Washington. Both sessions will be shown on ESPN+.
The team with the top score for the day will be the EAGL champion.
More information is available at 2022 EAGL Championship Central.
"All the teams that are going are very good and I know we haven't peaked yet, which is good," said senior Hailey Lui. "EAGLs is the time to peak. I think we have a lot of untapped potential that other people haven't seen that we're hoping to bring to the table at EAGLs. You can look at it that we have three years of pent-up energy. We're ready to show what we can do."
The last time the Wildcats got a chance at EAGLs, things went quite well.
UNH hosted the 2019 competition in front of a large and enthusiastic Whittemore Center crowd and edged George Washington to win its third league title with Lui earning first-team All-EAGL honors on uneven bars and balance beam.
Lindsey Bruck Ayotte took over as head coach of the Wildcats from the legendary Gail Goodspeed after that season and is excited to finally get a chance to bring her team and her staff – Steve Avgerinos and Amanda Fillard are her assistants - to the championships.
Bruck Ayotte and her crew led the team to a regular season championship in 2020, before COVID-19 brought things to a screeching halt. Besides having to sit out the EAGLs last year, UNH has been slowed again this year by COVID testing and protocols and only recently has been able to put together consistent lineups.
The Wildcats will not be going to the NCAA Regionals as a team, but Lui and junior Kylie Gorgenyi have a chance to make it as individuals.
And while Temple may be the official defending champion, UNH also won EAGLs the last time it competed.
"We're still defending champions in our own way," Bruck Ayotte said. "I'm ready for UNH to be out there on that floor and fight for a title. They have the potential. They definitely do."
Lui and Gorgenyi both earned first-team All-EAGL honors this season for the third time and are among the team leaders and the Wildcats had their share of highlights this season.
Junior Alyssa Worthington was first team on the balance team for the third straight year as well and grad student Kylie Kratchwell doubled up on her all-league awards on uneven bars.
Twice, the team set school records: on the balance beam on January 23 and on the uneven bars in the final home meet last Saturday.
North Carolina State, Towson, North Carolina and George Washington in the evening session are the top four seeds in the meet, in order, according to their team scores through the season. Pittsburgh is fifth, followed by UNH in sixth, Temple and Long Island.
The Wildcats open on vault on Saturday.
"Last weekend we started on vault, too," Lui said. "You could just feel the energy build through the events. I think that's the most exciting part of a meet, when you do great on one event and all the energy goes to the next event and it constantly builds."
Lui and Gorgenyi have no problem leaving the role of favorites in the meet to others.
"We just need to put it all together," Gorgenyi said. "We have so much that we've been waiting for. That's our motto: 'Worth the Wait.' Coming into this year we were looked at as the school that kind of dropped off because of COVID. We didn't get to EAGLs last year. That puts a little damper on the school name. We're ready to go in as the underdog. We've got a lot of fire."
Bruck Ayotte is counting on it.
"We have such a talented team and the depth is there," she said. "I just want people to kind of turn their heads and go, 'Whoa, UNH. That's what we were expecting.'"
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Two years ago, the University of New Hampshire gymnastics team was denied the chance to defend its crown in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League when the entire championships were canceled in the earliest days of the pandemic.
Last season, the EAGL championships went on without the Wildcats. The day before an already- shortened roster of UNH gymnasts was due to depart for the event, COVID-19 test results came in that cut the squad down to just a few competitors and they had to stay home.
Thursday, the Wildcats headed south to finally once again compete for a league title.
They are at George Washington University for the 2022 EAGL Championships and will compete in the first of two quad meets Saturday at noon against Pittsburgh, defending champion Temple and Long Island University. The evening session at 6 p.m. includes North Carolina State, Towson, North Carolina and George Washington. Both sessions will be shown on ESPN+.
The team with the top score for the day will be the EAGL champion.
More information is available at 2022 EAGL Championship Central.
"All the teams that are going are very good and I know we haven't peaked yet, which is good," said senior Hailey Lui. "EAGLs is the time to peak. I think we have a lot of untapped potential that other people haven't seen that we're hoping to bring to the table at EAGLs. You can look at it that we have three years of pent-up energy. We're ready to show what we can do."
The last time the Wildcats got a chance at EAGLs, things went quite well.
UNH hosted the 2019 competition in front of a large and enthusiastic Whittemore Center crowd and edged George Washington to win its third league title with Lui earning first-team All-EAGL honors on uneven bars and balance beam.
Lindsey Bruck Ayotte took over as head coach of the Wildcats from the legendary Gail Goodspeed after that season and is excited to finally get a chance to bring her team and her staff – Steve Avgerinos and Amanda Fillard are her assistants - to the championships.
Bruck Ayotte and her crew led the team to a regular season championship in 2020, before COVID-19 brought things to a screeching halt. Besides having to sit out the EAGLs last year, UNH has been slowed again this year by COVID testing and protocols and only recently has been able to put together consistent lineups.
The Wildcats will not be going to the NCAA Regionals as a team, but Lui and junior Kylie Gorgenyi have a chance to make it as individuals.
And while Temple may be the official defending champion, UNH also won EAGLs the last time it competed.
"We're still defending champions in our own way," Bruck Ayotte said. "I'm ready for UNH to be out there on that floor and fight for a title. They have the potential. They definitely do."
Lui and Gorgenyi both earned first-team All-EAGL honors this season for the third time and are among the team leaders and the Wildcats had their share of highlights this season.
Junior Alyssa Worthington was first team on the balance team for the third straight year as well and grad student Kylie Kratchwell doubled up on her all-league awards on uneven bars.
Twice, the team set school records: on the balance beam on January 23 and on the uneven bars in the final home meet last Saturday.
North Carolina State, Towson, North Carolina and George Washington in the evening session are the top four seeds in the meet, in order, according to their team scores through the season. Pittsburgh is fifth, followed by UNH in sixth, Temple and Long Island.
The Wildcats open on vault on Saturday.
"Last weekend we started on vault, too," Lui said. "You could just feel the energy build through the events. I think that's the most exciting part of a meet, when you do great on one event and all the energy goes to the next event and it constantly builds."
Lui and Gorgenyi have no problem leaving the role of favorites in the meet to others.
"We just need to put it all together," Gorgenyi said. "We have so much that we've been waiting for. That's our motto: 'Worth the Wait.' Coming into this year we were looked at as the school that kind of dropped off because of COVID. We didn't get to EAGLs last year. That puts a little damper on the school name. We're ready to go in as the underdog. We've got a lot of fire."
Bruck Ayotte is counting on it.
"We have such a talented team and the depth is there," she said. "I just want people to kind of turn their heads and go, 'Whoa, UNH. That's what we were expecting.'"
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Players Mentioned
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
UB, BB
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's Gymnastics
AA
/ Women's GymnasticsSunday, February 11
Wednesday, January 31
Friday, January 12
Friday, April 28