Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics is becoming a fully-funded athletics scholarship program beginning with the 2023-24 academic year.
The gymnastics program will now possess 12 full athletics scholarships for student-athletes, which is the maximum number of scholarships allowed by NCAA regulations. The change will enhance Head Coach Ashley Lawson and her staff's ability to recruit the highest caliber student-athletes into the program.
With the change, SEMO gymnastics will no longer be eligible to compete in USA Gymnastics nationals, which is reserved for schools who offer less than eight total athletics scholarships for student-athletes. However, Coach Lawson believes the move will continue to increase the level of competition for the Redhawks, along with the hope of bringing bigger programs to Cape Girardeau.
Coach Lawson said that having the ability to award the maximum number of athletics scholarships will give her program the opportunity to make a strong run at being a contender for NCAA Regionals.
Last season, SEMO gymnastics placed third overall at the USAG National Championship in Denton, Texas registering a 194.850. The Redhawks won the USAG National Championship title in 2021, hosted at the Show Me Center.
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