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ST. CHARLES — It was almost the end of the meet. After three hours of flips and handsprings, the Lindenwood Lions were trailing. Judges began tabulating scores.

The sellout crowd waited. So did about a hundred gymnasts, sweatpants pulled over their leotards, sparkly bows still tied in their hair.

“We tried not to look at the scoreboard,� said Hannah Appleget, a junior from New Jersey. “We wanted to go out with a bang.�

The conference championship last month wasn’t just the end of the season. It was the last regular-season contest ever for the gymnastics squad — the final time a balance beam, vault or pair of uneven bars would be set up in Lindenwood’s Hyland Arena.

In December, the university announced it would be eliminating 10 sports, including gymnastics, the “result of a thorough assessment of our athletic department’s sustainability,� according to a statement posted to its website, signed by President John Porter. About 280 athletes were affected.

The private college of 7,300 students had boasted one of the most robust athletic offerings in the country, with 29 NCAA sports. Less than two years ago, the school moved from Division II to Division I.

At the time, Brad Wachler, then a vice president at Lindenwood, said the change “definitely opens doors and helps elevate the prestige of the university and its athletic department.�

But like many smaller colleges, Lindenwood is grappling with financial pressure from a shrinking student population. Over the past decade, its enrollment has dropped by almost 40%. In 2020, the school shuttered its Belleville location. At the same time that it disclosed the sports decisions, the university also said it would be cutting at least nine other positions on campus, “part of a broader mission to rebalance our investments in staffing,� Porter’s statement read.

Lindenwood did not respond to requests for comment about the decision-making process or its financial impact. Spokesperson Julee Mitsler instead provided a link to the athletic department’s “.�

‘A moment of grief’

In 2013, Lindenwood launched its gymnastics program with 11 athletes and two coaches.

Both coaches then quit, in the middle of the season.

“It was a rocky first year,� said Courtney Heise of San Diego, who was then a freshman. “That would have been a more logical time to cut the program.�

But the team soon found their footing, winning their conference and qualifying for the USA Gymnastics national competition for the first time in 2015, Heise’s junior year. A string of achievements followed.

Head coach Catelyn Branson, who had been an assistant at the University of Arkansas, took over in the fall of 2021.

“It seemed like they were gung-ho gymnastics,� Branson said of Lindenwood’s leaders. “I liked their vision. It was all momentum.�

The foundation was in place, she believed; she could expand on it from there. This year’s squad — the biggest it has been — has 20 athletes who hail from 16 states and Canada. More than half were awarded athletic scholarships. Last year, the Lions took first place at nationals, and with nine returning seniors, Branson felt like back-to-back titles were a possibility.

Then, on the last day of November, as the team was gearing up for its annual black-and-gold intramural meet — the high point of preseason training — Branson got an email.

She wasn’t the only one. She and the coaches from nine other sports, including swimming, men’s lacrosse and women’s field hockey, had been asked to come to a meeting the next day with the president. Their athletes were scheduled to gather immediately after.

Branson didn’t know what to expect, but she wasn’t nervous. A month before, she had talked to the athletic director about possible improvements to their practice facility. Four high schoolers had already committed for next year. Whatever the news, it couldn’t be too terrible, she thought.

But it was. In a few minutes, a season of building, a season of momentum had turned into a season of farewells.

“It felt like a death,� Branson said. “This is our home.�

She and her assistants circled up their gymnasts in a classroom.

“We had a moment of grief together,� she said. “It was almost like all the wind came out of the sails.�

The gymnasts were shocked. They didn’t know what they would do.

Freshman Jaidan Kossuth didn’t come just for the sport. Branson’s coaching philosophy had been what sold her on the school.

“They cared about more than gymnastics,â€� said Kossuth, who is from Arizona. “ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ wanted to know your personality, your character, what you wanted to accomplish.â€�

The team volunteered together for service projects. They set a GPA goal of 3.8. Each week of practice, Branson would pick a theme word: unit, resilient, commit.

“I saw myself graduating from here,� Kossuth said. “But I don’t think I could quit gymnastics just to stay.�

The team’s underclassmen all faced the same dilemma — to stick with their sport or their school.

#OurLegacy

Word of the cuts spread immediately, and the team’s alumnae mobilized. The day after the announcement, was formed.

Patrick McMullan of Phoenix had sent two daughters to Lindenwood. Now in their late 20s, they had come into their own on the gymnastics team. His whole family had found a community. They still traveled each year to cheer at meets and have mini reunions.

So McMullan worked the phones every afternoon, reaching out to anyone who might be persuaded to donate. His goal was to raise $2.5 million.

“I would not be at peace with myself if I did not make the attempt,� he said.

In six weeks, the group secured pledges for almost half a million dollars.

Then university officials told him no amount would spare the sport. Save Lindenwood Gymnastics suspended its fundraising efforts.

But the team still had a season in front of them, one they were spending hours a day training for. Mentions of the transfer portal were banned during practices. They had routines to memorize and dismounts to master.

“It drove us,� said Nya Krause, a sophomore from Saskatchewan, Canada, who was “blindsided� by the news.

The Lions added the hashtag to their social media posts and kicked off the season in early January with the highest score they had ever earned in an opening meet.

More team records were notched later: highest home score, highest all-time score, highest National Qualifying Score, a formula that determines rankings.

‘You can just feel it’

Last month, 1,600 came to watch that final regular-season meet at Lindenwood’s arena. It was the largest crowd ever for a gymnastics event at Hyland.

And for hours, the Lindenwood cheering section roared.

The team started off at the vault, then rotated to the uneven bars, followed by the balance beam. Each routine finished amid clouds of chalk that puffed from the athletes’ hands during a flurry of high fives.

Not everything was perfect. On the bars, usually the team’s strongest area, there was a fall. And the other four conference opponents were conceding nothing.

Branson had carefully selected the word of the week: believe.

“They really bought into that, from the beginning of the meet to the end,â€� she said. “ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ went lights-out.â€�

Still, as the competition wrapped up, Lindenwood was behind.

Jaly Jones, a sophomore from Iowa, was the last person to compete in the floor exercise, the evening’s final skill.

The rest of the women huddled to the side, as they had for everyone else’s performance. They mimed Jones’ choreographic flourishes, leaned in before the tumbling sequences and shaped their fingers into the letter L at the end.

Jones landed her last jump, threw up her arms and beamed.

“I got finished, and I thought, ‘We won!’� she said. “Most of the time you can just feel it.�

It took a while, but the judges confirmed Jones’ instinct — the Lions had won.

And not only as a group. Jones was the all-around champion and tied with teammate Reese Baechle for first in the floor exercise. Krause was tops on uneven bars and second on beam, with Kossuth third.

“What a way to close a chapter in Hyland,� said Branson, who was honored with her assistants as conference coaches of the year.

The team laughed and cried. They held each other tight. They hoisted their trophy and posed for photos.

But they weren’t quite done.

They had three weeks to add some polish before going onto the national stage one more time.

Friday, they will be in Pennsylvania, at West Chester University, battling five other colleges. If they finish in the top 2, they will face off on Saturday.

Branson would love one more victory. But that’s not the word of the week.

It’s cherish.

“The focus is just to stay present,� she said, “and enjoy every last moment.�