Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics head coach Ashley Lawson was named the 2020 Ken Anderson National Coach of the Year by USA Gymnastics.
Lawson, who was previously named 2020 Midwest Independent Conference Head Coach of the Year, engineered an epic turnaround in her second season at the helm of Southeast. After going winless in competition in 2019, Southeast registered 10 wins and went on a five-competition win streak from Jan. 31 to March 1. The 2020 Redhawks compiled a Team NQS score of 193.780 for third in the MIC.
Lawson coached the Redhawks to a 195.800, their second-highest team score in school history on Feb. 28 against Northern Illinois at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic. The mark was the highest for a USA Gymnastics school (Division I, II and III programs with less than seven-and-a-half full scholarships) in 2020. SEMO also posted season highs on vault (49.075), bars (49.050) and beam (48.775) in addition to the team score during the historic meet.
Redhawk gymnastics student-athletes also earned honors from USA Gymnastics. Sophomore Anna Kaziska and freshman Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso both earned USAG First-Team All-America honors. Meanwhile, senior Mackenzie Slee was named to the USAG Women's Collegiate Nationals Senior All-Star Team.
Eight Redhawks were also named Women's Collegiate Nationals Scholar Athletes, and eighteen Redhawks earned MIC Scholar-Athlete honors.
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