Milwaukee Native Evans Earns Spot on 2017 UW-Whitewater Gymnastics Roster

2017 Jan 10

Lewa Evans, a native of Milwaukee, WI, and graduate of Whitefish Bay High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater gymnastics team during the 2017 season.

Evans, a junior at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in environmental science.

With nearly a decade of top-five finishes in the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association under its belt, UW-Whitewater looks to "Leave A Legacy" - the program's motto this year - as it enters the 2017 season.

The Warhawks placed third at last season's NCGA Championships, where they collected three individual national titles and 12 All-America honors. The team also finished as runner-up at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference/NCGA West Region Championships.

UW-Whitewater has recorded eight consecutive national top-three finishes, including a run of three straight NCGA national titles from 2012-14, under head coach Jennifer Regan.

Regan, who is in her 15th year at the helm of the program, has led the Warhawks to four WIAC/NCGA West Region championships and is a two-time NCGA Coach of the Year and two-time WIAC Coach of the Year.

The Warhawks begin the 2017 season this Friday at UW-Stout and continue on the road Jan. 21 at Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.). The team competes in its third straight WIAC dual meet Jan. 28 in its home opener on Parents and 10.0 Club Night against UW-Eau Claire at the UW-Whitewater Volleyball Arena in the Williams Center.

UW-Whitewater visits the University of North Carolina, a Division I program, for a meet on Feb. 3 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Warhawks host the Harley Davidson Invitational Feb. 10 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee. Other teams schedule to compete at the meet include Winona State (Minn.), UW-Eau Claire and Division I Southeast Missouri.

UW-Whitewater returns home Feb. 18 to face UW-Oshkosh for its Alumni and Breast Cancer Meet. On Feb. 24, the team visits defending national champion UW-La Crosse.

The Warhawks close the regular season March 11 against Hamline (Minn.) on Senior Night.

With a top-three finish at the WIAC/NCGA West Regional Championship on March 17 at Winona State, UW-Whitewater would qualify for the NCGA National Championships, which are scheduled for March 31-April 1 at UW-Stout.

Seniors Katie Fiorilli (Solon, OH/Solon), Kelsea Fischer (Grandville, MI/Grandville), McKenzie Foster (Manitou Beach, MI/Addison), Courtney Pickett (Brentwood, TN/Brentwood) and Mackenzie Smith (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther) lead a strong group of 15 returners for UW-Whitewater. Fiorilli and Pickett, who were key members of the 2014 national championship team as freshmen, each enter their fourth year with the team.

Fiorilli is a 10-time All-American and five-time national champion, including two in the all-around, two on the vault and three on uneven parallel bars. Last season, she tied for the vault title, tied for second in the all-around and tied for seventh on the bars. Fiorilli is a two-time NCAA Regional all-around qualifier.

Pickett is a nine-time All-American and a national champion on the vault in 2014. She placed fifth in the all-around, tied for fifth in the floor exercise and finished ninth on the balance beam in 2016. Pickett qualified in the all-around for the 2015 NCAA Regional in Ames, Iowa.

Smith joined the team in 2016 after transferring from Michigan State. She shared national title honors on the bars last season and qualified for the NCAA Minneapolis Regional on the same apparatus.

Foster garnered All-America accolades on both the balance beam and vault as a freshman in 2014.

Lewa Evans (Milwaukee, WI/Whitefish Bay), Kate Mierow (Brookfield, WI/Brookfield Central), Chloe Rehberg (Cary, IL/Cary-Grove) and Christina Slack (Albrightsville, PA/Jim Thorpe) comprise the junior class.

Rehberg finished as national runner-up on the vault in 2015, while Mierow claimed the WIAC championship on the beam in 2015.

The Warhawks' sophomore class includes Bailey Fitzpatrick (Burlington, Wis./Burlington), Abby Helmke (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central), Franchesca Hutton (Shakopee, Minn./Main Street School of Performing Arts), Lisa O'Donnell (Berwyn, Ill./Morton West), Sarah Rhodes (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) and Katlyn Turek (Newport News, Va./Woodside).

O'Donnell claimed the NCGA national title in the floor exercise and added All-America honors on the bars. Hutton was an individual qualifier for the NCGA Championships, placing 18th on the beam.

Freshmen Acacia Fossum (Gladstone, N.D./Richardton-Taylor), Lauren Marshall (Winthrop Harbor, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) and Bobbie Jo Sigler (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) are newcomers for UW-Whitewater in 2017.