Paige Magel, a marketing major from Cary, Illinois, is among five University of Wisconsin-Whitewater gymnasts who received all-conference honors or major awards at the 2026 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship/National Collegiate Gymnastics Association West Regional. The event took place on March 7 in Winona, Minnesota.
The UW-Whitewater Warhawks finished second in the team standings and achieved a team total of 193.825, which is the fourth-highest in program history. Four Warhawk athletes placed in the top three for individual events.
Paige Magel claimed the all-around title with a score of 38.550. She is the seventh athlete from UW-Whitewater to win this title at the league championship. Elaine Copeland won gold on the uneven bars with a score of 9.8, becoming only the third Warhawk to secure gold in that event; previous titles were won by Justine Weyer and Allyse Dieringer.
In the floor exercise, Jane Heffernan and Siena Vavala both earned silver medals with scores of 9.775 each. Heffernan also tied for fifth place on the uneven bars with a score of 9.725, marking her second all-conference honor at this meet.
After the competition, WIAC announced its major award winners. Freshman Juliette Rider was named WIAC Newcomer of the Year, making her the first Warhawk to receive this recognition since it was established in 2022.
Information from this story was sourced from MeritPages.com
