Springfield, Mass. – February 9, 2018 – The National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) is excited to highlight the second of seven former student-athletes to be inducted into the NCGA Hall of Fame in 2018, Gina Gutierrez Bardua, 2002 graduate of Springfield College.
Gutierrez Bardua ’02, joins fellow inductees Lindsay-Leigh Bartyzal Consolati, Sandra Picciocio Givas and Cynthia Chiolo Walsh of Ithaca, Jumaah Johnson Goldberg (Ursinus), Sonja Ellefson (MIT), and Sulekha Modi Zaug (SUNY Cortland).
The NCGA Hall of Fame was established in 2011 to pay tribute and give deserved recognition and honor to outstanding former athletes and/or coaches and administrators who have shown distinctive and/or exceptional ability while participating within or supporting Division III gymnastics. Since its inception, the NCGA has provided opportunities for over 2,700 gymnasts from the United States and internationally.
Gutierrez Bardua ’02 is one of seven student-athletes at Springfield College to have won an individual National Championship, as she finished her career in style, winning a national title on vault in 2002 after producing a score of 9.400. Gutierrez Bardua ’02, who was also an All-American on vault as a sophomore in 2000, was a team captain of the Pride, and was a member of Springfield College’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Former head coach at Springfield College, Cheryl Raymond, remembers Gutierrez Bardua ’02 as a “strong team unifier and leader”.
From Gina Gutierrez Bardua ’02
“Gymnastics is a sport that teaches every gymnast what it means to persevere and how to truly pick yourself up each time you fall. College gymnastics strengthened all of those lessons for me in and out of the gym. I knew that no matter what my day brought, there were going to be a group of coaches and teammates in the gym who were going to push me to be my best. I also knew that those days when I fell, they were going to be there to help me up. College gymnastics taught me to push myself further than I ever thought I could. I will be forever grateful.”