Unnamed gymnist, 1972-1973

In 1963 the Women's Recreational Association (W.R.A.) included in their activities, trampoline and tumbling. This activity was not a seasonal one; it lasted throughout the year. All the women on campus were automatically members of the W.R.A. when they had paid their activity fees. The purpose of the W.R.A. was to develop an interest in sports for women. The W.R.A. program was funded by the general activity fund. In 1969, gymnastics for women was first mentioned in the Oshkosh Quiver. It was for W.R.A. members. This activity was competed on intramural and extramural levels.

According to Jan Moldenhauer, the sport began first as an intramural sport and then became competitive. Moldenhauer was the women's coach during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most of the equipment the team needed was homemade. They built a balance beam, used the men's vault, but still needed uneven bars. They borrowed the men's parallel bars when they were not in use and made them into uneven bars. The practice time for the girls was limited because Moldenhauer was also the swim coach and a teacher at Oshkosh. The women's gymnastics team practiced two times a week and on every even Friday. The women had a great team, and in 1972, they won the team NAIA sectional championship. Lynn Hessle was an excellent gymnast and the first national champion in vault for Oshkosh.

Women's gymnastics strengthened after Title IX. In 1977, Phyllis Hardt took over as coach. She coached for 17 years and was very successful, winning nine straight titles for Oshkosh. Her husband, Dale Hardt, also helped coach the team. He and Ken Allen built the first gymnastics floor and a jumping pit at UWO (Moldenhauer, 1999). The jumping pit was one of only three pits in the United States in 1978, the others were in Colorado and Pennsylvania (Moldenhauer, 1999). Moledenhauer stated: "We were so far ahead of everybody because of the Hardts and Ken Allen."

Other outstanding athletes during the 1970s were Carolyn Christiansen and Debbie Lindemer who performed well in all events. Lindemer qualified for Division I and Division II competition. In 1980, Chris Roherwasser was the first Division III national champion for UWO (Hardt, 1999). The team had 12 meets a year against Division II and Division III schools. They also competed against two Division I schools a year. The team traveled in school vans to away meets. When they qualified for finals they flew to the meet if the school hosting the competition was far away.

As the years passed the equipment changed. The floor went from a basic gymnasium wooden floor to an 11.5 ft. cushioned floor. The uneven bars went from wooden bars to new fabricated bars and from 3 feet in height and 11.5 feet in width to the top bar as 8 feet high, the low bar 5 feet high, and the reach between them is around 6ft. During the summer months, Ken Allen and the Hardts started up summer gymnastics camps for girls and boys, with the money they brought in from the camps; they funneled it back into the gymnastics program at UWO. The money was used for new equipment and transportation. Women's gymnastics was given money for their season, however, compared to other men's sports, the funding was low. Since the equipment changed often and mats needed replacements, the funding they received was not quite enough for the costly items. The money that Allen and the Hardts brought in gave their program the opportunity to expand. The girls uniforms were gold and black and they always purchased new ones about every three to four years. The W.R.A. competed with different schools at the time they were intramurals and extramurals. When Moldenhauer coached, the competition for Oshkosh was with the UW schools and some private schools including Carroll College. When Phyllis Hardt took over, their competition was also UW schools along with schools from the Minnesota and Illinois area, however they do not compete against private schools anymore (D. Hardt, 1999). Today, because of Ken Allen and the Hardts, UWO has better equipment and apparatus. The result is better-trained athletes performing at higher levels of difficulty in gymnastics.

Hardt, Dale. (1999, April). Personal interview on the history of women's gymnastics at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Moldenhauer, Jan. (1999, March). Personal interview on the history of women's gymnastics at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

The Quiver. (1972 and 1973). The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.